'Burnout': Jacinda Ardern Resigns: BBC News Review

Out of energy. Jacinda Ardern quits

as the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil And I'm Beth.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary to talk about this story.

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like this video and try the quiz on our website.

Now, the story.

Jacinda Ardern has resigned as New Zealand's prime minister.

She announced last week that she didn't have enough energy to continue.

Ardern was the youngest female head of government

in the world when she came to power.

She led New Zealand through the Covid pandemic, a terrorist attack

and a natural disaster.

You've been looking at the headlines.

Beth. What's the vocabulary?

We have 'burnout', 'makes a bow' and 'crammed'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This is from Sky News.

Burnout: Why Jacinda Ardern's 'rare' admission

about her mental health matters.

OK. So this headline is saying that it is important that leaders,

prime ministers like Jacinda Ardern talk about issues like mental health.

The word we are looking at is 'burnout' which starts with the word 'burn'

related to flames and fire.

But what's the sense here?

OK well, burnout is where your job leaves you so stressed and exhausted,

that you no longer have any energy or enthusiasm.

Yes, it's a noun.

It's made up of two parts 'burn' and 'out'.

It's useful to imagine a candle,

which of course has a flame at the top and then the long part of wax

and it burns down slowly until there is no energy left and it burns out.

Exactly. Yeah, that's right.

So it's used to talk about exhaustion.

So, maybe you're working really long hours or you're feeling very stressed

and when we use it as a noun, it's common to hear it in the expressions:

'try and avoid burnout' or maybe 'look for the signs of burnout'.

Yep, also used as an adjective 'burnt out'.

You can say that you are burnt out.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's have a look at our next headline.

This is from RTE.

Grateful Ardern makes last public bow as New Zealand PM.

So this story and this headline is about Jacinda Ardern's final speech

as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The expression we are looking at is 'makes a bow'.

What does that mean. A bow is this.

Yeah. So, as a noun that is 'a bow'.

Actors do it at the end of a play and from that we get a metaphor.

So, a public figure makes or takes a bow when they make

their last public appearance.

Yes and in your examples there, a bow is a noun. Can it be a verb?

Yeah. So that action is to bow as a verb

and we also have the phrasal verbs to bow out and we very often use this

when they bow out with something. So can you give us an example?

Yes, so Jacinda Ardern bowed out with a speech.

Or maybe a sports star might bow out with a championship win or a goal.

Yep. Well, we've got one more word today

before we bow out. We have.

Let's take a look at that again.

Time for our next headline.

This is from The Economist:

Jacinda Ardern has crammed a lot into her relatively short career.

OK, this story is saying that Jacinda Ardern did a lot

in a short space of time.

The word we're looking at is 'crammed'. Which is a verb.

Can you tell us more about it.

Yeah. So, 'cram' is a verb that means to try and squeeze lots of things

into a small space.

Now, imagine Neil, that you're going away and you've got a small suitcase

but you want to take lots of clothes.

You've got to really cram them in to make sure that they all fit.

Yes, it can be really difficult trying to get all of those things

into a small space and so what this story is saying,

the point is that Jacinda Ardern did a lot in a short space of time

and it was really hard. Yeah, exactly.

Now, we have a different, but related, meaning with 'cram'.

That's to do with exams.

So if you cram for an exam, it means you study really hard,

but for a short space of time.

So just before the exam.

Yes. So imagine the clothes as the information.

Imagine the suitcase

as your brain or head and you're trying to cram it all in.

It's not easy. Yeah.

So, if you watch News Review every week,

then hopefully you won't have to cram as much for your next English exam.

Very good advice.

Let's look at that again.

We've had burnout, exhaustion caused by work.

Makes a bow - makes a final appearance.

and crammed - fit a lot of things into a small space.

Remember, there is a quiz on our website at BBC Learning English dot com.

Thank you for joining us. And goodbye.