Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the BigAppleSchool podcast, where the goal of this show is to help you improve your listening skills by listening to us. My name is Benjamin, and today I'm joined by three ladies. I have to my right...
Welcome back, Natalie. And of course, we have...
Welcome back, Katya. And last but not least...
Welcome back. So, guys, I have some sad news. Unfortunately, this is going to be my last podcast episode. I'm going to be leaving the BigAppleSchool, but I've had a great time working here, and I'm really sad that I have to leave all these cool people. Moving onto the next chapter, I'm not going to say where I'm going because I don't want to jinx the experience, but wish me luck.
Thank you very much. I think MI6 wants me somewhere else.
New chapter. It's exciting.
Exactly. But it's been a real pleasure working with everyone here.
2 Years. More than two years.
Really does. Yeah, really does.
Well, in this industry quite often you have backpackers, who go to Vietnam, they stay for a few months and then they change schools or something. But yeah, I've really enjoyed working. I've learnt a lot, I've met a lot of cool people and yeah, yeah, love the team here. So sorry, but I'm sure we'll find another good podcast host. But the next...
I'm blinking here, you know.
Yes, so that's the big news. Any other news from you?
Not really. You know, waiting for the spring time.
Just enjoying the longer daylight.
You know, just same old, same old.
Well, I just learnt a new idiom in Russian, thanks to Olya. So «я в малине». Yeah. So it directly translates "I am in the raspberry". Correct?
But there is no English equivalent.
Yeah, exactly. There's no English equivalent. So I guess it means. Well, how would you describe this idiom?
To be surrounded by girls. Usually girls, usually as you said it can be...
I guess so. But I'm not quite sure about this one.
I can't think of an English equivalent. Off the top of my head, which is another idiom.
Oh, look at you, it's like, you know, farewell gift. Just you know throwing idioms all over.
Yes, I am in the raspberry, let's say. Yes. Well, so really cold, isn't it? So -27 outside.
It's okay. It feels different than it did in December, you know.
Well, walking into the studio, my toes are still a little bit frozen from outside.
I don't know, I feel great. Just again, it's not windy. So that's the whole point. But when it's windy and you know, it can be -10, but when it's windy, it's awful. But now like...
It's kinda beautiful outside, you know, the sun is shining.
Like a true Brit Benjamin starts every conversation about the weather.
Yes, exactly. Like small talk. Yeah.
Well the novelty will never wear off for me.
Fair enough. Especially in Siberia.
Yes. I'm wearing really, really thick socks. And even still, I can feel the, um, you know, the coldness and the freezing air on my toes. Yes. So are you wearing what are they called валенки?
I used to when I was younger.
And then what made you stop wearing these big boots?
Oh, it's not cool, I guess, anymore.
They are so cool. I love them. They're awesome.
But you don't really see people wearing them, so you don't want to be like, you know..
Like grandmas. You know, sometimes they do...
Yeah, the retro fashion is always cool. So just because grandmas wear it doesn't mean it's not cool.
Benjamin and his fashion advice.
Yeah, but still, it's like the warmest thing I've ever worn, like in my life.
They are not heavy at all.
You've never tried them on?
They look really heavy. They look like...
You know, they're like really comfortable. They have like this shape and like, yeah, there is an edge at the bottom, you know, and you have to, like, kind of step on it.
Don't want to be a killjoy over here, but correct me if I'm wrong, but that ain't our topic today.
It's not our topic today. It's not. We're going to be speaking about...
Just Benjamin is using every opportunity to talk about all things he likes.
We haven't talked about planes yet, but...
But don't worry we will get on it. Well, before we mention the topic that we're going to discuss today, I just want to say we have some news. We had a wonderful speaking club this week with Katya.
Online speaking club. How did that go, Katya?
Oh, that went wonderful. At first it was a little bit, you know, kind of afraid that it wouldn't, you know, create as much joy and conversation and discussion because the topic was stress and sleep. But it was such a heated.
That's an amazing topic actually.
Debate in a way sometimes. Yeah. So it was really great. I'm really grateful to everyone who joined and who was actively participating.
So for those of you who want to find more information about the speaking club, you can find information on Telegram, and we're trying to have these speaking clubs as frequently as possible. So definitely stay tuned to our Telegram channel so you can stay in the loop, which is a great idiom.
Another idiom. To stay in the loop, which means to stay updated.
Yes. So definitely join our speaking club, online speaking club. And also... We also have an aftershow to this podcast. And you definitely should think about joining this. How can we find this? We go to the BigAppleChatBot on Telegram. Type that in on Telegram, BigAppleChatBot.
