I'm Dan and joining me today is Catherine.

Hey Catherine.

Hey Dan.

So Catherine, do you prefer a brew or a cup of joe in the morning?

Well, if you are referring to whether I prefer a cup of tea, which we sometimes call 'a

brew', or a cup of coffee, sometimes called 'a cup of joe', I prefer my coffee in

the morning.

I only drink coffee when I really need to wake up quickly.

And, why are you asking, Dan?

Because it's part of this 6 Minute English.

Coffee.

I see.

So how do you take it then, Dan?

Well, I'm an instant coffee kind of guy.

And I like mine with a dash of milk.

How about you?

A dash of something is a small amount of something, especially liquid.

Personally, I prefer freshly-ground coffee beans, and I like my coffee dark and strong

- preferably Colombian or maybe Brazilian.

Wow.

A coffee aficionado, eh?

An aficionado is a person who's very enthusiastic about, or interested in, a particular subject.

Well, let me test your knowledge with this week's quiz question.

The specialty coffee, Kopi luwak, is made from coffee beans which have already passed

through an animal's digestive system.

But which animal?

a) an elephant

b) a cat

c) a weasel

I'm always going to answer b) a cat.

Did you say this coffee actually goes through the animal?

As in, it eats it and then it comes out the other end, and that's what we use for the

coffee?

Well, yes.

It is actually one of the most expensive coffees in the world.

Anyway, we'll find out if you're right or not later on.

So, talking of expensive, do you tend to pay more for your coffee or are you happy with

the cheap as chips stuff?

Cheap as chips means very cheap.

And personally, I do actually like a quality product, and I am willing to pay a bit more

for it.

Would you be willing to pay even more than you already do if it meant that the farmer

who grew the beans was getting a fairer price?

I would because I think that that sort of thing is important.

And you aren't alone.

There is a growing trend among many Western customers of artisan cafes to be willing to

pay more for ethically produced coffee.

Ethical means morally right.

So, Dan, why is this trend happening at the moment?

Well, it's probably been going on for a while, but a new report from the UN's World

Intellectual Property Organisation has observed the effect that smarter processing, branding

and marketing has had on the farmers and their communities.

And because of this, coffee drinkers are better able to choose ethically produced coffee that

puts more money in the hands of the farmers.

But, Dan, do the farmers actually see any of this money?

Well, it's complicated.

The price of the coffee is relatively cheap until it's been roasted – or cooked in

an oven.

As a result, roasters take most of the profits.

But there is still a difference.

I'll let Johnathan Josephs, a business reporter for the BBC News explain.

Jonathan Josephs , Business reporter, BBC News

For a pound of coffee beans that end up in the instants (section) sold in supermarkets,

the roaster can get over $4.

But the export price is just $1.45.

The farmer gets most of that.

But when the new wave of socially-aware customer pays a premium for higher standards, the roaster

can get $17.45, but the export price also rises to $5.14.

A premium is an amount that's more than usual.

So the farmer makes three-and-a-half times as much money.

Which means a better quality of life for the farmer, their family and their community.

That's good news!

I will definitely look for the ethically produced coffee from now on.

As long as, Dan, it doesn't come out of some animal!

Yes, actually that reminds me.

Our quiz question.

I asked you which animal the speciality coffee Kopi luwak comes from.

a) an elephant

b) a cat

c) a weasel

And I said a cat.

And you are wrong I'm afraid.

Kopi luwak comes from a type of weasel.

I'm kind of relieved about that.

Let's try not to think about it, and have a look at the vocabulary instead.

OK.

So, first we had dash.

A dash of something is a small amount of something, usually a liquid.

Where might we talk about a dash of something, Dan?

Well, I like my tea with a dash of milk.

My gin with a dash of tonic, and my soup with a dash of salt.

Then we had aficionado.

An aficionado is someone who is very interested or enthusiastic about a subject.

What are you an aficionado of?

I'm working on becoming a bit of an accordion aficionado actually, Dan.

Wow, cool!

Yeah!

After that, we had as cheap as chips.

Is something as cheap as chips?

Then it is very cheap indeed.

Like my shoes!

I bought them at a market for next to nothing.

They were as cheap as chips.

Then we had ethical.

Something which is ethical is morally right.

Do you consider yourself to be an ethical person, Catherine?

Well, I try, Dan.

I don't always get it right, but I do attempt to be.

After that we heard roasted.

Roasted means cooked in an oven.

Like our coffee beans!

And of course our very famous English roast.

Finally, we had a premium.

If you pay a premium, you pay more than usual - usually for a better quality or service.

Can you think of an example?

If you're going to the cinema, you might pay a premium to get more comfortable seats.

And that's the end of this 6 Minute English.

Don't forget to check out our YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and we'll see

you next time.

Goodbye.

