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Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from The Voice of America. I'm Brian Lynn. I'm Ana Mateo. This program is made for English learners, so we speak a bit slower. And we use words and sentences, especially written, for people learning English. Here are the stories we have for you on today's program. John Russell will tell us about birdwatching in the U.S. state of Alabama. I will return with words and their stories. This week, I talk about doing too much, or spreading ourselves too thin. I'll return later with a science story. We will end our show with the lesson of the day, with Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins. But first, a story about birdwatching. In flooded agricultural fields near the Tennessee River, tens of thousands of birds called Sandhill Cranes search for food such as berries, corn, seeds, and insects. The cranes come to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center in northern Alabama during the winter. The yearly movement, or migration, of Sandhill Cranes brings many birdwatchers who want to see the tall birds up close. The birdwatchers also come to see the rare and endangered Whooping Cranes that migrate in much smaller numbers to Wheeler. Many other birds can be seen, including geese, ducks, bald eagles, kestrels, and hawks. Park ranger David Young described the area as a birder's paradise, meaning it is a perfect place for birdwatchers. The cranes fly from the Great Lakes, an area far to the north, to Alabama each year. The Sandhill Cranes started migrating to Wheeler for the winter in the mid-1990s. Their numbers increased by a lot in the mid-2000s, Young said. Last year, the migratory Sandhill population reached a new record of 30,000 cranes. The refuge has become a popular place for birdwatchers who bring handheld telescopes called binoculars. Birdwatchers can even get closer to the 1.2 meter tall cranes as visitors stay hidden behind photography blinds and a two-level observation center. A yearly festival of the cranes in January brings more attention and visitors. The cranes put on a fun show, dancing on their thin legs, moving their wings, and putting their long beaks in the air to make different sounds. Diana Mayberry Sharp regularly comes to Wheeler with friends to hike and look at birds. It's pretty extraordinary. I've seen them in other parts of the country where there were just a few, Mayberry Sharp said. They're not vocal like they are here. There's so many here that it's an unusual experience. The whooping cranes are part of the eastern migratory population that comes from the north-central state of Wisconsin. Young said they started coming to Alabama in 2004. Their population is between 12 and 20 each winter. Whooping cranes nearly died out in the early 1900s because of hunting and farming. The International Crane Foundation says recovery and reintroduction efforts have slowly increased their wild and captive populations to more than 800. The whooping cranes are sometimes hard to see among the sandhills, but their height and white feathers help them stand out. Young said the migration patterns of the cranes might change depending on the climate of both their nesting places to the north and their winter homes in the south. Rob Brewerin brought along his camera and a long telephoto lens and found a good place to work on his wildlife photography skills. He comes to the refuge about twice a month each year to photograph the birds and ducks. You just need to be patient and wait for them to do something interesting and make their calls, Brewerin said. You get that cool shot, and that's a good day. The sandhill cranes will start leaving the refuge in mid-February. Young said he notices a lot more activity when the birds are showing they are ready to travel back to their nesting grounds. It's usually on a day when we have some sort of a south wind, Young said. They're smart, and they will ride the wind back to their breeding grounds whenever it's most convenient for them. I'm John Russell. VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna. The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. And now, words and their stories from VOA Learning English. Today, we talk about our busy lives. Many people have family and work responsibilities. We might have religious or community activities. Taking care of our health is also important. And let's not forget about our personal projects, our interests, and our friendships. With everything on our plate, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, overextended, and overcommitted. However, if we try to do too much, we may spread ourselves too thin. This expression means we have taken on too much. We are pushed to the limit. People who are spread too thin take on too many jobs, projects, or goals. The heavy load requires more energy or attention than they possess. If we work on many projects simultaneously or at the same time, it is possible that none will get done well, if they get done at all. And it is possible such multitasking could stress us out. Being spread too thin can also be described as biting off more than we can chew. When we bite off more than we can chew, we attempt to do more than is possible. Now, let's hear some of these terms and expressions used in a conversation. So, how are your classes going? Not great. Many of my best students are failing my course. They all missed an important deadline for a project. That's strange. What else do they have going on? A lot. They are all performing in the same play. So, they have had rehearsals every night for the