I think you're confusing people, Benjamin because we have to point out that it's not limited to aftershow of the podcasts. Apart from that, we do have vocabulary lists, in general conversations. So if at any moment you feel like you want to speak some English, either in writing or in speaking, you know, practice your listening and so on, we're always there to chat about absolutely anything you want. So yeah, it's a great chance to be closer to the community, you know, to practise English, learn something new, exchange memes, you know, whatever.
So definitely join this community. It'd be great practice for you. And of course, you can see the video version of this podcast and you can see us. Hello, guys. For those of you who are seeing us on YouTube. Hello. Hello. You can see the lovely flamingo in front of us and we change the light every time. So check it out.
Something to, you know, kind of look forward to what it's gonna be.
Like Katya said, I'd say one of the best parts is the vocabulary list, because then you can stay up to date with all the coolest, latest English words and you can boost your idiom knowledge, knowledge of idioms and vocabulary in general.
Well, what are we going to talk about today? We're going to talk about apps.
Looking at everyone, Who's going to, who's going to do it, who's going to say.
So apps in general. Well, we all have smartphones, but not grandmas who wear валенки. But well, maybe I might be grandma with валенки.
And your iPhone. What? Five?
I have an iPhone 5. And speaking of apps. My iPhone 5 is starting to not accept a lot of apps. So I use this flashcard app to stay up to date with Russian words, but unfortunately the developers updated it and...
So you can't use it anymore?
Yeah, my iPhone 5 is too ancient for this, so. ..Yeah. Well...
How long have you been using it? Like 10 years?
Actually... No, no. This iPhone is actually really new. Believe it or not, it's only three years old. And my mother basically gave it to me because she had... She just had this... Actually, she didn't give it to me. She exchanged her phone at the Apple store or something. I can't remember exactly what happened.
So you've been using it for three years, but what about your mom?
That's a different question.
Oh, I don't know what phone she has right now. I haven't stayed up to date with her phones. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her for like over two years now, which is a long time. Obviously, we speak a lot. Hello, Mom, You're probably listening to this, but I haven't seen her in over two years, so I don't know exactly what phone she has, but, yeah, she was very generous to help me out with an iPhone 5, but prior to that, I had... What was it? An HTC, you know, HTC. They were fun phones.
I haven't seen them around actually.
So if we talk about apps then. What is your most used one?
Telegram I guess. Or VK messenger. So one of that.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't really use the official one.
Wait, there is a separate messenger like an app?
Yeah, just messages. That's it. So that I don't have new feed, communities. Yeah, just chatting.
I'm kind of behind, you know, everything like what?
You haven't heard of that?
So messenger apps. Of course, everyone knows the names of all the major messenger apps. We don't need to say because everyone knows. But..
What about you, Benjamin?
Well, my most frequently used app, I would say, is between... What you mean other than messenger apps?
In general, I like to use 2GIS, as you would probably say in English. I use it just to check out town just to see what's around...
So tell me why you don't like it.
It's uncomfortable. I like Google Maps. It's much more convenient. Yeah, I know.
Oh, no, I don't think so.
I just don't understand how it works. I mean, this 2GIS thing.
Google Maps is great for outside of Russia.
And Russia too. It's amazing.
You can now even see the entrance there. Like in 2GIS you can actually see where the entrance is.
You can see everything in there.
Everything. Definitely. Like the floors and stuff.
No, it's not. Not to me, I'm not the user then. Seriously.
So I believe double gis or 2GIS. I guess because it's a Russian app, everyone just двагис.
Okay, we have Yandex maps.
But it was invented here in Novosibirsk, wasn't it?
2GIS. So that's one of Novosibirsk's pride.
So why is it so popular in Russia?
I think. Well, first of all, it appeared a long, long time ago. And I remember that was so helpful when I just moved to Novosibirsk back in the day that we did not have smartphones, I should say, you know, so that was back in 2009.
So it was a computer... not application first.
And I used it every time I had to go anywhere because I was new in the city. I was like, Oh my God, I have no idea where everything is. So yeah. And one of the things that I personally like about it is that you can use it offline. You don't need to like go online every time. You can just download the app and that's it. I know that you have this sort of function in Google Maps these days as well. Like you can kind of download them.
You don't have to download it. For example, when I was in Turkey and I didn't have internet connection because it was just for a week and I decided okay, I'm not buying this because it was like $100.
I don't know. It was at the airport actually, and I was going to buy it, but it was like $100. I was like, No, thank you.