Bye!

Hello.

This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam.

Have you always wanted to learn to dance the tango, do a magic trick, or skydive?

If so, perhaps you need a bucket list – a list of all the things you want to do before

you die – that's the topic of our programme.

Bucket lists have been called 'the greatest hits of your life' and have helped some

people overcome anxiety and fear of following their dreams.

But they've also been accused of limiting the imagination by encouraging people to follow

someone else's idea of the perfect life.

So, what would be on your bucket list, Neil?

Are you a skydiving kind of person?

Not really!

Bungee-jumping maybe - as long as someone checked the elastic rope!

How about you?

One thing I've always wanted to do is swim with dolphins.

Well, you're not alone there, Sam, because swimming with dolphins is one of the most

commonly included personal goals on bucket lists.

But which of the following things do you think tops the list?

That's my quiz question for today.

Is it:

a) swimming with dolphins

b) getting a tattoo, or

c) seeing the northern lights

I'll go for a) swimming with dolphins – one, because it's something I really want to

do and two, because I've heard so many stories about how it improves your mental health.

Well, that was certainly true in the case of blogger Annette White.

She listed hundreds of things she wanted to accomplish - from learning Spanish to hanging

out with penguins in Antarctica - as a way of improving her psychological wellbeing.

Here she is talking to Claudia Hammond for BBC Radio 4's programme All in the Mind:

You said that you started all this to try to help you overcome your anxiety – has

it done that?

It definitely has and I feel that the reason is because that promise to live my bucket

list really continuously pushes the comfort zone to its limits and beyond it.

So every time I can have a chance to step out of my comfort zone, a little piece of

that fear of the unknown is removed and replaced with a little piece of empowerment, and by

continuously doing that, the size of my fear bubble has gotten smaller.

Annette feels that choosing adventurous goals for her bucket list helps her step outside

her comfort zone – the situations where she feels safe and comfortable but where her

ability and determination are not really being tested.

Moving out of her comfort zone has helped Annette replace her feelings of fear with

feelings of empowerment – the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially

in controlling her life.

Well, that all sounds pretty good to me.

But not everyone is convinced that bucket lists can really help people like Annette

in the long run.

Here's clinical psychologist Linda Blair to explain why:

I'm not really in favour of bucket lists.

There are a couple of reasons.

Most of all, you're kind of fooling yourself with a bucket list.

We fear death, more than I think we fear anything else in our existence, because we can't

predict it, and because we don't know what it's like because nobody comes back and

tells us.

And when you create a bucket list – something to do before you 'kick the bucket',the

idea that you're giving yourself is that you can somehow control when and what death

is going to be all about.

We only make sense of our lives at the end of it.

A bucket list takes you away from the chance to be spontaneous and I think it's so delicious

to be able to say, 'that's an opportunity?

– oh, I'll do that!'

Linda thinks some people use bucket lists as a coping strategy to try to control something

uncontrollable – death.

In this way they are fooling - or deceiving - themselves - trying to make themselves believe

something they know is not really true.

And by having a checklist of adventures to tick off before they die, people might lose

the chance to be spontaneous – to act in a natural and impulsive way without planning.

Linda also uses an unusual expression which gave 'bucket list' its name in the first

place.

A bucket list is all the things you want to do before you 'kick the bucket' – an

informal way of saying, 'die'.

'Kick the bucket' is an old English expression that was even used by Shakespeare.

It refers to kicking the bucket away from under the feet of a hanging man, leaving him

to drop to his death.

Well, anyway, I hope I don't kick the bucket before I've had a chance to tell you the

correct answer to today's quiz.

Remember, I asked you which personal goal was most often included in bucket lists?

I said, a) swimming with dolphins

But the actual answer was c) seeing the northern lights

Well, maybe we could combine the two in a single trip…

And then get a tattoo!

That would be spontaneous!

Today, we've been discussing bucket lists – lists of all the things you want to do

before you 'kick the bucket' – an informal way of saying 'die'.

Bucket lists can be a great way to feel empowered – stronger and more in control of your life,

because they take you out of your comfort zone – comfortable situations which are

safe but not challenging.

But others think you're fooling – or deceiving yourself – if you think bucket lists can

really help you control your life.

In fact, they might even make you less spontaneous – less able to act in natural, sudden and

impulsive ways.

That's all from us for now.

Why not go and make some plans for all the things you'd like to do in your life?

And start having adventures before we see you next time here at 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

Bye.

Goodbye.

Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil and joining me today is Rob.

Hello.

So Rob, what's the most dangerous thing you've ever chosen to do?

Mmm.

Tricky question.

I've done many risky things, but probably the most risky thing is bungee jumping in

New Zealand.

Oh wow, bungee jumping.

You'd never catch me doing that.

Did you enjoy it?