BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Art & Culture' English mega-class! Thirty minutes of new vocabulary!

Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.

And hello, I'm Rob.

Now Rob, how creative are you?

Very creative, I think.

Creativity is in my bones!

Look at this wonderful script that I wrote and

we're presenting right now.

You are what we could call 'a creative' – a noun

which means someone with a lot of imagination

and ideas.

In our job we have to create – or make –

content that teaches English creatively.

Creativity is becoming more important for everyone.

The World Economic Forum forecasts that by 2020,

creativity will be in the top three most important skills

for future jobs.

This is particularly relevant for younger

people who will be entering the world of work soon –

and that's what we'll be discussing today.

But before we do, Neil, have you created a

question for us to answer?

Yes, and it's about the very creative artist Banksy.

He created a well-known piece of artwork that

has been in the news recently,

but do you know what it is called?

Is it…

a) Girl with Balloon

b) Girl with Red Balloon

c) Balloon Girl

I can see the picture in my head –

so I think it's c) Balloon girl.

OK, and we'll find out the answer later.

But now back to our discussion about

creativity.

Experts say that students need

to focus more on creativity to help them

get a job.

That's perhaps surprising in the UK,

when some of our creative industries –

that's businesses that make music, art

and TV for example – are world famous.

We are creative people, Rob!

Of course, but there's not such a focus on

being creative in education now and that

might have an effect in the future.

It's something Bernadette Duffy, an early

years consultant, has been discussing

on BBC Radio 4's Bringing up Britain programme.

What does she say we have been

focusing too much on in schools?

We focus on the things that are legitimately

important but we teach them in a way that

makes them easier to measure.

I think we

need to redress the balance that puts the

focus purely on gaining the skills and far

far more on actually using them in a creative

way because that's what's going to

make a difference for the future.

So Bernadette feels we teach skills

in a way that can be easily measured

and tested.

She says we teach these skills

legitimately – which here means fairly and reasonably

But she feels we don't teach a

creative approach to learning skills.

So we mean things like problem solving.

I guess, even tasks like data inputting and

preparing spreadsheets can be approached creatively.

In any job, it's sometimes good

to 'think outside the box' or find new ways

of doing things.

Bernadette thinks we should move away

from just learning skills and start using

these skills creatively – she used the

expression 'redress the balance' which

means 'change things to make them

fairer and more equal'.

Well, here at the BBC we have to creative.

In fact one of our values states that

'creativity is the lifeblood of our organisation'.

Lifeblood here means 'the most important

thing to make something a success'.

Rob, I can see creativity is in your blood –

but on an everyday level how can we all

improve our creativity – be more like you?!

Well, Neil, I'm no expert but Innovation Manager,

Nick Skillicorn is.

He's also been speaking to the

BBC and explaining what we can do to help ourselves.

What does he suggest?

On a daily basis, everyone should take fifteen

minutes of what I call unfocused time –

time that they're not looking at any screen,

time that they can essentially get back into

their own head, slow down a bit, and start

forming these new connections between

disparate ideas that result in

divergent new original ideas.

So we need free time to collect all our

different thoughts in our head – what

Nick calls disparate ideas to create new

and amazing ideas.

Disparate ideas are very different ideas,

all unrelated.

And we need what we might

call headspace – that's when your mind is in

a good state and you can think clearly.

For me, I have headspace when I'm lying in the bath

or out riding my bike – there are no interruptions.

Well, you certainly don't get your ideas sitting

at a desk, focusing on one task – we all need

some downtime to get creative.

But children

going into school now will grow up to do a job

that doesn't yet exist.

And faced with the

challenges of AI, automation, green issues and

an ageing population, creativity

and imagination will be vital.

Right, well, let's get back to talking about

the creativity of Banksy now.

Ah yes, because earlier I asked you which

one of his well-known pieces of artwork

has been in the news recently?

Is it…

a) Girl with Balloon

b) Girl with Red Balloon

c) Balloon Girl

And I said c) Balloon Girl.

I know it was a girl and a balloon.