I'm not that addicted. Addicted to social media.
Exactly. So it was like, okay, I just try to use it without internet connection. And it actually worked really well. So of course it wasn't like, you know, if I wanted to search for something, I couldn't, but I could track myself, you know, on the map like where I'm going and so on. So yeah.
I know this... Well, coming back to flying. When you're on a plane, if you open the maps on your phone, you can actually track yourself, which is really interesting, even if you haven't got a connection for some reason, it works.
Cause it's not Internet technically.
Yeah, well, I remember back in the day at home when I say back in the day, I mean when I was like 15, I had Google Earth. Can you remember Google Earth?
Yeah. Like sometimes, you know, you can. Yeah. You can actually have Mars and Moon there. I guess. So it's so cool just to explore it.
So you also like exploring maps as well?
Yeah. It's my guilty pleasures.
It's one of my hobbies, actually.
Cause why not? It's so interesting.
To travel to places you cannot go at the moment.
Google Earth is so cool. Before the day... Before the advent of smartphones. I spent a lot of time on Google Earth. Yeah. Spinning the globe.
Yeah. So map apps are really cool. Also, one interesting fact in China, I believe Google Maps is not accurate because...
It's it works. But like, not really precisely.
Yeah because I think it's to do with the military or something.
Yeah, of course. Definitely. They don't want, you know, access to be provided to everybody.
You can use, you know, some of their apps. They have a lot of like, you know, substitutes for every app, basically for Facebook, for Instagram, for. юю
They do. And it's amazing how many people use these apps. And nobody...
What do you use? What is it called? YOUKU?
I don't remember, actually. Yeah, but I used to have like I don't know at least ten applications for China specifically.
Yeah. And millions, if not billions of people use these apps. And nobody knows in the West what they are.
Which is what's so funny about them. So when you were in Asia, which map apps did you use, just Google?
I think yeah, it was Google, but there was another app, but I don't remember the name, so it was something. Chinese, basically. When I was in China. In Thailand, in Malaysia and Indonesia everything worked, obviously. So it was okay.
Yeah, it was all in English, I guess.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course.
I had a feeling and I didn't use any apps when I was in China, but I've got a feeling that WeChat, it's like the sacred app.
Like you use it for so many things.
You can pay with it, you can get a taxi with it. Actually, VK is doing the same now they're trying to at least but yeah. Not really successfully.
Oh yeah. You mentioned taxi apps. Which is your favourite taxi app in Novosibirsk?
I can only download Yandex because if I tried to do... Well my phone has the setting that like the country is the US because I have my banking app on it that I don't want to lose access to. So that's why every time I try to like download and set up an Uber, it's like, Oh, you can't do it in this territory. So it's only Yandex taxi for me, but in the US, Benjamin, what was your app of choice?
They have Lyft, they have Lyft and Uber. Those are the two main ones, I would have to say Uber. I never actually tried Lyft, even though it's really popular. Do you know much about the differences between the two?
To be honest, I didn't notice much difference. Sometimes it's the price, but all in all it's the same thing. And very often you would get a car and you would see the both sticker of an Uber and Lyft on it. Oh, what I love though. It's a bit of a difference between the apps in like Uber in the U.S., uber in Russia. Actually, we have this feature now in Uber in Saint-P. Is that you can have an uberpool cause let's say now in Novosibirsk, you take a taxi, you know, you order a taxi, you are the only passenger. And Uberpool gives you a chance to kinda split the cost.
I only used uberpool because, I mean, let's say from Wellesley to Boston, the Uber, it was called an Uber X. If you're the only passenger, it was like $40.
But to have an uberpool, it was like 15, 16. Please.
I didn't use taxis too often in America.
I had a car. I would only use it if I don't know I was having a few drinks and I didn't want to drive or something.
Well, you were a driver, so it's kinda easier for you.
Yep. It was pretty cool meeting fellow kind of drunk people in the uberpool.
All right. Where are you going from?
Well, I guess the reason why it's not in Novosibirsk is... Well, actually, I don't know why. Why isn't it in Novosibirsk?
Because it's taxes affordable here. It really is affordable. So what's the point of splitting the cost if the cost itself is not that high.
It's such a big advantage of living here is you don't have to feel guilty about taking a taxi. You're coming back from the airport to the centre of the city is what it's like 700, 600 rubles.
Sometimes like an hour long drive.
Like in London, you would pay. Well, did you ever get a taxi in London?
Yeah. Not in Londodn. In Scotland. And, like, 15 minutes drive was like £15. Something like that.
Actually... I mean, it is expensive compared to Russia.
