BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Conflict' 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 Rob.

In this programme, we'll be talking about disagreeing.

Er, no, we won't!

I think we will, Rob. We're discussing the following — is it good to disagree?

I know, but I feel better for having that little disagreement,

so that proves it is good to disagree!

Well, I hate to disagree,

but I think we should explore the subject a little further first

in the next six minutes.

Er, shouldn't that be five minutes?

Oh, Rob, you're being 'pedantic' —

focusing too much on the small details or formal rules.

Maybe we should agree to disagree

and move on to the quiz question I like to set every week.

Yes, a good idea.

OK. So, do you know which spiritual leader is famous for saying,

"Disagreement is something normal"? Is it:

a) Pope Francis?

b) The Dalai Lama?

Or c) Ravi Shankar?

Hmm, that's tricky, so I'll have a guess and say b) the Dalai Lama.

OK, I'll let you know if that was correct at the end of the programme.

But whoever said, "Disagreement is something normal" is probably right.

I'm sure we all disagree with someone about something, don't we, Rob?

No.

Ha-ha, just joking! Of course, disagreeing is normal.

It would be boring if we agreed about everything.

However, I guess agreement, on some things, may have prevented a few wars.

Indeed, but it is a fascinating subject

and it's something the BBC Radio 4 programme

A Guide To Disagreeing Better looked at.

I think we should hear about how not to disagree first.

This is couples therapist, author and speaker Esther Perel,

who knows a thing or two about that.

In a battle, you position yourself in a hierarchy — one is on top of the other.

And then there is arguing that comes with a contempt

in which it's not just that I don't accept your point of view,

it's that I actually really think you're a lesser human being.

Right, so Esther explains that bad disagreement is a battle —

one person tries to take a higher position in the hierarchy.

A 'hierarchy' is a way of organising people according to their importance.

So, a disagreement doesn't go well

if one person thinks they're more important than someone else.

And according to Esther, things also don't go well if someone has 'contempt',

which is a dislike or lack of respect for someone or something.

And contempt in a bad disagreement

can be more than just not liking somebody's point of view —

their perspective on something —

it could be thinking someone is a lesser human being.

Ouch! That's not nice.

Let's think more about good disagreement.

The BBC podcast Seriously has listed some tips for disagreeing better,

including not 'aiming for the middle ground' —

another way of saying 'compromising'.

It also suggests speaking truthfully, listening 'intently' —

that means giving all your attention to what's being said —

and aiming for empathy,

but not feeling at the end of a disagreement that you have to agree!

I agree and I'm sure former British politician Douglas Alexander would too.

He presented the programme A Guide To Disagreeing Better

and explained why he thought disagreeing is a good thing.

The couple of decades I spent as an elected politician

convinced me that disagreement is necessary if society is to progress

and a society that values civility over justice and truth

would simply be a recipe for stagnation.

But honest conversations involve listening intently as well as speaking truthfully.

The thoughts of Douglas Alexander there, who, through his work as a politician,

is convinced that disagreement is a good thing.

He says we shouldn't just follow the values of 'civility' —

that means 'polite behaviour'.

It's important to challenge and question thoughts and ideas —

not just be polite and accept them!

Yes, and if we don't challenge things and search for truth and justice,

he feels it would lead to 'stagnation' — staying the same and not developing.

The verb form is 'to stagnate'.

But he does say that when we discuss things and disagree

we must be honest, listen to the other person intently, and speak truthfully.

But I would add that this should be done politely and with respect.

Well, Sam, I've been listening to you intently,

and if I'm honest, I think it's about time

you gave me the answer to today's question.

We can agree on that, Rob!

So, earlier I asked you if you knew which spiritual leader

is famous for saying, "Disagreement is something normal"?

Is it a) Pope Francis?

b) The Dalai Lama?

Or c) Ravi Shankar?

And, Rob, what did you say?

I said it's b) The Dalai Lama.

And you were right — well done!

Now, if you'll agree,

could we recap some of the vocabulary we've discussed in this programme?

Of course. First of all, I was accused of being 'pedantic' —

focusing too much on the small details or formal rules.

Then we mentioned 'hierarchy'.

This is a way of organising people according to their importance.

'Contempt' is a dislike or lack of respect for something or someone.

A 'point of view' describes someone's perspective on something.

Your point of view might be different from my point of view.

Indeed. And we also mentioned 'civility', which means 'polite behaviour'.

And 'stagnation' means 'staying the same and not developing'. Would you agree, Sam?

You are right, Rob.

And that brings us to the end of our discussion about disagreeing!

Don't forget you can find lots more learning English materials

on our website at BBC Learning English dot com,

on social media and on our app. Please join us again next time.

— Bye-bye. — Goodbye.

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, the show that brings you an interesting topic,

authentic listening practice

and vocabulary to help you improve your language skills. I'm Dan.

And I'm Neil. In this programme, we'll be discussing armed police,

as well as teaching you six new items of vocabulary, of course.

Can we get this done quickly today, Neil?

Only I've got to shoot off to a party later.

'Shoot off' meaning 'leave quickly'. Of course we can.

And it's funny you should mention shooting,

because our topic this week is gun control without guns.

Is that so? I have a question about that for you.

Fire away then.

'Fire away': an expression giving permission

for someone to ask a question or speak.

So, which country has the oldest gun control laws in the world?

Is it a) The USA?

b) Iceland? Or c) Japan?

I'm going to guess b) Iceland, just because I've never been there.

Well, we'll find out if you're right a bit later on.

Now, imagine the scene.

You are a police officer who has been called out to deal with an incident.

When you arrive on scene, you find a dangerous criminal.

