BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Language 3' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocabulary!

6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

— I'm Sam. — And I'm Neil.

It's nice to see you, Neil, smiley face, high five, fist bump!

What is this, Sam? Are you saying hello with emojis?

Yes, I am! In this programme, we're entering the world of emojis —

the small characters people use to show emotions in texts and emails.

Do you have a favourite emoji, Neil? Mine's the crying tears of laughter emoji.

— I like the smiling face with hearts one. — Ahh.

And with over 3,000 emojis to choose from, there's one for every occasion.

It's one of the reasons why emojis have become so popular over the last 20 years —

they let people put back some of the human emotion

that's missing in written texts and emails.

We'll be finding out more about emojis,

and learning some related vocabulary soon, but first I have a question for you, Neil.

It's about the word 'emoji' itself,

which was invented in 1999 in Japan for the first internet-enabled mobile phones.

The name, 'emoji', comes from the combination two Japanese words,

but which words?

Is the word 'emoji' a combination of a) face and emotion?

b) picture and character? Or c) message and image?

I'll say it's a) face and emotion.

OK, Neil. We'll find out if your answer gets a thumbs up

at the end of the programme.

When we talk with someone face to face, we use physical gestures like smiling,

laughing or nodding to show the other person how we feel.

But these gestures get lost in written communication.

That's where emojis come in.

They add feeling and emotion to online messages.

But not everyone is an emoji fan.

Some people believe that carefully chosen words

are the best way of expressing yourself,

and that emojis are affecting our ability to put feelings into words.

Here's cognitive linguist Professor Vyv Evans,

author of a book about the language of emojis,

explaining more to BBC Radio 4's Word Of Mouth.

A lot of people, you know, language mavens,

the grammar police and so on, we'll say,

have this sort of jaundiced, prejudiced view about emoji.

it's taking us back to the dark ages of illiteracy, bring back Shakespeare,

and stick to the language of Shakespeare and all the rest of it.

But that fundamentally misunderstands the nature of communication.

Emoji is important.

In fact, it makes us more effective communicators in the digital age.

Vyv Evans describes people who don't approve of emojis as 'the grammar police',

a slang term referring to people who want to see formal language and grammar —

what they call 'correct' English — written online.

The grammar police criticise modern styles of English

and like to correct other people's mistakes in spelling and grammar.

According to Professor Evans, the grammar police have a 'jaundiced' view of emojis —

they only see the negative side of them

because of their own ideas and experiences.

What's more, they think emojis are taking us back to 'the dark ages' of illiteracy,

when most people couldn't read or write.

If someone refers to 'the dark ages', they mean a past time in history

considered uncivilised and characterised by ignorance.

But luckily for emoji fans, the grammar police are in the minority.

Over six billion emoji messages are sent around the world every day,

with about 70% containing emotion-based characters

like smiley face and blowing kisses.

According to Professor Evans,

emoji users are more expressive, more effective communicators.

So, could that be an advantage for someone looking for love online?

That's what Michael Rosen, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Word Of Mouth,

wanted to find out.

Is it possible to start a relationship using emoji?

Well, there is research that's been conducted by Match.com,

the American-based dating site,

and what they've found, based on their research,

is that the people that use more emojis tend to be luckier in love,

they have more success in terms of dating.

In the digital age, using emoji makes us more effective communicators.

— More expressive. — More expressive.

We're better able to express our emotional selves,

and people, therefore it stands to reason,

if you use more emojis, you're gonna get more dates!

For people who are dating, or starting a romantic relationship with someone,

it seems that using emojis helps them be 'lucky in love',

an expression meaning lucky in finding a romantic partner.

Emojis let us show our true personality, so, Professor Evans says,

it 'stands to reason' — in other words, it seems likely to be true —

that emoji users get more dates and that's a big thumbs-up from me!

What about our question, Sam? Did my answer get a thumbs-up too?

In my question, I asked you which words combine

to make up the Japanese word 'emoji'?

I guessed it was a) face and emotion.

Which was, sad face, the wrong answer, I'm afraid.

In fact, 'emoji' combines the words for 'picture' and 'character' in Japanese.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt about emojis,

starting with 'the grammar police',

people who want correct spelling and grammar online

and criticise those who don't.

If you have a 'jaundiced view' of something,

you only see the negative side because of your own bad experience with it.

'The dark ages' describes a period in history

characterised by ignorance and a lack of progress.

If you are 'dating' someone, you are spending time with them romantically,

which means you are 'lucky in love',

an expression meaning lucky in finding a romantic partner.

And, finally, the phrase 'it stands to reason'

means that something seems likely to be true, or it makes sense.