It's like 10, 15 minutes.
And during the day. So it wasn't like rush hour or someting.
My student had to take a taxi from Heathrow to the centre. It was like 65.
But that's okay for, for London as well. Yeah. So at least...
At least they didn't get ripped off.
Yeah, I've heard of people paying up above £100 for a taxi from airports to the centre, just like an hour drive sometimes. But as I think we've discussed before, you can get the tube from...
Of course that's what they did actually.
Even the express would be cheaper than taxi. It costs like £24.
Yeah. So you got the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to...
Yeah. I think so. I was staying in next to Hyde Park. And I went to subway and then we took the tube and will just arrive to the airport.
Well, you said you went to Subway, the restaurant. Oh, yeah, I get it.
Actually, I genuinely thought you meant Subway cause we have Subway.
No, it's, um. I think in Glasgow, they called it... I mean, I know, we're not talking about apps here, but in Glasgow they call the subway. They call it the subway.
In Glasgow. Well, definitely in New York for sure.
Yeah. Well that's what we use. Okay. Metro. Let's call it metro.
So yeah, Apps, apps, apps. Is there an app that you could not live without?
I wouldn't say like wouldn't live or couldn't live without it. I guess you can live without any app. Maybe like, Which one is the most useful for you? I would put it this way. So I guess that's Telegram.
I think, yeah, because we have work there as well.
And I'm the one who has, like, you know, a line appearing above the head, like, addicted.
To a certain social media that starts with In and ends with Gram. Banned gram.
Yeah. So some sort of nogram.
Well I haven't, I haven't used this since last year. Cause I don't want any trouble.
Yeah, I just haven't touched it. I don't, I don't want to.
I could not live without it. This is legit one app I cannot imagine my life without.
That's what I'm trying to do, actually. I decided to quit it.
You'd be surprised how easy it is to quit.
You just quit it. That's it. I just quit.
I completely forgot about it.
I mean, if again, if you're not active there, but if you're active there.
Well, if you're active, it's different, right?
It's kind of, you know, some kind of validation that you get from there.
I cannot imagine living without Nogram. Sorry. I'm going to stick to this name. Well, it all depends on what you do over there, what you use it for. This is I have a huge part of my life over there.
I have a lot of friends there. But again, I told them, okay, now I use Telegram, please contact me there or don't at all.
So for me, it's much more than that. Well, first of all, you kind of stay on top of things, you know, stay in touch with people without actually staying in touch with people. So at least, you know, like, you know, their lives.
What's happening to them.
It's much easier, you know, to post things and say like, hey, you know, I'm okay or I'm there, I'm there and you don't need to send like 150 messages or something.
Maybe. But, you know, like, I understood that every time I go there, it's like, you can't stop.
Exactly. And it can't stop you. Like you either scroll the reels, you know, or you text with somebody. Then you wait for them to answer. Then you text again, then you wait again. Then you go to another chat and text to other people. And it's like a vicious circle. You know something like that.
But I decide. Okay, so...
Well, okay, my, my question is what initially did you use it for? So, I mean, like...
I used it more just as a personal photo album.
Yeah. Actually I had an idea, you know, it's basically an autobiography of some kind.
You kinda write it, you know.
It's kind of like your CV, CV autobiography.
Well, actually, potential employers do check social media sometimes, because for me, it's much more than that. Okay. I mean, I do posts. It's a combination of my diary. Communicating with people. But more than 50% of things I cook are the recipes I get from there. Oh, so it's the recipes. I cook so many things, you know, from there. I learn Spanish. So I am...
It is a good language learning tool.
It is, it is. That's what I'm missing actually.
I watch reels, stories, videos, posts and everything, you know, in Spanish. And it's much easier to remember when you have it, you know, like as a video or short video or something.
I did it too, actually. I used it as a source of some information. I have a lot of psychologists who I follow there a lot of, you know, neurologists, I don't know scientists, and they really give you a lot of valuable information.
Exactly. And it's usually given it's like short, you know, extracts.
Source of inspiration. I follow people who inspire me. Ah, outfit ideas.
But again, you compare too much, you know, for example. Okay, You see a lot of I know I don't do that, but again, especially for young people, I think it's kind of relevant.
That's more about being sensible and knowing when to stop and so on and among other things.
Being addictive. I think, you know.
Could be. Iit's a community as well. Like I'm in a community of ESL teachers and I get so many teaching ideas, you know, some sort of tips, courses and so on, like the amount of professionals over there who are sharing their knowledge is amazing. And that's why I love this banned social media for.