past month. And many have part-time jobs as well. Sounds like they've spread themselves too thin. They've got too much going on. I think you're right. So, what are you going to do? Well, first I'll extend the deadline. And then I'm going to warn them about biting off more than they can chew. And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo. Two American astronauts, awaiting their return flight from the International Space Station, ISS, have stayed busy carrying out a series of scientific experiments. The U.S. Space Agency, NASA, has said the pair, Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams, will remain at the ISS until late March or early April. When they arrived at the orbiting laboratory in June 2024, the astronauts expected to stay in space for just one week. Their trip was a test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. While Starliner safely transported the two to the ISS, the spacecraft had several problems that persuaded NASA to send it back to Earth for further testing without the astronauts on board. NASA's current plan calls for Wilmore and Williams to fly back on a SpaceX spacecraft in late March at the earliest. NASA has been using SpaceX's Crew Dragon to regularly carry astronauts and supplies to the ISS since 2020. The astronauts have been using their extended mission to carry out experiments. In addition, Williams stepped out of the space station earlier this month to complete a spacewalk. Another NASA astronaut, Nick Haig, joined Williams on the spacewalk on January 16th, the agency said in a statement. The two repaired a piece of equipment that helps guide the movements of the ISS. The spacewalk also included work on an X-ray telescope as well as maintenance activities for other ISS systems. NASA noted it was the fourth spacewalk for Haig and the eighth for Williams. The space agency said Williams was preparing for another spacewalk planned for January 30th. Wilmore is expected to join Williams on that spacewalk, which NASA estimates will last about six and a half hours. The two will be aiming to remove a radio antenna structure. They will also be searching for microbes around the ISS for use in experiments. Here is a look at other experiments Wilmore and Williams have completed during their stay. NASA said Wilmore and Williams have tested different methods for growing crops in space. Such methods could support humans who have longer stays in space in the future. One experiment is called the Plant Water Management Investigation. NASA said this experiment uses the physical properties of fluids to overcome the lack of gravity and provide hydration to plants. The experiment aims to help NASA develop hydroponic systems to support future space missions. Another experiment examines a new way to grow vegetables, plants and flowers inside the ISS to provide nutrition and beauty. As part of this experiment, Wilmore installed a new light meter inside the ISS. The device is designed to measure available light and to help crew members improve growing operations. NASA also said that throughout the current mission, Williams had deployed and observed three free-flying robots called Astrobee. This robotic experiment seeks to examine how such robots could assist astronauts with daily duties and maintenance work. The agency said the square-shaped robots are designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test new robotic technologies for use in microgravity environments. The assistants are also designed to help astronauts with daily tasks and give ground controllers additional eyes and ears on the space station. Williams tested the robots' ability to map the inside of the space station and Astrobee's flight abilities. NASA astronauts visiting the ISS have a long history of capturing images of Earth from space, and this is another activity Wilmore and Williams have carried out. The ISS gives astronauts a window to the world as they orbit 400 kilometers above their home planet. During their mission, NASA said the two astronauts had captured hundreds of photographs of Earth ranging from auroras, land, sea, orbital sunrises and sunsets, and more. Another space station tradition is for U.S. astronauts to connect with students and other interested individuals during their stay in space. They have virtual visits with people back on Earth who can ask the astronauts how it feels to live in space and can learn about NASA's experiments aboard the ISS. In early August, Williams used ham radio technology to connect with students from Banda Aceh, Indonesia. NASA explained that students get the chance to communicate with the astronauts when the ISS passes overhead. The students can ask about research on the ISS, as well as the radio wave technology that makes the communication possible. I'm Brian Lynn. Hello, my name is Anna Mateo. My name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. You're listening to The Lesson of the Day on The Learning English Podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. In Lesson 34 of the series, Anna has a decision to make. She is trying to decide what costume to wear for Halloween, a popular tradition in the United States. A costume is a special set of clothes very different from what a person normally wears. Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. People dress as monsters, ghosts, witches, or other scary creatures. They also dress as all kinds of other things, such as American football players, animals, and even objects such as a bottle of beer. People can get very creative with their costumes. Let's listen and find out what costume Anna might decide to wear. Hello. Halloween is very popular in the United States. Children trick or treat. They ask people for candy. Children and adults wear costumes and go to parties. In fact, there is a Halloween party tonight. I need my friend Jeannie. Jeannie! Hi. Hi, Anna. What do you need? Tonight there is a Halloween party. I love Halloween. Are you going? I might go. I might not go. I don't have a costume. Can you help me? Dress as a genie. Great idea. I can do a genie trick like read minds. Anna, be careful. Things might go wrong. What could go wrong? You might guess that things will go wrong for Anna. A genie is a magical person with special powers. A genie can make people's wishes come true. In English, we ask a genie to grant us our wish. To grant us our wish means to make our wishes come true. And in general, to grant something to someone means to give them something. Anna thinks her genie costume might also give her the power to know what other people are thinking or read their minds. But then again, it might not. Anna sits outside with a sign. The sign has the words Mind Reader written on it. People see the sign and ask her about it. Let's listen. Are you really a mind reader? I might be. Okay. Tell me what I'm thinking. Sure. First, what do you do? I study. I'm a junior in college. What do you study? I study journalism. Okay. Wait. You are thinking you will graduate from college in about one year. Well, yeah. That's the plan. I told you. I'm a junior in college. Right. Wait. There's more. You are thinking you might get a job writing the news. I might get a job writing the news? I might? That means I might not. And I'm studying really hard. No, no, no. You will. You will get a job writing the news. I will? You will. I will. I think. Anna changed her statement from might to will to make the person feel better and more certain about her future. Yes, but I'm not sure this person feels very certain she will get a job writing the news. It seems that Anna might not have the mind-reading powers she thought. I think she will find out pretty quickly that her costume does not give her special powers. The modal will expresses certainty about the future. We use it when we are sure something is going to happen. And we use the expressions it could or it might when we are not sure something will happen. Something uncertain often depends on things we can't predict or know in advance. To predict is to say what will happen in the future. When we predict, we make a prediction. A prediction is what we think will happen. There are accurate and less than accurate predictions people make about the future. Meteorologists are scientists who study the weather. They also make predictions about the weather. These predictions are called forecasts. Thanks to computers, satellites, and other technology, weather forecasts these days are more accurate than they were in the past. We can say that weather patterns, or kinds of weather that repeat, are predictable. So we have the verb PREDICT, the noun PREDICTION, and the adjective PREDICTABLE. And the adverb form is PREDICTABLY. Like Anna is predictably silly in these lessons. That is a good example. Sports gambling is another area where people try to predict what will happen. When people gamble money or place bets on sporting events, they are also making predictions. If they make the correct prediction, they can win money. But sometimes a bad prediction can end up costing them a lot of money. Whether they make money depends on how the athletes play. And these expressions IT DEPENDS and IT DEPENDS ON are very common and useful in English. Let's look more closely at these expressions. When we say IT DEPENDS, we mean the results or predictions may be affected by other things or factors. For example, whether or not your garden produces a lot of vegetables depends on factors such as the amount of rain or water, sunshine, temperature, and the condition of the soil or ground. And notice that we use the preposition ON after the verb DEPEND. We often add a noun clause after the phrase IT DEPENDS ON, like this example. The noun clause is... We can say IT DEPENDS ON this or IT DEPENDS ON that or IT DEPENDS ON plus a noun clause. Here's one more example with a noun clause. The noun clause in this example has four words. Did you hear the noun clause? What are the four words? That's right. The noun clause is... I think for people learning English, their success depends on how much they study and how well they study, like if they use good methods or ways to improve their English. That's right. And the free lesson plans that go with the Let's Learn English series We call these learning strategies. And I predict that you will make another prediction about Anna. Actually, that's not a prediction. I am certain she will change her costume because I've already seen lesson 34 of the Let's Learn English series. What costume does Anna change to? We hope you will watch lesson 34 to find out. And remember that each lesson has a pronunciation practice video and a lesson plan you can download for free. You can find that all on our website at learningenglish.voanews.com. Just go to the beginner tab. Remember that you can find us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks for listening to the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Dr. Jill. And that's all the time we have for today's show. Thanks for listening. Some content in today's show is from the Associated Press or Reuters News Agency. And don't forget to join us again tomorrow when we will have more stories from around the world aimed at helping you learn English. I'm Anna Mateo. And I'm Brian Lynn.