Once again, our six minutes are up.

— Bye for now! — Bye!

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam.

Rob, I'm writing a letter to a friend in Spain and I need some help.

Do you know the Spanish for 'it's raining'?

Don't worry, I have this new app.

I just hold up my phone, scan the word I want translated,

'esta lloviendo', is the Spanish for 'it's raining'.

Amazing!

In this programme, we're discussing language technologies —

computers that can translate between languages.

Modern software like Google Translate

has transformed how we learn foreign languages,

bringing us closer to a world

where language is no longer a barrier to communication.

But how well do these computers know what we really mean to say?

Well, later, we'll find out exactly what machines can and can't translate,

and, as usual, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.

But first, I have a question for you, Sam.

The translation app I used just now is very recent,

but there's a long history of computer 'mistranslations' —

times when computers got it badly wrong.

In 1987, the American airline, Braniff, ran television adverts

promoting the all-leather seats installed on their flights to Mexico.

But how was its "fly in leather" advertising slogan

mistranslated into Spanish?

Did the advert say a) fly in lava? b) fly on a cow? Or c) fly naked?

Hmm, I have a feeling it might be c) fly naked.

OK, Sam. I'll reveal the correct answer later in the programme.

Computer software used to rely on rules-based translation,

applying the grammar rules of one language to another.

That worked fine for simple words and phrases,

but what happens when a translator comes across more complex language,

for example 'metaphors' — expressions used to describe one thing

by comparing it to another.

Lane Greene is a language journalist and the author of the book,

Talk On The Wild Side.

Here he explains to BBC Radio 4 programme Word Of Mouth

how apps like Google Translate allow users to manually translate 'metaphors'.

If I say, "it's raining cats and dogs"

and it literally translates, "esta lloviendo perros y gatos" in Spanish,

that won't make any sense,

but I think somebody at Google will have inputted the phrase "lueve a cántaros"

which is the phrase "it's raining pitchers" or "it's raining jugs of water",

so that the whole chunk — "raining cats and dogs" —

is translated into the equivalent metaphor in Spanish.

Lane wants to translate the phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs' —

something that people sometimes say when it's raining heavily.

It wouldn't make sense to translate this phrase into another language literally,

word by word.

One solution is to translate the whole idiom as a 'chunk',

or a large part of text or language.

This works for phrases and idioms that people regularly use in the same way

because they can be taught to a computer.

But what happens when someone like a poet writes a completely new sentence

which has never been written before?

Lane Greene thinks that even the smartest software couldn't deal with that,

as he told Michael Rosen, poet and presenter of BBC Radio 4's Word Of Mouth.

But if a poet writes a new one, then the machine is not going to pick it up

and it's going to have a struggle, isn't it?

Sorry, I'm sticking up for poetry here and trying to claim that it's untranslatable —

can you hear what I'm doing?

I hear you, and in a war against the machines,

our advantage is novelty and creativity.

So you're right that machines will be great at anything that is rote,

anything that's already been done a million times can be automated.

So you and I, with our prefrontal cortexes,

can try to come up with phrases that'll flummox the computer and so keep our jobs.

When we say machines learn a language, we really mean they have been trained

to identify patterns in millions and millions of translations.

Computers can only learn by 'rote', by memory, in order to repeat information,

rather than to properly understand it.

This kind of 'rote' learning can be easily 'automated' —

done by machines instead of humans.

But it's completely different from human learning requiring creative thinking

which would 'flummox', or confuse, even the most sophisticated machine.

Bad news for translation software,

but good news for humans who use different languages in their jobs — like us!

Yes, if only Braniff Airlines had relied on human translators,

they might have avoided an embarrassing situation.

Ah, in your question,

you asked how Braniff's television advertisement "fly in leather"

was translated into Spanish. I guessed it was mistranslated as "fly naked'.

— Which was the correct answer. — Mm.

Braniff translated its "fly in leather" slogan as fly "en cuero"

which sounds like Spanish slang for "fly naked".

OK, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme about language translations

which are 'automated' — done by machines instead of humans.

Often found in poetry, a 'metaphor' is a way of describing something

by reference to something else.

When it's raining heavily, you might use the idiom 'it's raining cats and dogs'!

A 'chunk' is a large part of something.

'Rote' learning involves memorising information

which you repeat but don't really understand.

And, finally, if someone is 'flummoxed',

they're so confused that they don't know what to do!

Once again, our six minutes are up!

Join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary,

here at 6 Minute English.

— But goodbye for now! — Bye!

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

And I’m Georgina.