I think so. Banned. Banned gram.
Well, speaking of inspiration, do you ever use Pinterest?
Like references, you know, for painting or something like that.
Oh, I love the look like...
I just download the wallpapers for my phone. That's it.
So wait, what in general are the apps that you use? I mean, not for work.
Yandex. For sure. Like Yandex music. Yeah.Yandex Go. That's it. VK and WhatsApp.
Just for chatting. That's what I'm trying to use it for it because...
Do you have any like publics that you follow that you check out?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But you know, I use VK messages like the most but when I need some kind of information because yeah I, I do follow some communities on VK so like for example as you say like some kind of inspiration for lessons. Yeah. I go to the official one but still I try not to use it because as you said, like it's void that just, you know...
You said Yandex music. How much does that cost a month?
And you can listen... What's the library selection like?
It's huge. It's pretty good actually.
Yeah. Yeah. From classic to whatever.
So it's like Spotify basically.
It's getting there. Not like exactly.
But still like you cannot find the newest albums or something like that.
So yeah but still I don't listen to that kind of music, so I don't care.
Yeah, well, I believe we have a podcast episode about music, so definitely listeners check out our podcast selection.
You must have been, you must have been. You're one of the music...
No you must have been there. I don't rememebr but...
We have so many podcasts that we can't even remember who was where. So definitely check out our podcast episodes. We have so many on so many different topics. But yeah, speaking music.
On many different platforms. So Yandex music, I mean, I just listen to my music on YouTube, to be honest.
I don't understand how. There's always a video and again, like turn off the screen.
And I guess it's like, you know, battery-consuming, no?
Yeah. And it's like you can't put it in the pockets, you know.
I don't use it on my phone.
Should have seen that coming.
Oh, I just download song. So I just download songs.
On my iPhone 5. Yeah, I just download songs from YouTube and...
Upload it to iTunes and I choose... Speaking of apps, it gives me a... Sometimes it gives me a problem, especially with my older phone.
For some reason it always wants to update, and until you've updated your iPhone, it will not allow you to upload downloaded tracks onto your phone.
So sorry but can't relate. Yeah, definitely.
So what phone do you have again?
I literally do not. I don't. It was a gift. So I'm like...
So it was a gift. So. And it was better than my previous Samsung. So I'm like, it's not, I don't know...
Yeah, yeah, yeah I've heard of it.
It's written like honor like h-o-n-o-r. But it's pronounced is honor.
Ah yeah. Honor. Yeah, yeah, of course I've heard about it.
I guess this is it. Oh, my God. Yeah. I don't know. The thing is that most of the devices that I have in my life come either from me asking my friends, like, Hey, I need a new phone. Can you choose something for me, please? Because I'm... When it comes to devices, I'm dumb. And the same with like laptop. I was choosing my laptop by googling cheapest laptops or best laptops for work under $200. And number one, I'm like, that will do.
Doesn't it crash all the time?
No. I mean, we do have our issues. We do have our issues. My students have their issues with my laptop. But sometimes, you know, I'm like, you better work. So, but yet it was 200 still working, you know, three years still going.
That that's actually a really good deal. I mean, I got a refurbished laptop before I came out here, so I bought a MacBook Air and they've really cool. Normally if you get a MacBook Air, they're really expensive. But I went on eBay and found a refurbished or a refurbisher someone who takes old laptops and makes them better. Oh, and it's amazing. Because I have this like basically brand new MacBook Air for £200. And it's amazing.
Yeah. Well, brand new. But to be honest, it is not brand new. Actually, it is a 2012 model, but it looks like it's fresh and it works.
I've always felt a little bit, I don't know, sceptical, afraid of refurbished things.
Because you never know what you're going to get.
But sometimes you can have genuinely really good products. I had a smartphone which lasted for five years, which was refurbished.
It's like 100 years in smartphone years, you know.
Yeah. I definitely recommend getting refurbished products, especially if you're in a country with a lot of regulations like the UK.
Yeah, or the US, I would actually say, believe it or not, the technology for some reason in the UK is better than in the US. I remember people always had more advanced phones in the UK compared to the US counterparts.
Which is funny. In the UK, technology is generally, generally cheaper than it is in America for some reason. I don't know why.
Yeah. Well, in Russia technology is quite expensive, isn't it?
I don't know. I bought a phone on... This one, but the previous one in Scotland and it was almost exactly the same price as in Russia or in China. So it was, you know.
I feel like nowadays, due to some sanctions, you know, the prices can, you know, kind of increase and some of them have skyrocketed.
