BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Women 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!

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

And I'm Beth.

Leaving home, getting married, and a parent dying are three of the most important experiences in  

many people's lives. But perhaps the most defining moment in some women's lives is the miracle of  

birth—in other words, having a baby.

Throughout pregnancy, a lot of care and attention is given  

to expecting mums. But as soon as the baby is born, this attention moves to the newborn baby,  

making sure they are healthy, warm, and safe.

We talk a lot about baby nutrition,  

but what the mother eats can be just as important, especially the first meal after the intense effort  

of giving birth. Whether it's chicken soup, a glass of champagne, or a good old cup of tea,  

in this program, we're talking about what women eat and drink in the first few weeks  

after having a baby. And as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first, I have a question for you, Beth. A typical pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks,  

but when does an unborn baby's stomach start to grow in the mother's womb? Is  

it A) at 3 weeks, B) at 5 weeks, or C) at 8 weeks?

Uh, I'll say the baby's tummy starts to grow at about five weeks.

Okay, Beth, we'll find out if that's the correct answer later in the program. Giving birth is not  

called labour for nothing. It's hard work, leaving the new mum physically and emotionally exhausted  

and in need of food that's nourishing for both herself and her baby. Here's Allison Oman Lawi,  

Deputy Director of Nutrition to the  United Nations World Food Program,  

explaining more to BBC World  Service programme The Food Chain.

A woman who is breastfeeding and  during that postpartum time — the  

first 6 months — she could need up  to 650 additional calories a day,  

which actually is quite a bit more than she even needed in addition during pregnancy.

Allison says that women need to eat even more calories postpartum — meaning after  

childbirth — than they do during pregnancy. That's especially true for mothers who are breastfeeding,  

feeding their baby directly with milk from their breasts.

How new mums get those extra  

calories changes from place to place, and different cultures have developed their  

own traditions about what foods are best. For Chinese American mom Hangou, roast pig  

trotters were one of the best things to eat after childbirth because they contain a lot of collagen,  

which helps produce breast milk. And when Ruma, whose Punjabi family originally comes from India,  

gave birth to a baby boy, her mother cooked panjeri, a kind of spicy nut mix with cashews,  

almonds, and melon seeds to promote breast milk and help the healing process.

Listen now as Ruma explains how  important her mother's help was  

to BBC World Service program The Food Chain.

So the first 10 days were amazing. My mom came to stay, and it—gosh, it was so important because I  

was on—I had a C-section, so I was on very strong painkillers. I was in a daze anyway,  

and to be honest, because she was here, I was fed, you know? So she would look after me while  

I would look after the baby, and my husband was very hands-on as well. So that first 10 days,  

whilst it was really hard, I didn't fall apart, which I might have done if I'd been by myself.

When Ruma talks about her mother's help, she uses the word 'gosh', an exclamation used to show a  

feeling of wonder or surprise. Ruma also says she was 'in a daze' because of the medicine she  

was taking for pain. If someone is in a daze, they feel confused and cannot think clearly,  

maybe because of a shock or surprise.   

Luckily, Ruma had help from her mum and also her husband,

who was very hands-on, meaning that he was closely involved in organizing things and making decisions  

and didn't leave it up to someone else.

Along with her mother's healthy home cooking, the help  

Ruma got from her family meant she didn't 'fall apart', a phrase which means 'become so emotionally  

disturbed that you're unable to think or act calmly or to deal with the situation you're in'.

New moms have to be expert jugglers, balancing a new baby and recovering from childbirth with  

getting too little sleep. No wonder they need hot, healthy food to eat. Right,  

isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question, Georgie?

Sure. I asked you when an unborn baby's stomach starts to grow. You guessed it was at 5 weeks,  

which was the correct answer, Beth. At about 5 weeks, the cells forming a baby's stomach,  

lungs, bones, and brain all start to divide and grow.

Right. Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this program, starting with 'postpartum', meaning 'following childbirth'.

'Breastfeeding' is feeding a baby directly with milk from the mother's breasts

The exclamation 'gosh' is used to express a feeling of surprise or wonder.

If you're 'in a daze', you feel confused and unable to think clearly, often because of a shock or surprise.

If someone is 'hands-on', they're closely involved in organizing things and  

making decisions rather than just talking about it or getting someone else to do it.