Let me tell you a story, Georgina. Are you ready?

Yes!

Grandma had always warned me not to look into the mirror at midnight.

"There was something strange about that mirror," she said.

How childish, to believe silly stories!

Later that night, I heard a noise. I woke up, dark and alone.

A clock chimed midnight.

The floorboards were creaking as I walked towards the mirror.

I looked into my face reflecting in the glass, when suddenly,

my eye winked!

Argh, stop Neil! You’re scaring me!

Oh, sorry, Georgina! OK, let’s try another story.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful servant girl

who lived with her wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters.

Ah, that’s better, Neil, and I know this story — Cinderella —

more romantic and much less scary!

As you can see from Georgina’s reaction,

telling stories is a powerful way to connect and communicate with people

and the topic of this programme.

Stories help us make sense of the world,

which is why we’ve been telling them to each other for millennia,

and why some of the earliest 'folk tales' —

stories that parents have told and passed on to their children over many years —

are still being told today.

According to the novelist Sandra Newman, and other academics,

there are seven classic plotlines

which are constantly being recycled into new stories.

They include rags-to-riches plots, like Cinderella.

Defeating the monster plots, like Dracula.

And other plots such as comedies, adventures and tragedies.

So, my quiz question is this.

Which of the following well-known folk tales

is a "defeating the monster" story?

Is it a) Beowulf? b) Beauty And The Beast? Or c) Goldilocks And The Three Bears?

Well, they all have beasts, bears or wolves in the title,

so I'll guess b) Beauty And The Beast.

OK, Georgina, we'll come back to that later.

It's interesting to ask how we can explain

the lasting appeal of these classic plotlines.

Someone who might know is anthropologist and writer Professor Jamie Tehrani.

Here he is talking to BBC World Service's The Why Factor.

See if you can spot his answer.

Often the reason why we feel so motivated to pass on stories

is because the stories do tap into certain universal human fantasies and fears

that will often transcend the concerns of particular times and places.

We are intensely moralistic —

most of the time, the bad guys have unhappy endings

and the good guys have happy endings.

We know that in the real world, it doesn't actually work like that,

so there's an element of wish fulfilment that somehow satisfies our moral appetite.

Stories from very different cultures

often have plots with similar fantasies and fears.

These human emotions are universal,

meaning they exist everywhere and relate to everyone in the world.

Classic stories work because they 'tap into' basic human emotions —

they understand and express what it means to be human.

Unlike in the real world, stories can reinforce our sense of morality —

evil stepmothers get punished,

Cinderella marries her prince, and everyone lives happily ever after.

In this way they create 'wish fulfilment' —

the achievement of what we really want and desire.

Well, so much for plotlines, Neil, but that still doesn't explain

how stories have the power to catch and hold our attention.

Let's hear from novelist Sandra Newman, author of How Not To Write A Novel —

a handbook of over 200 common mistakes.

Here, she tells BBC World Service's The Why Factor

that her absolute number one storytelling rule is comprehensibility —

people need to understand your story.

There are some people who actually are so unfortunately bad at communicating

that even when they tell a story to another person,

it becomes incomprehensible.

And gradually, as they stop making sense and ramble and digress

and don't know where they're going,

you see everybody not only lose interest but become hostile.

People become very frustrated when someone is not getting to the point.

According to Sandra, the biggest mistake is incomprehensibility

or not understanding the plot because the storyteller is 'rambling' —

talking in a confused way, going off the subject, or not making sense.

When listeners give a story their time and attention,

they want the storyteller to 'get to the point' —

start talking about the most important and relevant information.

But, to cut a long story short, Georgina, it's time to return to the quiz question.

Remember I asked you which famous folk tale had a defeating the monster plot.

What did you say?

I said the answer was b) Beauty And The Beast. Was I right?

Your answer was...

Oh, do get to the point, Neil!

..wrong! In fact, the answer is a) Beowulf —

an Old English epic about the hero, Beowulf, who defeats dragons and beasts.

Well, Neil, there are two sides to every story, as the saying goes.

So, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with 'folk tales' —

popular stories that have been told and passed down over generations.

Many folk tales contain 'universal' ideas — ideas which exist everywhere,

in every age and culture.

Stories 'tap into' these ideas,

meaning they understand, connect to and express them.

'Wish fulfilment' means the achievement or realisation

of things you really want and desire.

A good storyteller will never 'ramble' — talk in a confused way,

often going off the subject or not making much sense.

And instead will 'get to the point' —

start talking about what is most important and relevant.

That's all we have time for, but remember to join us again soon

for the inside story on trending English topics and vocabulary,

— here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now! — Goodbye!