You know, you can always find something.
So in Scotland you bought it, yeah? Which was a...
Did you get it in a big shop or was it...?
Of course. Big shop. Yeah.
So in England we have or in the UK we have Curry's.
It's been three years I think even more probably don't remember.
So Scottish. Has it got a tartan on it? A kilt.
Can you imagine like siri or something like that with scottish accent?
Oh, God, that's impossible. Oh, my God.
No offence to Scottish accent.
What would you like to do today?
Oh I admire the Scottish accent.
Do you actually use Siri? I don't use.
I kinda like but hate it at the same time. I mean, the accent.
I love Scottish accents, but... Siri. Do you use Siri or any equivalent apps? I have never used.
It's you know, I've seen some videos about like people using Alexa.
I was just going to say it.
Yeah. I used Alexa, also in Scotland actually.
Now we have Alisa in Russia.
So yeah. I recently saw a very funny video where a kid just runs to the station like Alexa. Can reindeer fly? Reindeers cannot fly. Is Santa not real?
I get creeped out by these apps. To be honest, I wouldn't call an app. Actually. It maybe an interface.
Assistant. It's some sort of like an assisstant.
Yeah, for sure. But I just don't, like, use it. Do you ever use the voice recognition apps on your phone or not apps, functions?
I only use it, you know, in Google Translate when I'm too lazy to type in Spanish.
Especially long sentence.
And I'm like, gosh, it's just easier, you know, to put in a Spanish sentence. Yeah. Not that I advocate for Google Translate, being a language teacher.
Well, actually, let us save the translation apps for the aftershow portion of this podcast. We will talk more about language learning and apps itself. Yeah, there are many good translation apps we can talk about in more detail.
Well, what about the advantages and disadvantages of using apps in general? So the advantages of using apps are...
It's convenient. Yeah. It's time-saving.
Saving time, making life easier.
Mm. Yeah, definitely. It's easier to keep in touch.
But you know, when you gather with your friends, you eventually find out you have nothing to discuss because you talk to each other, like, every day. Well, every hour.
It's good if you have a chance to see your friends in real life. My friends now live in different continents. And I'm like, even if I wanted to, you know, it's only down to apps right now. Like, for us. So it's like Telegram and so on and other apps because, well, we live in different countries now.
Yeah. It can help of communication, but it also makes you feel fervour as well. Like, I dunno, could you ever have a long distance relationship just on zoom or?
Oh tried, I mean it didn't work.
Well I mean a lot of people can do it and a lot of people do do it.
I don't understand seriously..
If you're sure that you're going to meet in a year...
We were, we were apart with my fiancee for three months and we were ready. Well, then the pandemic hit, so. But we were ready to actually be, like, separated for like a year. And we're like, okay, this is, this is what it is. We can do it, you know? Technology and everything. Well, so yeah, it depends on your attitude and the trust level and everything.
You know, each relationship is so different.
You can't, you can't just say like, it's going to work or not work for everybody.
Because there are a lot of people for whom it works.
Mhm. Right. So if it works for you so.
Yeah. But usually when you're at home and you're with your friends and everyone has their apps. Even though it brings us together, it also separates us.
Like when we gather together, you know, no one actually uses mobile phones but still there's one friend who keeps chatting and we're like, Come on, take it away. Talk to us. Why? Why did you come here in the first place? Just to chat with, like, different person, Like. Doesn't make sense.
This is some kind of addiction. I think you can't just put it away.
We usually, in a company, we make an exception for, like, work calls or mom calls.
Yeah. Yeah. If it's like emergency.
That's always a priority. Yeah.
That's true. But when do you ask about the advantages of apps? I think it's impossible to say, you know, about all apps because apps are different. Again it could be making our life easier. It could be a source of inspiration. It could navigate us if it's like maps or something, it could...
So in general, I would say it's just making our life, as you said, easier and better.
Especially with regards to things like banking.
Imagine not having banking apps.
Speaking about banking apps. Unfortunately, because of my iPhone 5, I've got my Sberbank app is not working anymore. Needed to be updated and now...
It's difficult to get it.
Regarding banking apps. I don't know if you've noticed, but our Russian baking apps are much, much better.
Cause in the U.S. you can't just transfer money from one card to another. You know, with the within a click of your finger, basically.
Instant transfers as soon as you send money in Russia it lands in your account...
But in the U.S. you have to use some sort of like E-wallets, like Venmo or something like PayPal.
And even still you don't normally get the money instantly.
