London Marathon goes ahead: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review  from BBC Learning English.

I'm Georgina and today I'm joined  by Catherine. Hi Catherine.

Hello Georgina. Hello everybody.  Today's story comes from  

London. It's about the London Marathon.

Don't forget – if you want to test yourself on  today's vocabulary go to bbclearningenglish.com  

and you'll find a quiz. Now, let's hear  more about this story from BBC Radio 1 News:

Yes. So, the London Marathon should have  happened earlier this year; it was delayed  

due to the coronavirus pandemic. It finally  happened last weekend. Now, only the elite  

runners were actually in London running; the rest  of the competitors were running wherever they  

were in the world. Everybody came together  online to experience this fantastic event.  

Ken Jones, at 87 years old, joined in and he  took eight hours to complete the marathon:  

a fantastic achievement. So,  Georgina – marathon runner, are you?

Yes, I am. Well, I've done one and I know  how hard it is: it took me over five hours,  

so congratulations to everyone who competed  in the London Marathon 2020 on Sunday.

Right, Catherine, we've got three  words and expressions you can use  

to talk about this story.

That's right and today's three words are:  'virtual', 'braves' and 'heartwarming'.

Yes, 'virtual', 'braves' and 'heartwarming'. Let's  have a look at your first headline, Catherine.

Of course. Now, we're starting in the UK  today with The Guardian – the headline:

'Virtual' – similar but not completely the same. So, Catherine, is it an adjective?

It is an adjective, Georgina. It's spelt  V-I-R-T-U-A-L. The pronunciation is  

'virtual' and it has a lovely 'ch' sound  in the middle. Can you demonstrate for us?

'Virtual'.

'Virtual', yes. So, virtual means if something  is similar but not the real, real thing. Now,  

we use this word a lot of the time to describe  things that happen on computers – either on a  

computer that you're using or in a kind of joined  up way, where you're looking online and talking to  

other people on the internet. So, this marathon  didn't really happen the way it's supposed to:  

it wasn't 43,000 people in London, but by  the magic of technology everybody ran in  

different places – but they joined together, so  online you had the experience of 43,000 people.  

So, not 100% real but it was made  'real-ish' in the – in the IT world.

Yes, so it was – they created a virtual  world for this marathon, didn't they?

They did. They did and there's other  ways – other words you can use as well as  

'virtual world': you can have, as you said,  a 'virtual marathon'; you can have a 'virtual  

conference', where everybody joins together  online; you can have a 'virtual meeting';  

you can have a 'virtual concert' and there's been  lots of 'virtual events' happening because of  

lockdown. Things that normally happen in real life  have been happening 'virtually' on the internet.

And can you only use it with things  that are online or computer-based?

Well, no. I mean that's the main use  of the word now, but you can use it  

for things in real life, which are almost the  same as things – other things in real life. So,  

for example, during the lockdown, Georgina,  how did you cope with not leaving the house? 

Well, it was hard because I did – I hardly  left the house at all. I didn't see people  

I wanted to see, because I wasn't allowed, so  I actually did feel like a 'virtual prisoner'.

A 'virtual prisoner' – so,  you weren't actually in an  

actual prison with high security and  guards and electric fences and everything.

No. I had no prison officer at my door  and I could actually open my door,  

but because of lockdown our movements  were restricted and the people we were  

allowed to see was also restricted,  so I felt like I was a prisoner.

Very good: a 'virtual prisoner', but  now you're free, Georgina... free-ish.

Free-ish, yes, for now. So, that's great  – let's have a look at our summary slide:

So, if you want to know more about adjectives then  

you can watch one of our shows  called The Grammar Gameshow.

That's right: just click the link  and you'll go straight to the show.

Great. So, Catherine, let's have  a look at your second headline.

Yes. Still in the UK with The Sun – the headline:

'Braves' – deals with a  difficult situation with courage.

Yes. B-R-A-V-E-S – 'braves'. Now, 'brave'  is normally an adjective and it means:  

without fear or not showing fear when something is  scary. So, something horrible happens and you're  

not afraid: you're brave, or you do something  because even though you're afraid, you're brave.  

Now, this is the verb form: 'braves'. And  if you 'brave' something, you deal with it  

even though it's difficult and scary. You  become strong and brave and you do it anyway,  

like this lady: 85 years old – it's raining, it's  cold, the weather's horrible, but she's out there  

running and running and running. That takes  some strength and courage, doesn't it Georgina?

It does because the weather  was terrible on Sunday,  

so she very much had to feel very courageous and,  you know, really push herself to do it, I'm sure.

That's right. And we can use 'to brave' – the  verb 'to brave' – with all kinds of weather:  

you can 'brave' the wind, you can 'brave'  the rain, you can 'brave' the heat and it  

means you go out there and do whatever you have  to do, even though the weather is pretty tough.

Can you use it with other words which  are not associated with the weather?

You can, yeah, absolutely. Anything  that's kind of difficult and scary,  

but you get brave and you do it –  you can 'brave' it: you can 'brave'  

a scary meeting with your boss; you can  'brave' a first date if you're a nervous dater;  

you can 'brave' rush-hour traffic, when the  traffic's really bad; you can 'brave' crowds,  

when you – if there's hundreds and hundreds  of people, you can 'brave' the crowds.

Right, let's have a look at our summary slide:

If you want to watch more videos about  marathons we've got lots, haven't we Catherine?

We have, including this one about  running marathons and how it is good  

for the health of your heart. So, just  click the link and you'll go straight there.

Right Catherine, let's have  a look at your next headline.

Yes, we're off to The Express now,  still here in the UK – the headline:

'Heartwarming' – bringing happiness and pleasure.

Yes. So, we've got two parts to  this word: it's all one word and  

you've got heart – H-E-A-R-T – and then warming  –W-A-R-M-I-N-G. So, 'heart' and 'warm' are the  

two words we're looking at. OK. So yes, the heart  Georgina – what do we associate the heart with?

Well, we could – we associate  it with love, but also  

we can associate it with feeling very sad as  well: it's a real emotional part of our body.

Yes. Happy, sad, angry, scared: it's  all to do with the heart, isn't it?  

But if something 'warms' your heart – if  something is 'heartwarming' – it makes you  

feel good about things: it makes you feel happy,  it makes you think the world is a better place.  

And you often refer to the idea  of something being 'heartwarming'  

when somebody does something or you  see something or something happens  

and you feel good about it. So, Georgina, when was  the last heartwarming moment that you experienced?

Well, it was a bit ago: it was during lockdown,  when my neighbour came round and left me at my  

door – at my door – a cream tea and we actually  had it – well, not virtually – we had it over  

the fence in the patios at the back. So, it  was really nice. It was a socially distanced  

but it made me feel really positive about  what – you know, in a terrible situation.

Very nice, lovely, heartwarming gesture  from your neighbour. So, everybody  

give your neighbour something  nice and it'll warm their hearts.

Definitely. Right, so let's have  a look at the summary slide:

Right, Catherine, could you  recap the vocabulary, please?

Most certainly. We had: 'virtual' –  similar but not completely the same.

'Braves' – deals with a  difficult situation with courage.

And 'heartwarming' – bringing  happiness and pleasure.

Right, if you want to test  yourself on today's vocabulary  

you can have a look at our quiz on  our website bbclearningenglish.com.  

We're all over social media as well. Thanks  for joining us and see you soon. Bye!

Bye