And finally, the phrasal verb 'fall apart' means 'to become seriously emotionally disturbed  

so that you're unable to think calmly or to deal with the difficult situation you are in'.

Once again, our six minutes are up.  Join us again soon for more trending  

topics and useful vocabulary here at  6-Minute English. Goodbye for now.

Bye.

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

And I'm Neil. Differences between men and

women have existed forever, but in modern times, imbalances in the opportunities for  

men and women have widened. One area where this imbalance is widest is politics.

When we think of female politicians, the names Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Indira Gandhi,  

or Jacinda Ardern all come to mind. But while women make up over half the world's population,  

only 26% of the world's politicians are women.  

How much of this is because of misogyny, hatred, and prejudice against women?

It seems that the surprise resignation of New Zealand's  

prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was partly because of the misogynistic abuse she received online.

So, in this program, we'll be asking, why is life so hard for women in politics? And of course,  

we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But before that, I have a question for you, Neil.

Britain has had three female prime ministers, all from the Conservative  

Party. The first was Margaret Thatcher, who was followed in 2016 by Theresa May, and after that  

by Liz Truss, who resigned after only a short time in office. But for how long exactly was Liz Truss  

prime minister? Was it: A) 45 days 

B) 1 year and 45 days C) 2 years and 45 days

I think the answer is 45 days.  

Okay, Neil, I'll reveal the answer later.

One of the biggest barriers for female politicians is that politics has traditionally been seen as  

a man's world. When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, she had to manage a  

group of men who were not used to being told what to do by a woman. Here, Professor Rosie Campbell,  

director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership, explains to BBC World Service program  

The Real Story how Mrs. Thatcher's solution to this problem was to appear more masculine.

You know, she was deliberately coached to change her voice and to behave in a  

way that was more stereotypically  masculine, at the same time as  

presenting herself in terms of her attire in a very feminine way, which really showed the  

tightrope that she had to walk in order  to seem strong enough to be the leader,  

but not subverting norms of what it is to be a woman. So I think, you know, whatever you  

might think of Margaret Thatcher, that was a very challenging tightrope walk that she had to do.

Margaret Thatcher was coached to behave more like a man, for example by lowering her voice. If you  

are coached, you are specially trained in how to improve at a particular skill.

At the same time, she was also advised to appear feminine, especially in her attire—the clothes she wore.  

In trying to present both male and female sides of herself, Mrs. Thatcher 'walked a tightrope', an  

idiom meaning 'to be in a difficult situation that requires carefully considered behaviour'.

The point is that none of these demands were made of the men in Mrs. Thatcher's government. Even today, the way  

women in politics behave or dress is commented on and criticized far more than men, with the  

result that fewer women are willing to expose themselves to public scrutiny, a situation which  

has only got worse since the internet and with it sexist and misogynistic abuse on social media.

Paradoxically, it's often said that the qualities of empathy and  

understanding, often associated with women, are most needed in politics today. According  

to former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who was New Zealand's first female elected leader,  

it's not just that women are more caring, they also bring a different leadership style,  

as she explained to BBC World Service program The Real Story.

I think that women are known for  more collaborative styles in politics,  

less likely to be the, you know, top-down, heavy-handed,  

'my way or the highway,' more open  to evidence and debate. I think it  

certainly informed the way that I led. I think it also informed the priorities that I had.

Helen Clark believes women leaders are more collaborative; they prefer working  

cooperatively with several people to achieve a common goal. She contrasts this with a stricter,  

more dictatorial leadership style by using the expression 'my way or the highway,' an idiom  

used as a warning that someone will only accept their way of doing things.

In fact, adopting such dictatorial approaches has been the end of many political leaders,  

including Mrs. Thatcher and more recently Liz Truss,  

which brings me back to my question, Neil. How long did Liz Truss last as prime minister?

I guessed it was 45 days. Was I right?

That was the correct answer. Liz Truss  

was prime minister for just 45 days, the shortest premiership of any British leader ever, male or  

female. Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme on women in politics,  

starting with 'misogyny,' the dislike or hatred of women.

If you are 'coached' in something,  

you are trained or instructed in how to  improve that particular skill.

'Attire' means the clothes you are wearing.

If you have to 'walk a tightrope,' you're in a  

difficult situation that requires careful  behaviour. 

The adjective 'collaborative' involves several people working together for a particular purpose.