Not quite right, Rob.

The artwork is

titled 'Girl with Balloon.'

This was recently

auctioned in London but amazingly shredded

in its frame as someone's winning bid was accepted!

Wow, that's a very creative way to destroy

a picture!

I will do the same with this script

soon but not before we have recapped some

of today's vocabulary.

Starting with 'a creative' -

that's a person whose job is to use a lot of

imagination and come up with new ideas,

such as someone who works in the media or advertising.

Then we mentioned legitimately –

which describes doing something fairly

and reasonably.

Next we heard the expression 'redress the balance'.

This means to make things fairer and more equal.

We also talked about creativity being the

lifeblood of the BBC.

Lifeblood here means

the most important thing to make something

a success.

And I know creativity is

running through your veins, Rob!

Thanks, Neil.

We also heard the word disparate,

meaning very different and unrelated.

And we talked about headspace, which is when

your mind is in a good state and you can think clearly.

Before we head off to find some headspace,

don't forget to visit our website at bbclearningenglish.com

for more great learning English content.

That’s all we have time for now.

Do join us again though.

Goodbye.

Bye bye!

Hello.

This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

I’m Neil.

And I’m Sam.

If you browse through a library, you’ll

find a variety of different books, from

fiction to crime to romance.

And if you walk through a city you’ll see a

variety of people of different ages, body

shapes, skin colours and genders.

In this 6 Minute English, we’ll be hearing

about an unusual library where the books

are people, made of flesh and bone instead of paper.

It’s called The Human Library and the

‘books’ are individuals who have faced prejudice –

which means an unreasonable dislike

of certain types of people.

Readers may borrow these ‘books’, who

are people from all walks of life, for a thirty minute conversation.

The book titles are

short and to the point - titles like ‘transgender’,

‘former criminal’ or ‘immigrant’.

The human books are volunteers, and

visiting readers are encouraged to ask

those awkward or embarrassing questions

they’ve always wondered about.

This means the Human Library needs to

be a safe space – a place where people feel

protected from danger and harm.

It’s a fascinating idea but before we find

out more, I have a question for you, Sam.

The Human Library started out in Denmark

but soon spread across Europe and the world.

So how many countries have a Human Library now?

Is it:

a) 75?

b) 85?

or, c) 95?

Well, everyone likes to hear a story –

so I‘ll guess, c) 95.

OK, Sam, we’ll find out if that’s right

later in the programme.

The first Human Library was founded

in Copenhagen by Ronni Abergel.

Here he is telling BBC World Service programme

People Fixing the World about the

inspiration behind his original idea:

We don’t have time on the street to stop

and get to know everyone, so we drop

people in little boxes… so it’s instinct that’s

guiding us, and we never get beyond the

instinct if we don’t get to know the person…

so in our library, we recommend sitting down

and meeting some of the people that you

normally might actually not feel interested in

sitting down with because there’s something

about them that you may feel a little bit

uncomfortable about.

You learn tremendously

not only about them, but also about yourself.

When we meet someone new, we often already

have ideas about what they are like.

Ronni says we put someone in a box – an expression

meaning to judge what kind of person someone

is based on their appearance or on a limited

understanding of who they are.

He recommends meeting people who you

wouldn’t usually spend time with, even if this

makes you feel uncomfortable – feel slightly

worried or embarrassed in a social situation.

So the main idea of the Human Library is

to challenge the assumptions and stereotypes

that we all have about other people.

Ronni uses social media to find volunteers

who are willing to talk about their lives at

public meetings, which anyone can attend.

As the Human Library spreads around the

world, more money is needed to keep the

project going.

This mostly comes from hosting

events for private companies,

including famous businesses like Google.

Transgender volunteer Katy Jon Went is

a regular host for the Human Library’s business events.

Listen to this clip of her

introducing the project to a group of Dutch

businessmen from BBC World Service

programme, People Fixing the World:

When we’re in the workplace or on

social media, what we often find is we’re

walking on eggshells around diversity

and difference, and many people don’t

want to get it wrong, quite understandably.