6 Minute English,

from BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam. Can you wait a second, Rob? I have to spend a penny.

What! You're going shopping now, are you? We're just about to start the programme!

No, no, I have to, you know, 'spend a penny'.

Haven't you heard that expression before? 'Spend a penny' means 'go to the toilet'.

It's an old idiom from the days when it cost a penny

to unlock the door of a public toilet.

OK, I see. Well, you're showing your age there, Sam —

most young people today wouldn't know what that phrase meant,

and there aren't many public toilets left nowadays anyway.

Language changes fast, and new words and phrases are being created all the time.

In this programme, we'll be learning some modern idioms —

new expressions that have been introduced to English

through the internet, TV and social media.

And, of course, we'll be learning their meanings as well.

Great, I am 'raring to go' — another idiom there.

But, first, as usual, I have a question for you, Sam.

Many well-known idioms come from the world of sport,

for example 'throw in the towel' which means 'give up', or 'surrender'.

But which sport does the idiom 'throw in the towel' come from?

Is it a) football? b) tennis? Or c) boxing?

I think I know this one. It's c) boxing.

OK, Sam. I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme,

so just hold your horses for now!

Ah, another idiom there, Rob —

'hold your horses' meaning 'stop and think for a moment'.

That's an idiom that Gareth Carrol might teach his university students.

Dr Carrol is the author of a new book,

Dropping The Mic And Jumping The Shark: Where Do Modern Idioms Come From?'

He became interested in idioms when he realised that he didn't know

many of the expressions his students used in their everyday speech,

modern idioms like 'jump the shark'.

Here is Gareth Carrol telling BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth

about one source of many modern idioms — the movies.

So, Groundhog Day I think more or less has the meaning of 'déjà vu' now,

and it's completely embedded in the language.

Actually, that's probably one of the first phrases

that got me thinking about these modern idioms in the first place,

because it is so ubiquitous, it's used in a huge range of contexts,

and one of the things that made me sit up and take notice

is I had a number of students who know the phrase 'Groundhog Day'

but had no idea it was a film.

In the film, Groundhog Day,

the main character wakes up to live the same day over and over again.

Gradually, the movie title itself became an idiom, 'Groundhog Day',

meaning a situation in which events that have happened before

happen again in exactly the same way.

It's similar in meaning to another expression — déjà vu.

When phrases the movies use develop into idioms,

it's often because they are 'ubiquitous' — they seem to appear everywhere.

And one of the ways they appear everywhere is, of course, the internet.

Here's Gareth Carrol again, telling more to Michael Rosen,

presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme Word Of Mouth.

The vocabulary of the internet, even the word internet, is relatively modern.

The idea of 'breaking the internet' is now a phrase

that I think people would use and recognise,

so something that causes such a stir online

that metaphorically so many people rush to a website

that it threatens to bring it down, something like that.

In the early days, we had 'go viral' which has stayed with us, hasn't it?

Yeah, so the idea of something 'going viral'

is certainly very much in the vocabulary now.

But things like Twitter have lent sort of phrases,

so the idea of 'first-world problems',

meaning sort of ironically things that we complain about

but, actually, compared to other parts of the world, may well be relatively minor,

that started life as a Twitter hashtag, for example.

Another modern idiom is 'breaking the internet' —

causing so much excitement about something online

that too many people visit the website at the same time, making it crash.

Social media outlets like Twitter have also created their own idioms,

including 'first-world problems' —

a trivial problem that does not seem very important when compared

to the serious problems faced by people in poorer parts of the world.

If you don't know some of these idioms, don't worry.

Unlike general vocabulary, a native speaker's full knowledge of idioms

takes longer to develop, usually at around the age of 30 to 40.

Meanwhile, you can still rely on classic English idioms, like 'pull my leg',

'kick the bucket', and 'throw in the towel' —

which, I think, comes from the sport of boxing. Rob?

Yes, in my question I asked which sport

gave birth to the phrase 'throw in the towel',

and Sam's answer was correct! Well done!

The idiom 'throw in the towel' comes from boxing where the coach of the losing boxer

would literally throw a towel into the ring to surrender.

OK, let's recap the rest of the idioms, old and new, that we've learnt today.

To 'spend a penny' is an old-fashioned way of saying 'go to the toilet'.

'Groundhog Day' describes a situation

in which events that have happened before happen again, exactly the same way.

If something is 'ubiquitous', it seems to appear everywhere.

The modern idiom 'break the internet'

means to cause so much excitement about something online

that you can make the website crash.

And, finally, a 'first-world problem' is a problem that does not seem very important

when compared to the serious problems

faced by people in poorer parts of the world.