And finally,  the idiom 'it's my way or the highway' can be used as a warning that someone will only accept  

their own way of doing things. Once again, our six minutes are up. See you soon.

Bye!

Hello and welcome to Six Minute English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Sophie.

What do you know about Cleopatra, Neil?

Well, she was Queen of Egypt quite a long time ago.

Anything else?

Didn't she arrive for a meeting with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar rolled up in a carpet,  

or is that a Hollywood invention?

Some historical sources say she was rolled up in a carpet, and others say she was  

hidden inside a linen sack. Cleopatra is the subject of today's show. She was the  

last Pharaoh to rule Egypt and is arguably the most famous female ruler in history.

And the most beautiful?

Well, the jury's out on that one, Neil, and that means people haven't decided yet. Coins  

with Cleopatra's portrait on them, for  example, show her with a prominent nose  

and thin lips. 'Prominent' means 'noticeable', and in this case, I think it means large.

So, what were her attributes or main qualities then?

Cleopatra was a wily politician. She made important alliances with Rome to protect  

her country and was ruthless in dealing with her enemies—in this case, her siblings who challenged  

her as sole ruler of Egypt. 'Wily' means 'clever,' and 'sibling' is another word for 'brother or sister'.

Didn't she have her siblings murdered?

Yes, she was very 'ruthless', and that means 'without pity'. And today's quiz question is about  

her family. Can you tell me, Neil, which country was Cleopatra's family originally from? Is it: 

A) Macedonia B) Ethiopia 

C) Egypt

I'm going for C) Egypt, the obvious answer.

Well, we'll find out if the obvious answer is the right one later on in the show,  

but let's talk some more about Cleopatra's attributes. She may not have been Hollywood  

gorgeous, but she spoke many languages and was highly educated in philosophy,  

astronomy, mathematics, and oratory. Here's Susan Walker,  

Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, with more about this:

This plaque says that what was really remarkable about Cleopatra was not so much her beauty as the  

intelligence of her company. She had a very beautiful voice, which I think is  

a quality we perhaps underrate these days in estimations of celebrity, and she clearly had  

masses of charisma, the sort of person who would light up a room, so enormous personal charm.

So, the Roman historian Plutarch wrote about Cleopatra's voice, her charisma,  

and personal charm, but not about her beauty.

That's right, and charisma is, in other words, a strong power to attract people. Cleopatra's  

voice was also considered very attractive, an attribute we underrate today, according to Susan Walker.

And 'underrate' means 'to place too small a value on something'.

Egyptian pharaohs were regarded  

as gods, and spectacle, or making a big visual impact, was an important part of this. Cleopatra  

was very skilled at making grand entrances. 

Rolled up in a carpet for Caesar, or dressed up as Venus

on board a shimmering golden barge for Mark Antony. He was a Roman politician and general.

And even her death was spectacular. She and Mark Antony had lost an important battle against  

another Roman general, Octavian. Mark Antony had fatally wounded himself when he heard,  

mistakenly, that Cleopatra was dead. But before he died, he managed to get back to Cleopatra,  

who held him in her arms as he died in a family tomb. Then she decided to take her own life.

You make it sound like a Shakespearean tragedy.

Shakespeare did write a play about it. Now let's hear from Katherine Edwards, Professor  

of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London, about this tragic event:

She plans her own death in this very sort of calculated manner, a manner that also seems to focus on  

spectacle yet again. She takes her time, she has a feast, and then, you know, the figs—the basket  

of figs arrives with the asp in it. Or was it perhaps a poisoned hairpin? There’s a certain  

amount of uncertainty about the exact method of her death. I think most sources prefer the snake.

So, Katherine Edwards says the details surrounding Cleopatra’s suicide aren’t  

clear. She may have used a snake to bite her, smuggled into her room in a basket of fruit,  

but it may have been a poisoned hairpin or simply  

a cup of poison. But she did it in a  calculated, or carefully planned, way.

Okay, so the final curtain comes  down on Cleopatra. But what about  

the answer to today’s quiz question, Sophie?

Okay, I asked which country was  Cleopatra's family originally from.  

Is it: A) Macedonia 

B) Ethiopia C) Egypt

And I said Egypt, of course it is!

And that's the wrong answer, Neil. It's actually  

A) Macedonia. Cleopatra was a  member of the Ptolemaic dynasty,  

a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great.

