How colour affects us - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Georgina.

This is the programme

where we hope to add

some colour to your life

by talking about an

interesting subject and

teaching you some

useful vocabulary.

And colour is what we're

talking about today.

What's your favourite

colour, Neil?

Oh, I like green - a fresh,

bold colour, that reminds

me of nature - it can have

a calming effect. And you?

It's got to be blue - it

reminds me of the sea,

the sky - and holidays,

of course!

Colour - no matter which

one we prefer - affects

how we feel. And we'll be

talking about that soon.

But not before I challenge

you to answer my quiz

question, Georgina - and

it's a science question.

Do you know what the

splitting of white light

into its different colours

is called? Is it...

a) dispersion,

b) reflection, or

c) refraction?

Hmmm, well I'm not a

scientist, so I'll have a

guess as c) refraction.

OK, I'll reveal the right

answer later on. But now,

let's talk more about

colour. Colour can

represent many

different things,

depending on where

you come from. You

can be 'green with envy' -

wishing you had what

someone else had.

And someone can

feel blue - so feel depressed.

We choose colours to

express ourselves in

what we wear or how

we decorate our home.

The BBC Radio 4

programme, You and

Yours, has been talking

about colour and whether

it affects everyone's mood.

Karen Haller is a colour

psychologist and a

colour designer and

consultant - she explained

how colour affects us.

It's the way that we

take in the wavelengths

of light because

colour is wavelengths

of light, and it's how

that comes in through

our eye, and then it

goes into the part of

our brain called the

hypothalamus, which

governs our sleeping

patterns, our hormones,

our behaviours, our

appetite - it governs -

everything and so

different colours and

different frequencies or

different wavelengths

of light, we have different

responses and different

reactions to them.

So, colour is

wavelengths of light -

a wavelength is the

distance between two

waves of sound or

light that are next to

each other. As these

wavelengths change,

so does the

colour we see.

Thanks for the science

lesson! Karen also

explained that there's a

part of our brain that

controls - she used the

word govern - how we

feel and how we behave.

And this can change

depending on what

colour we see.

Interesting stuff - of course,

colour can affect us

differently. Seeing red

can make one person

angry but someone else

may just feel energised.

Homeware and furnishing

manufacturers offer a

whole spectrum - or range -

of colours to choose to

suit everyone s taste,

and mood. But during

the recent coronavirus

pandemic, there was a

rise in demand for intense,

bright shades and patterns.

This was referred to as 'happy

design' - design that was

meant to help lift our mood.

Yes, and Karen Haller

spoke a bit more about

this on the You and

Yours programme.

In the time when everyone

was out and we were all

working, and we lived

very busy lives, quite

often what people wanted -

they wanted a quiet

sanctuary to come back

to, so they had very pale

colours or very low

chromatic colours in their

house - low saturation -

because that helped

them unwind and helped

them relax and to feel

very soothed. But what

I have found since

the first lockdown is a

lot of people, because

they re not getting that

outside stimulation, they're

actually putting a lot of

brighter colours in their

home because they're

trying to bring in that

feeling that they would

have got when they were

out - that excitement

and that buzz.

It seems that in our

normal busy working lives,

our homes were peaceful

places and somewhere

to relax - they were a

sanctuary. To create this

relaxing space, we use

pale colours - ones that

lack intensity, like sky blue.

But during the recent

lockdowns, when we

weren't outside much,

we tried to get that

stimulation - that

excitement or experience -

by decorating our homes

with brighter colour.

Such as yellow!

Hmmm, perhaps a little

too bright for me! It is

all about personal taste

and the connections we

make with the colours

we see but it makes

sense that brighter

colours can certainly

lift our mood.

Now, earlier I asked you,

Georgina, do you know

what the splitting of

white light into its

different colours

is called? Is it...

a) dispersion,

b) reflection, or

c) refraction?

And I said it

was refraction.

Sorry Georgina, that's

wrong. It is actually

called dispersion. Back

to school for you - but

not before we recap

some of today's vocabulary.

OK. Firstly we can

describe someone who

wishes they had what

someone else has,

as being green with envy.

We also talked about

a wavelength - the

distance between two

waves of sound or

light that are next

to each other.

To govern means to

control or influence.

A sanctuary can be a

peaceful or relaxing place -

in some cases it can be a

safe place for

someone in danger.

Stimulation describes the

feeling of being excited,

interested or enthused

by something. And pale

describes a colour that

lacks intensity, it's not

very bright - and for me,

they're much better

than a bold bright yellow!

Well, Georgina, thanks for

showing your true colours!

That's all for now, but we'll

be picking another topic

to discuss out of the

blue, next time.

Don't forget you can

hear other 6 Minute

English programmes

and much more on

our website at

bbclearningenglish.com -

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Bye for now.

Goodbye.