The important thing to remember is that

you can ask them anything – they’re never

going to make to feel wrong for the question

you ask today, which is an incredibly rare offer.

When meeting someone with completely

different life experiences, people can be

worried about saying the wrong thing or

asking embarrassing questions.

Katy says they are walking on eggshells – an expression

which means to be very careful about what

you do and say because you don’t want to

offend or upset anyone.

But in fact the human ‘books’ are rarely offended.

The event is all about celebrating people’s

difference and diversity – a term which describes

how many different types of people are included together.

Exactly. It’s a celebration for everyone

regardless of race, age or gender…

Or nationality… and that reminds me –

what was the answer to your question, Neil?

Oh yes, I asked how many counties today

have a Human Library.

What did you say, Sam?

I guessed it was c) 95 countries.

Which was… the wrong answer I’m afraid.

The correct answer was b) 85 countries,

from Norway and Hungary all the way to

Australia and Mongolia!

Wow! I bet that makes a lot of interesting stories!

OK, let’s recap the vocabulary for

this programme about people sharing their

experience of facing prejudice – the

unreasonable dislike of certain groups of people.

A safe space is place where you feel

protected from danger and harm.

When we put someone in a box, we judge

them based on their appearance or a

limited understanding of them.

If you feel uncomfortable, you feel slightly

worried or embarrassed in a social situation.

The expression walking on eggshells means

being very careful about what you do and say

because you don’t want to offend anyone.

And finally, diversity is a term describing

many different types of people being included together.

Well, it’s time to return these human books

back to the library shelves because our

six minutes are up!

Join us again for more real-life stories

and topical vocabulary here at 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

Goodbye for now!

Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

I’m Neil.

And I’m Georgina.

When we think about

romantic Hollywood movies, there have

been some famous examples over the years.

There are classic black-and-white romance

movies like 1951’s, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’,

and the love affair between Humphrey Bogart

and Ingrid Bergman in ‘Casablanca’, made in 1942.

You’re really showing your age, Neil!

What about more recent movies like

‘When Harry met Sally’ or that famous

kiss between the characters Jack and Rose in the film, ‘Titanic’.

In their time all these movies were

blockbusters – very popular and successful

films which sold millions of cinema tickets.

And this success was often due to the

on-screen romance between the leading actors.

In romantic movies, love is in the air.

Couples hold hands and kiss, or in other

words they show intimacy –

a close romantic, or sexual relationship.

But while real couples kiss and hold

hands all the time, actors in movies are

just pretending to be intimate, and this can lead to problems.

Yes, whether it’s a kiss or a full-nudity

sex scene, filming intimate scenes for

movies and TV is a delicate business, as

we’ll be finding out in this programme.

But first, Georgina, I have a quiz question for you.

Let me guess…

Another black-and-white

classic from the 1950s?

Yes - 1953 to be exact.

Which was the year this movie won the Oscar for Best Picture.

The film thrilled audiences with a famous beach kiss

between actors, Burt Lancaster, and

Deborah Kerr, as they rolled around

in the waves – but what was the movie?

Was it: a) West Side Story?,

b) From Here to Eternity?, or

c) Singin’ in the Rain?

Well, 1953 was long before I was

born but I’ll guess, b) From Here to Eternity.

OK Georgina, we’ll find out later on if that’s right.

In 1953 an on-screen kiss

was still considered a little naughty.

But by 2020 and the filming of the BBC

television dramas, ‘Normal People’ and

‘I May Destroy You’, things had changed.

Nudity and sexual content had become commonplace.

Ita O'Brien worked on both these BBC dramas.

She describes herself as an

‘intimacy coordinator’ - someone who

helps actors and directors plan and film intimate scenes.

Listen as she gives her definition of

intimacy to BBC World Service

programme, The Conversation:

A hand hold, a stroke of the cheek,

you know, through to a hug, and then

obviously, right the way through to

intimate content – it might be familial

content of an adult to a child; it could

be the content of perhaps a medical

procedure, someone having a mammogram,

or it could be right the way through to

intimacy, simulated sexual content.