You learn something new every day.  Talking of which, here are the words  

we learned in this program: the jury's out on something, prominent, attributes, wily,  

sibling, ruthless, charisma, underrate,  spectacle, calculated.   

And that's the end of today's 6 Minute English. Don't forget to join us again soon. Goodbye!

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

And I'm Beth. If you've ever tried growing vegetables,  

you'll know it's not easy. They need  water, soil, and plenty of sunlight. Plus,  

you have to keep away weeds and  insects.

But in some countries, female farmers face a different problem growing and selling vegetables—sexism, the mistreatment  

of one sex based on the belief that the other is better, usually that men are better than women.

According to the United Nations, over 40% of farmers globally are women, a number which  

rises to almost 50% in lower and middle-income countries. Although these women manage farms,  

look after crops, and sell their produce at markets, female farmers face sexism in  

societies where women are expected  to raise children and stay at home.

In this program, we'll be digging into  ideas helping female farmers in Bangladesh  

and Peru to earn a fair price for the food they grow. And as usual,  

you'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first,  

I have a question for you, Beth. According to the UN's World Food Program, or WFP,  

what is the world's most popular vegetable? Is it A) onions, B) tomatoes, or C) peppers?

I think the answer is tomatoes.

Okay, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the program.

Poppy farms a small garden in rural  Bangladesh where she grows cucumbers,  

spinach, and okra. Although around half of Bangladeshi farmers are female, they're not  

always welcome at the marketplace, where they face harassment or are underpaid for their produce.  

Now, Poppy has joined hundreds of other female farmers using a new online app. The e-commerce platform  

is called Farm to Go, and farmers can sell their produce without revealing their identity,  

thereby getting a fairer price than at the market. Here's Poppy telling more to Salman Sayeed,  

a reporter for BBC World Service  program People Fixing the World:

Here we get more profit. For example, if we sell a product in the market at 30 taka,  

we can sell it here at 32 or 33 taka. That's  what makes us very happy. It also saves time,  

as after selling the product, we can come home and  

spend time with the families and can  also work in the vegetable garden.

Thirty-three taka is about 30 US cents. With 300 women currently using the app in Bangladesh,  

and while the three cents extra might sound small, over the course of the year as prices fluctuate,  

the WFP says the average monthly revenue for each farmer using the app has risen  

dramatically. In the long run, the  hope is that it will also be possible  

to challenge and change attitudes  around gender. But in the meantime,  

the extra money she makes per sale makes a big difference to Poppy and her family.

Although the app only increases  Poppy's profits a little, they  

soon add up because vegetable prices fluctuate—they continually change,  

moving up and down. According to the WFP, the incomes of farmers using the app have  

risen dramatically—they've increased suddenly and surprisingly.

That makes a big difference to Poppy. 'To make a big difference' is an idiom meaning 'to significantly improve a situation'.

It's good news for female farmers in Bangladesh, but problems continue in many other places,  

often because it's the man in the family who controls the household finances.

Here, reporter Craig Langren explains a finance scheme helping female  

coffee growers in Peru to BBC World  Service program People Fixing the World:

So I came across a project in Peru recently, and they're helping female coffee growers to  

access finance. So how it works: it's  a type of savings and credit union,  

and people living nearby can each chip in a small amount of money, which can then be accessed by  

a farmer if she needs a loan to, say, buy a new bean processing machine or something like that.

Female farmers in Peru have started a savings and credit union. This is a kind of cooperative bank  

where members pool their savings together so they can lend funds to each other. Each member  

chips in—everyone gives a small amount of money to pay for something together.

Getting back to vegetables, I think it's  time to reveal the answer to my question,  

Beth. According to the UN, what is  the world's most popular vegetable?

I guessed it was tomatoes.

Which was the correct answer.  Technically a fruit, nutritionists  

count a tomato as a vegetable—in fact, the most commonly used vegetable in the world.

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this program on female farmers battling sexism.  

That's the mistreatment of one sex based on the belief that the other one is better,  

usually that men are better than  women.

If something fluctuates, it keeps changing, moving up and down.  

'To rise dramatically' means 'to increase in a sudden and surprising way'.

The idiom 'to make a big difference' means 'to significantly improve a situation'.

A savings and credit union is a cooperative bank where members  

pool their savings together so they can borrow money from each other.