Unfortunately for us, our six minutes are up! Bye for now!

Bye-bye.

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!"

Do you know where these famous words are from, Sam?

I think that's a speech by Mark Antony in William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar.

Wow, I'm impressed!

Caesar has been assassinated

and Mark Antony tries to persuade the crowd to find his killers.

Using words to persuade people, giving them a good reason to do what you say,

or to accept your argument, is known as 'rhetoric'.

In this programme, we'll be hearing all about rhetoric

and of course learning some related vocabulary as well.

The art of rhetoric started with the ancient Greek philosophers.

Later, during the Roman republic, politicians and statesmen used rhetoric

in speeches given to crowds in the public square.

Although technology has transformed the way we communicate since then,

the art of rhetoric is still alive today.

Modern politicians may prefer Twitter to the public square,

but they still use persuasive language, including 'soundbites' —

short sentences or phrases giving a message in an easy-to-remember way.

We'll hear more soon, but first I have a question for you, Sam.

Roman politicians used many rhetorical tricks to persuade people

including the 'argumentum ad hominum'

which was an attack on their opponent's moral character.

Another was called the 'argumentum ad baculum', but what did it mean?

Was it a) an argument based on logic? b) an argument based on emotion?

Or c) an argument based on the stick?

Well, to persuade someone, your argument needs to be logical, so I'll say A.

OK, we'll find out the answer later.

Whether you want someone to vote for you, or to buy what you're selling,

rhetoric can make your message persuasive.

During his career in the adverting industry,

Sam Tatum learned a lot about persuading people.

Here he explains the many uses of rhetoric

to BBC World Service programme The Why Factor.

Rhetoric is persuasive language.

We use it rally, to simplify the complex, to inspire and influence.

But it's important, I think,

to identify what strategies might be influencing us more than we think.

By understanding the power of language in shaping perceptions,

we can start to say: I'm wondering why people are looking to be so concrete.

Are we trying to pull the wool over our eyes of something that's more far complex

than we actually state?

As well as persuading people, Sam Tatum says rhetoric can be used to 'rally' —

to bring people together in support of a common goal.

A recent example of this

is the way politicians called the coronavirus "our enemy".

The words politicians choose, and the way they use them,

can influence us more than we think.

Sam Tatum says we should question whether political rhetoric

is trying 'to pull the wool over our eyes',

an informal way of saying 'trick or deceive us'.

But, in the age of 24-hour news updates and non-stop Twitter,

has the skill of making a thoughtful argument been lost?

Here's Kendall Phillips,

Professor of political philosophy at Syracuse University,

speaking to BBC World Service's The Why Factor.

It's also hard to analyse the argument or reasoning of a tweet,

cos 280 characters is not a way for me to lay out a logical argument

with a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion.

It's much easier to just use a two-word phrase or a hashtag

that usually ends up adding to that kind of polemical division

between my side and their side.

Global problems involve complex issues which cannot be solved in 280 letters,

the maximum length of a tweet allowed by Twitter.

According to Professor Kendall,

we need logical arguments containing a 'premise' —

something which you think is true and you use as the basis for developing your idea,

and a 'conclusion' — your decision or plan of action

based on carefully considering all the relevant facts.

For example, "climate change is damaging the planet" — that's a premise.

"Therefore, we should act to stop it" — that's a conclusion.

Few issues are simply black and white though,

and this is a problem because Twitter debates are often 'polemical' —

argued very strongly either for or against a particular opinion or idea.

If you believe passionately in something,

you need to explain it to people in a way they understand,

and in ancient times, rhetoric also meant building bridges between people

and finding common ground.

Like those Romans you mentioned, Neil.

Yes, in my question I asked Sam for the meaning of term 'argumentum ad baculum'.

I guessed it was an argument based on logic.

Which was the wrong answer, I'm afraid.

In fact, 'argumentum ad baculum' means the argument with a stick,

or in other words, hitting somebody with a stick until they agree with you!

I guess that's one way to win an argument.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary from the programme, starting with a 'soundbite' —

a short sentence or phrase designed to stick in the memory.

When people 'rally' together, they unite to support a common goal.

'To pull the wool over someone's eyes' means 'to trick someone'.

Logical arguments contain a 'premise' —

a truth used as the basis for developing an argument, and a 'conclusion' —

a decision based on carefully considering all the relevant facts.

And, finally, 'polemical' means 'strongly attacking or defending an opinion or idea'.

But there's no arguing the fact that, once again, our six minutes are up!

— Goodbye for now! — Bye.

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.