Ita’s definition of intimacy is very wide,

including hugging and stroking – gently

touching someone in a pleasurable way.

It also includes simulated sex.

Movie actors aren’t really having sex, they’re

simulating it – pretending to do

something so that it looks real but is not.

just like dance sequences in musicals,

intimate movie scenes are planned and

choreographed beforehand so that the

director, film crew and, above all, the

actors are comfortable with what’s being filmed.

But recent scandals about the on-set

behaviour of some British and American

film stars have highlighted how

delicate a balance this is.

Here’s Ita O’Brien again talking to

BBC World Service’s, The Conversation,

about the different ways that intimate

scenes are filmed on either side of the

Atlantic, in Britain and the US.

With actors from the US, what they do

have, what they put in place is that with

each and every intimate scene we

create a nudity / simulated sex waiver,

for each and every scene and I actually

really like that way of working.

In the UK, actors are asked to sign a nudity clause

and generally that’s an overall, for the

whole of a production.

British actors sign only one document

with a nudity clause to cover the whole film.

But in the US, actors sign a waiver –

a legal document that allows or prevents

an action that is different from

how things are usually done.

Ita thinks it’s better if the actors agree

to each and every scene –

and she uses the phrase, ‘each and every’

because it emphasises that she means every single one.

In this way there is no confusion about

what should or shouldn’t happen on set,

leaving the director and actors free to

make dramatic and romantic blockbusters.

You mean like that famous beach scene,

kissing and rolling in the waves, Neil?

Ah, you mean my quiz question when

I asked you: What was the name of the

1953 movie featuring a famous beach

kiss between movie stars Burt Lancaster

and Deborah Kerr?

What did you say, Georgina?

I said it was b), From Here to Eternity.

Which is… the right answer!

Well done, Georgina – so you do like classic

black-and-white movies after all!

Not really, Neil, but I remember my

grandad watching it!

OK, let’s recap

the vocabulary from this programme

about intimacy – a close romantic

or sexual relationship.

A blockbuster is a very popular and

successful movie or a book that

sells many copies.

If you stroke someone’s face, you

touch it gently in a pleasurable way.

To simulate means to do or make

something that looks real but is not.

In the US, a waiver is a legal document

to either allow or prevent something

being done in a different way from usual.

And you can use the phrase, each and

every to emphasise that you mean

every single one of something.

That’s all for this romantic edition of

6 Minute English but join us here again

soon for more topical chat and useful vocabulary.

Bye for now!

Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

I’m Rob.

And I’m Georgina.

Now, Georgina, you recently mentioned

in one 6 Minute English programme

about NFTs and that you had a collection of

Pokemon cards when you were younger.

Yes – I did, and I still can’t find them.

Why did you bring that up?

Well, Pokemon started out as a video

game series that turned into anime movies

and trading cards among other things –

and in this programme we’re talking about

a video game character that is iconic –

a word which means widely known and recognised.

That character’s name is Super Mario.

Ahhh I spent many hours of my childhood

playing with Nintendo’s Super Mario or

his rival, Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now, these days, video games are

everywhere, and people of all ages enjoy playing them.

There’s also competitive

e-sports events where gamers compete

for what are often considerable

amounts of money.

Yes, and there are also streamers that

appear on platforms like Twitch and

YouTube who have become celebrities in their own right.

Talking about celebrities, I have a

question about the famous character

we’re talking about in this programme.

Many people remember Super Mario Bros.

as being the first time we saw Mario,

but he first appeared in another game –

which was it?

Was it:

a) The Legend of Zelda

b) Donkey Kong; or

c) Pokemon

I’m not sure about that – I can’t remember

him being in Pokemon, so I’ll go for a) The Legend of Zelda.

OK, Georgina, we’ll find out if you’re right

at the end of the programme.

So, we established at the start of the programme

that these days the video games industry is thriving.

True – but it wasn’t always that way.

It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1980s

the console market was struggling,

particularly in the US.

Keza MacDonalds, video games editor

for the Guardian newspaper, explains

what was happening in the early 1980s.