And finally, if you 'chip in', you contribute some money so a group of you can pay for something together.

Once again, our six minutes are up.  Join us next time for more trending  

topics and useful vocabulary here at  6 Minute English. Goodbye for now.

Bye.

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

And I'm Beth. Menstruation is an  issue that's not often talked about,  

yet every month it affects billions of women around the world. Menstruation, or periods,  

are a natural process that typically happen once a month when women and girls bleed  

from their vagina for a few days as part of the reproductive cycle. When this happens,  

women need special products like sanitary pads or tampons to manage the flow of blood and go about their day-to-day life.

Unfortunately, over 500 million people around the world either don't have  

access to these products or can't afford to buy them, and this is called period poverty. Period  

poverty has serious consequences. For example, girls on their periods not going to school  

affects their education, and women who can't work during their period have less income. What's more,  

it can cause health problems because without sanitary products, it's easy to get infections.

In this program, we'll be learning about one project fighting period poverty affecting  

thousands of women refugees, and of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.  

But first, Georgie, I have a question for you. Periods affect girls and women of reproductive  

age—that's roughly half the female population, or 26% of the global population. But how many  

people is that? Is it A) 2.1 billion people, B) 2.3 billion people, or C) 2.5 billion people?

I'll guess it's about 2.1 billion people.

Okay, Georgie, I will reveal the  answer at the end of the program.

Ella Lambert was a student at Bristol  University when she started the Pachamama  

Project in 2020 during the first COVID  lockdown. She had heard about period  

poverty and decided to put her lockdown time to good use by making sanitary pads,  

pieces of soft material used to absorb  menstrual blood. Here's Ella explaining  

how her project got started to BBC World Service program People Fixing the World:

So I borrowed a sewing machine from a friend. I learned how to sew on YouTube, and then I just  

started making pads. And even now, to this day, I can't sew anything else, only pads.

Ella started making reusable sanitary pads, which aren't a new thing. They're made from  

absorbent fabrics such as fleece and cotton sheets, which means that they can be used  

over and over again after they're washed, unlike disposable pads.

Ella spent lockdown learning how to sew—how to join pieces of material by hand using a needle and  

thread or with a sewing machine. In fact, Ella was so focused on sewing sanitary pads  

she didn't make anything else, and to this day pads are the only thing she knows how  

to sew. Ella uses the phrase 'to this day' to say 'up to and including the present moment'.

Sanitary pads aren't easy to make. The outer layer has to be soft because it touches the skin,  

but they also need to be absorbent—able to soak up liquids like blood and hold them. What's more,  

Ella designed her pads to be washed and used again, unlike most sanitary pads bought in shops,  

which are disposable—designed to be  thrown away after they've been used.

Ella's network of volunteers sewing  reusable sanitary pads grew, and to date,  

the Pachamama Project has donated tens of thousands of period products to refugees  

fleeing conflict in Syria, Turkey, and  Lebanon, as well as women here in the UK.  

Plus, the project is helping in other ways too. Despite affecting so many people and  

being necessary for life itself, many cultures consider menstruation unclean or shameful—not  

a topic of polite conversation. But Ella  thinks her project is giving refugees the  

confidence to talk about periods, as she told BBC World Service's People Fixing the World:

I have seen such major change in such a short, short period of time. Like  

the women originally who were distributing the pads would barely even speak about it,  

and we had it behind a curtain. And now they'll chat away about  

the pads with their male colleagues,  anyone that comes into the shop.

Before, most women refugees would  barely talk about menstruation—they  

would only just scarcely talk about it.  But now, they're happily chatting away,  

passing the time talking to other  women and even to male colleagues.

I think it's time I revealed the  answer to my question. As a number,  

how many women make up the 26% of the world's population who menstruate?

I said it was 2.1 billion people.

Which was the correct answer.

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this program, starting with the verb 'to sew'

—to join material together using a needle and thread, either by hand or with a sewing machine.

The phrase 'to this day' means 'up to  and including the present moment'.

The adjective 'absorbent' means 'able to soak up and hold liquid'.

And the adjective 'disposable' means 'designed to be thrown away after use'.

If you barely do something, you only just do it by the smallest amount.

And finally, 'to chat away' means 'to pass the time by talking a lot with someone'

Once again, our six minutes are up. We hope you'll  

join us again next time here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now.

Bye.