Yeah. It takes some time to... Well with Venmo is pretty fast though, but yeah, you have to first top up Venmo if you want to transfer money. Actually, one more thing about money, I think we might have mentioned it, but guys, it's I think one of the most common mistake the Russian speakers make. We don't send money like, can you send me money? We top up the cards or transfer money.
You can send money. No. You can send money, I think.
Add money. No, no, no, you can't. Yeah, actually add money. Yeah. Sounds kind of strange. Top up. You're absolutely right. Yeah.
I need to put. Oh, to put money on my card. This is also what Russian speakers say and we can't say that. Yeah, I need to put money on my card. No, I need to top up my card.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, you're right.
Send is kind of sounds fine.
To put money on my card, maybe. It's just. It's maybe. Maybe you could do it. Top up is better, though. You're right. Top up is the best solution.
But banking apps are fantastic.
Yeah, especially compared to the States, for sure.
When I was in America, I used Chase, that was my bank and unfortunately they.. My iPhone 5 doesn't accept Chase anymore.
We could make a drinking game out of this podcast. Drink every time Benjamin says my iPhone 5. So yeah.
Well I use Sberbank in Russia. Do any of you use another bank?
Tinkoff I've heard has really good.
Oh, I love it. It's so user-friendly, it's really nice. You can kind of keep track of your expenses as well, although sometimes it tends to be a little bit I don't want to say passive aggressive, but you know, the situation like. Katerina. Take a quiz. How many times you paid in cafes and restaurants last month? 36? 45? 72? I'm like, I don't like this game.
Tinkoff is marketed towards younger people, isn't it in Russia?
But in general it's very user-friendly. Like it's everything is so obvious. I love it.
Not at the moment, probably.
Yeah. Well, I mean, what do you have? Raiffeisen, Alpha?
I used to use Raiffeisen. It's okay.
There are so many banks. But I think these two regarding apps are just the most user-friendly. The greatest.
Yeah. Back in the UK, I use HSBC, and to be honest, the UK apps are pretty good for banking. You don't get the money as fast as you do in Russia. I will say Russia beats everyone.
I don't know why it is. I don't understand why it's so fast her.
Well, most people listening to this show would love to go to the UK and would love to go to the US, but there are some great things about Russia. I will say that this is one of them.
Yeah. Sorry to interrupt. I was thinking about China actually, and they have again WeChat payments, and it's probably even faster than Russian banks. So when I was there, you know, something that. It's like, for example, again, you pay for dinner and everybody else sends you the money. And within I don't know 20 seconds, you get it, like, really, really quick.
That's cool. That's cool.
But again, and everybody has it. Like, even I don't know homeless people in the streets they have WeChat. Even they ask for money.
Sorry, mam. Do you have some spare change? You're like I'm sorry, I don't have any cash. I accept WeChat.
They just have, you know, this kind of...
Oh a QR code or something?
Yeah, they kind of print it out. They kind of wear it, you know, on their neck or something. And I know, like, cooks, you know, some like that, like in some restaurants, street cafes especially. It can just okay. You can scan it. Yeah. It's really easy. Nobody uses cash like nobody. Seriously. And I used to have cash in the beginning. I didn't have a card. There's a.... How much is it? And she's just like, what is that? Is it like, money actually shows like, Oh, my God.
I haven't seen those you know, for years.
And did you use Apple Pay?
No, Samsung pay. Google Pay. Just that.
Yeah, I've never used that before. So tell me, how does it work? I know you're laughing.
Babushka Ben needs as an education on Samsung Pay. How do you use this app?
You just kind of put your card into the system. You put the number, the CVC code, the date, expiry date, and you just, is it? Like use your phone and it's like..
You kinda tap your phone instead of tapping your card.
Do you tap it using the ... was it like... Do you use the screen?
Well not, it's like the back of you phone.
Yeah yeah yeah. And you just kinda...
Even though you know, we are so used to this and you know we have like the chips on our cards. So, you know, sometimes you have the cards that you have to swipe and you have the cards that you can tap. So and in Russia, most of the cards we just tap things we don't swipe. And in the U.S., I was like, tap. And they're like, oh, honey, it doesn't work like that. You gotta swipe or you gotta insert the card and then like, sign. I'm like, Oh God.
America is really far behind on that. Also, I'm surprised Germany is like that. I believe I've heard maybe things have changed recently, but Germany is quite behind.
Maybe it's just extra security. I don't know.
Well. I don't know. If anyone knows guys let us know. Especially if you work in the banking area. You must have some knowledge about that.
Yeah, we must have a few bankers listening to this show.
I've worked with a few people in the financial industry. So let us know. Bankers.