Here she is on BBC World Service

programme You and Yours, speaking with Peter White.

Well, back then, especially in America,

there had been a flood of games that

were just not very high quality.

One of the games that’s often cited as a factor

in the collapse was this game called ET

on the Atari, which was so bad they ended

up burying thousands of copies of it in

the desert, because nobody liked it.

And, so we’d had that, especially in America,

this didn't happen so much in Europe,

but in America just been lots and lots of software.

None of it was all that great.

There hadn't been anything really revolutionary

in some years, so the video game boom was

really falling off a cliff and Nintendo is

what rescued in the US especially.

Keza MacDonald used the term a flood of –

meaning a large number in a short period

of time – to describe the number of

games that were coming out.

She used cited, which means referenced

or noted, when talking about the game ET

being a reference for a factor in the

collapse of the console market.

And she said boom – a sudden period of growth.

So as ET was mentioned as a factor in the collapse,

many people say that Super Mario Bros.

was the reason that video games really

took off, especially in the US.

It’s interesting to consider what might

have been if his creator, Shigeru Miyamoto,

had never created that character.

The question is, why is that game so popular,

what made it so fun to play?

Here is Keza Macdonald speaking again

with Peter White, on BBC World Service

programme, You and Yours, explaining why

Mario is just so popular and what makes

the original game so satisfying to play.

It’s just such a joy to play.

It's running and

jumping, and it's the joy of movement.

When, when you play, even the original

Super Mario Bros, you just feel this sense

of joy in your movement, and it's one of

the greatest games ever made.

And a lot of games from 35 years ago are basically

unplayable now. They might have been a

step to something greater, but Mario was

one of those few that really holds up today as it did then.

Keza Macdonald said that some games

from 35 years ago are unplayable –

so, not possible to play them.

But she said that Mario holds up –

a term used to say that something’s standards

or quality has not lessened.

It certainly does hold up – in fact,

I played it the other day and I had lots of

fun with it – it reminded me of my childhood,

and it’s still as good now as it was then.

Which reminds me of your quiz question, Rob.

Yes, in my quiz question I asked Georgina

which game had the first appearance

of that famous plumber, Mario.

I went for a) The Legend of Zelda.

Which is wrong, I’m afraid!

Mario’s first appearance was in Donkey Kong,

and his creator, Shigeru Miyamoto,

never thought he would be that popular.

Well, I guess we’ve all really learnt

something today.

Let’s recap the vocabulary

from today’s programme about Super Mario,

starting with iconic – famously associated

with something and instantly recognisable.

Then we had a flood of which means a large

amount of something in a short space of time.

Cited means reference as or noted.

Boom relates to explosion and means a

short period of sudden growth.

Unplayable describes something that can’t be

played or a game that is very difficult to enjoy.

And finally, holds up means that the quality

or standards of something hasn’t changed

and still looks good or plays well.

That’s all for this programme.

Bye for now!

Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

I’m Neil.

And I’m Sam.

Do you think robots could ever

become intelligent, Sam?

Well, if you believe Hollywood movies

like ‘Robocop’, robots will grow more

powerful than their human creators and take control.

You’ve been watching too many

sci-fi movies, Sam!

But seriously - do you

think robots will ever be able to think or dream?

Could they fall in love or create art?

It’s hard to say but because of the huge

advances in artificial intelligence over

the last ten years, questions like these

are being asked more and more.

In this programme we’ll be meeting a

very unusual ‘person’ (if that’s the right word)

who could help answer some of these questions.

She’s called Ai-Da, she’s an

artist who can draw, paint and

create sculptures – and she’s a robot.

Yes, the humanoid robot, Ai-Da, uses

a robotic arm and a pencil to draw what

it sees with a camera in its eye.

It’s very life-like and can even talk to the people

whose picture it’s drawing.

We’ll hear more about this extraordinary

robot and the team of inventors behind

her soon, but first I have a quiz question.

