Learning English

Finn
Hi this is Finn and I'm joined in the studio today by Jagtar. Hello Jagtar.

Jagtar
Hello Finn.

Finn
How are you?

Jagtar
I'm very well, thank you. You?

Finn
Great, yes. Good to have you here. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Jagtar
I'm an English language teacher. I work at Crisis, which is a homeless charity in London. I've taught English now for seven years, in different countries: Australia, Thailand and Egypt.

Finn
Ok, great. And there's something very interesting about your diet?

Jagtar
Yes. I'm vegan. And so I don't eat meat, fish, poultry, or any cheese, or any honey.

Finn
None of that at all… no eggs?

Jagtar
No eggs unfortunately.

Finn
No animal products at all?

Jagtar
No animal products at all, and I don't wear animal products at all.

Finn
Really?

Jagtar
I've been vegan for three and a half years now. And it's also how I met my wife.

Finn
You met your wife through your vegan diet? Wow, tell me about that.

Jagtar
Well, we met at a vegan cafe in Hackney.

Finn
Which is in East London.

Jagtar
In East London. And so we met there, and then we stayed in contact, and from that we dated, and so we got married last year. Actually, it's our one-year anniversary next week.

Finn
Congratulations, that sounds incredible. But becoming vegan must have meant you made a lot of changes to your diet. What changes did you have to make?

Jagtar
Well I had to go out and buy lots of soya milk, soya butters. I had to change what was in my fridge. So unfortunately that day I had to throw away quite a lot of stuff.

Finn
Oh no.

Jagtar
Or my brother just ate it, I think.

Finn
I hope he enjoyed it. The last meat and animal products in your house. Ok, let's imagine I want to become vegan. Is that good news?

Jagtar
Yes, it's great!

Finn
And… what will I have to do if I want to become vegan tomorrow?

Jagtar
Good question. What you absolutely have to do is make sure you're going vegan for the right reasons. You must read extensively; look at all the blogs and books and websites, and find out as much as you possibly can about veganism. Because it's not only about the diet, it's about minimising your ecological footprint, and also animal rights issues, as well as other issues. So you have to do it for all of those reasons rather than just following a famous celebrity.

Finn
Ok – thanks for all of your tips. Is there anything you must or mustn't do if you want to go vegan?

Jagtar
In my experience, what you mustn't do is talk about veganism when eating with friends and family.

Finn
Oh right.

Jagtar
Yeah. People are there enjoying their food.

Finn
You don't want them to feel bad.

Jagtar
No, because we're in a restaurant and we're celebrating a birthday and having a nice time, and those conversations can be left to a different time.

Finn
Is there anything else that you mustn't do?

Jagtar
Well you mustn't forget to inform people that you're vegan. So for example, if you're invited to a party, inform the host that you're vegan. Because otherwise if you don't, the host will be incredibly embarrassed that you can't eat anything. And also – you'll be hungry!

Finn
That's not much of a dinner party is it, if you have nothing to eat. And anything else?

Jagtar
I think instead of preaching to all your friends and family all the time, I think the best thing to do is to lead by example. As actions speak louder than words.

Finn
Very wise words, thank you Jagtar and… who knows, maybe I will become vegan too. Thanks a lot.

Jagtar
Thank you.