Another thing is apps can actually help us keep fit. So fitness apps. So I used to oh, I didn't normally use this app, but it's called Strava. Have you ever heard of Strava?
Yeah, I have it. It's for cyclists.
Yes. Yeah. Oh, you've heard of it. Have you used it?
Sure. Oh, the trekking and so on. Yeah.
Cool. So you've used it in Novosibirsk and it has, it got a big community of people.
Right. That's what I like. Like for example, I see a cool cyclist riding a bike and I'm like, okay, I should check it and then I eventually can find someone. So that's really cool. Actually. That's how you can make friends and that's how I actually made.
You can beat your time. You can beat others people time. If you cycle on routes.
I believe you could also use it for jogging, can't you?
Yeah. All kind of sports. But there is a big, you know, cycling community in there.
In London it's huge. A lot of cyclists use Strava.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I even follow one person from the UK.
Oh cool. I haven't used in a while. Sorry iPhone 5, but yeah, it keeps you really fit.
So yeah. So that way you can use an app and you don't have to feel guilty about being like Eric Cartman. Playing World of Warcraft. If any of you know, this South Park episode.
Well, it's a horrible episode, but basically Eric Cartman sits in his chair and gets really fat and his mom brings him a potty.
So let us know if you're familiar with this episode. It's really funny. Any other fitness apps you can think of?
Yeah, I mean, I have my fitness bracelets or whatever it's called. And I have an app on my phone which is attached to it, and I can, you know, track my sleep and my activity in general. Not that I use it a lot, but...
Oh, you track your sleep. Interesting. So how do you how does that work? How does...
It's all about pulse, I think. So. It's like you've got to check.
But you have to wear it at all times.
Of course, it's not like it has, like telepathic, you know, connection to my brain.
So I know there's some sleep apps which can detect if you are in deep sleep.
Does it only by the pulse?
Yes. Yeah, exactly. For example, this night I slept 8 hours and 10 minutes.
Does it mean 8 hours and 10 minutes...
But then you can check, like, how much of that is deep sleep. How much...
On the phone already, in the app.
But still, I think it's it's it may be a bit inaccurate.
It's not precise. Yeah. It's kind of, you know..
But at least you keep your general idea, you know.
And I love that you can see it like the highest and the lowest pulse. Cool as well.
But we've talked about all the good things and you know, but what about the negative sides of apps. So what can be the disadvantages of it?
Yeah first that comes to mind.
Oh yeah yeah yeah. Personal data can be...
Yeah you know I get like I guess one email per week like, Sorry you have troubles logging into some kind of social media so I'm not saying the name.
Someone has been trying to hack....
Yeah yeah yeah. And I'm like okay haven't used it like for two weeks or three weeks. So...
But why my account, like...
I saw this YouTube video where there's this app slash surveillance software or not software, but tools called nest in the U.S., you can buy a camera to watch over your house. And you can, of course, keep an eye on your house from your home. And I saw this guy who had this, um, let's just say package and some Canadian hacker hacked into his house and he started speaking to him via the camera and he said, don't worry, we're whitehat hackers, meaning that we are good hackers and we're trying to find flaws in the system.
They potentially exploits these weaknesses.
Well, I never heard of white hackers.
White hat hackers. It's an IT industry term.
White hat Hackers. Yeah, sounds good.
So it sounds like the Ku Klux Klan, really. So that doesn't sound very nice.
Oh, I didn't think about.
Joining this conversation.
Oh. Okay. Yeah. So that's the...
Security losing. You know, security is definitely one of the...
Yeah. And what about get contact? Have you ever heard of that?
It's like where you can see who exactly is calling you?
No, no, the one where you like, you have to share your contact. Oh, yeah. You can see, like, the way you're named.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess in this case, you can also see like, who's calling you. Because when people are calling you, then get contact search shows like, you know what they are named and other people.
I just have different app for it.
I don't use it. I didn't trust the security side of it.
And you shouldn't because definitely the whole, you know, contact book will be there. So no it's not cool.
Well guys stick by for the aftershow portion where we're going to continue this conversation and we'll discuss how apps are related to language learning. So stick by make sure you join that conversation and yeah, be part of the Telegram chat app where you can also find a vocabulary list for all the words in this podcast. So definitely stick by for that. Thank you guys. And for those of you who are you have to say goodbye to me. So.
Bye for now. See you in the next life.
Oh, wow, that's dramatic, you know.
Yeah. Good luck, Benjamin.
Thank you very much. All right. Bye for now, guys. See ya.