The name, Ai-Da, uses the abbreviation

for ‘artificial intelligence’ - AI - to make a

woman’s first name, but which famous,

real-life Ada was the robot named after?

Was it:

a) Ada Brown?,

b) Ada Lovelace?

or,

c) Ada Maris?

I think it must be, b) Ada Lovelace.

OK, Sam, we’ll find out if that’s right later.

Of course building a realistic

robot that can see, hold a pencil

and draw is not easy.

Behind the creation of Ai-Da was a

team led by Cornish robotics company,

Engineered Arts, and supported by

engineers in Leeds who built her robotic

arms using AI systems developed at Oxford University.

Here’s chief engineer, Marcus Hold,

introducing presenter, Karl Bos, to the still

unfinished Ai -Da for the first time for

BBC World Service programme, In The Studio:

It’s very strange because on first glance

she looks incredibly scary, a bit like a

dystopian robot from the future but when

you see her move and express she becomes incredibly cute.

People tend to refer to them as ‘he’ or ‘she’,

they’re drawn to the robots.

So much of our

communication is non-verbal – I’m gesturing

with my arms, I’m smiling… and our robots –

a big part of their appeal and their human nature

is in the way they behave and move and

it’s great that you’re picking up on that from

something that has no skin.

When Karl first meets Ai-Da he sees a wired-up

metal skull without skin.

She looks like a robot

from a dystopia - an imaginary future world

where everything is bad – like the movie ‘Robocop’.

But as Karl spends more time with Ai-Da

he begins to see her move and express herself.

She smiles, blinks and uses facial expressions

and hand gestures known as non-verbal

communication to appear more human.

This human-like behaviour is part of Ai-Da’s appeal -

the quality in someone that makes them

attractive and interesting – and soon Karl

is calling the robot ‘she’ instead of ‘it’.

Former art gallery owner, Aidan Mellor,

manages the Ai-Da project.

Here he is speaking to BBC World Service’s, In The Studio,

about the complex process involved in

building a working robot:

We’ve got the programmers and researchers

working at Oxford University and Goldsmiths

and they’re doing their algorithmic programming,

programming the AI that is going to be eventually

used for the art pieces that we’re doing…

But we’ve also got a couple of guys who

are actually working on her arm –

her ability to draw – and actually getting

her to do a compelling drawing of what she sees.

There’s some battles still to be won before

the show, we will eventually hopefully iron out

all the issues before that time.

One challenge the team faced was building a

robotic arm that could allow Ai-Da to draw

pictures that were compelling – exciting,

interesting and able to keep your attention.

In combining an electronic AI brain with

mechanical robot eyes and arms there were

many battles to be won – difficulties and

technical obstacles to be overcome.

And at the time of the interview, the team

still had some issues to iron out – removing

problems by finding solutions – before Ai-Da’s

opening show: an exhibition of her

artwork at The Design Museum in London.

Amazing! It’s nice to think that a robot

could be the next Picasso instead of an

out-of-control sci-fi policeman!

Yes, and the whole project was inspired

by a real-life woman – whose name was?

What was the answer to your quiz question, Neil?

Ah yes, I asked Sam which famous

Ada was the real-life inspiration

behind the robot, Ai-Da.

I said, b) Ada Lovelace.

Was I right?

You were… right, Sam!

Ai-Da is named after

Ada Lovelace, the 19th century English

mathematician and first computer programmer in the world.

OK, Neil.

Let’s recap the vocabulary from

this programme, starting with dystopia -

an imaginary future society where everything is bad.

Non-verbal communication is communication

using physical gestures and facial expressions instead of speech.

The appeal of something is a quality it

has which people find attractive.

If something is compelling, it holds your

attention because you find it so interesting.

A battle to be won means a problem to be

solved or an obstacle to overcome.

And finally, to iron something out means to

remove or find solutions to a problem.

With artificial intelligence improving so fast

it may not be too long before we see robot

presenters of Six Minute English!

But until Sam and I are replaced by AI we

hope you’ll join us again next time for more

trending topics and useful vocabulary,

here at BBC Learning English.

Bye for now!

Goodbye!