Do you reach for a gun, or a blanket?

It's got to be a gun.

Well, in most countries in the world, you'd be right, but not in Japan.

Despite carrying guns, Japanese police almost never use them.

Instead, they rely on a combination of martial arts

and in many cases where a person is violent, they bring out the futon —

which is a kind of blanket —

and they wrap them up and 'restrain' them or prevent them from moving.

You're pulling my leg.

Nope! Listen to Japanese journalist Anthony Berteaux describe the situation.

What most Japanese police will do is to get huge futons

and essentially roll up the person who is being violent or drunk

into a little burrito and carry them back to the station, and calm them down.

The response to violence is never violence, it's always to de-escalate it.

So, they safely restrain the person

and wait for the situation to 'de-escalate', or become less intense.

Unless a criminal has a gun, Japanese police never fire their weapons.

Surely that means that the criminals always have the advantage then?

You'd think so, but no.

It seems that guns don't really feature in crimes much in Japan.

Well, that's astonishing.

So do you think the criminals don't carry guns because the police don't carry guns

or that the police don't carry guns because the criminals don't carry guns?

Wow, that makes my head hurt!

Well, I don't know, but listen to what Iain Overton,

the Executive Director of Action On Armed Violence

says about armed police in society.

The American model has been 'militarise the police',

but the challenge I have is that there is very little evidence

that a more militarised police results in a more peaceful society.

And I'm very concerned that if you have too many police

pulling out a gun at the first incidence of crime,

then you lead to a miniature arms race between police and criminals.

So, America tends to 'militarise' its police,

meaning 'to equip them and use them as an army'.

And that causes an 'arms race' with the criminals,

which is a competition between two groups

to have more weapons than the other group.

He also said there's not a strong connection

between armed police and a peaceful society.

So, does that mean that Japanese society is more peaceful?

Well, violent crime still happens there,

but criminals tend to carry other weapons, such as swords and knives,

but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Now, can you remember the quiz question I asked?

I think so. You asked me which country has the oldest gun control laws in the world?

Is it a) USA? b) Iceland? Or c) Japan?

And I said b) Iceland.

Well, I'm sorry Neil, that's not right. But, don't shoot the messenger, OK?

It's Japan, which implemented its gun control laws in 1685.

How interesting. Now, let's take a look at the vocabulary from this programme.

Sure, we had 'shoot off'.

If you 'shoot off', it means you leave somewhere in a hurry.

What type of verb is it, Neil? Can you give us an example?

It's a phrasal verb,

so it's used conversationally and usually in an informal context.

As for an example, when he heard his wife was sick, he 'shot off' to the hospital.

Synonyms could be 'dash off' or 'run off'.

Next, we had 'fire away'.

Now, 'fire away' is an expression giving permission

for someone to ask a question or speak.

Can you think of any other ways to say the same thing, Dan,

if I said, "Can I ask you a question?"

I'd say 'yes, of course', 'go ahead', 'please do', or 'by all means'.

Restrain. If you 'restrain' someone, you prevent them from moving.

In another sense, you might restrain yourself from doing something —

for example, eating chocolate!

Have you ever had to restrain your children from anything, Neil?

I have to restrain my children all the time, Dan,

otherwise they would fight like mad.

I have to pull them apart and restrain them.

OK: de-escalate. If something 'de-escalates', it becomes less intense.

This is often used in the context of conflicts or argument.

Can you think of a historical example, Dan?

Well, in the 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated

over a period of two weeks

and de-escalated only after diplomatic negotiations were successful.

But it was pretty close to World War III at one point.

Militarise: if something is 'militarised',

it is equipped and used like an army.

Give me an example of people who have become militarised, Neil.

Yes, when I was a student in the United Kingdom, some of the foreign students

had to go home to take part in national service —

that's join the army for a couple of years — so they became militarised.

Now, an arms race.

An 'arms race' is a competition between two groups

to gain more weapons than the other group.

Got an example of that, Dan?

The most famous example of this is the Cold War.

Both the USSR and the USA became involved in an arms race

to stockpile as many nuclear weapons as possible.

Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English. Please join us again soon!

And we are on social media too,

so make sure to visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Catherine. Hello.

Hello, Catherine! I want to know what sort of things make you feel angry?

Many things make me feel angry, Neil,

but one thing that makes me regularly angry

is when people put the wrong rubbish in the wrong bins.

— Mm, yes, that makes me angry too. — Does it?

— It's not very thoughtful, is it? — Not really, no.

So, you may feel angry about people putting rubbish in the wrong bin,

but do you get 'aggressive'?

That's behaving in an angry way,

looking like you want to argue or even fight with someone?

No, I don't really get aggressive about wheelie bins, to be honest.

Well, I tend to control my anger too and keep calm, but I have been known to react,

especially if someone is damaging some of my property.

Wow. Really?

Yeah. I can't stand it. It comes 'out of the blue' — it's completely unexpected.

But I'm glad to say that I feel quite calm today.

I'm glad to hear it, Neil. But today, we are talking about aggression

and we'll look at what we can learn about human aggression

by some examples from the animal kingdom.

That's right. Now, are you ready to answer today's quiz question, Catherine?

In a very calm and non-aggressive way, I would like you to give me the question.

When attacked, what does a baboon typically do to show aggression?

Does it a) beat its chest?

b) yawn and show its teeth?

Or c) laugh and roll on the ground?

Well, I'd love to think of an angry baboon laughing and rolling on the ground.

But I'm going to go for b) yawn and show its teeth.

OK. Well, we'll see if you right or wrong a bit later on.

Now, Catherine, how do you usually act

when you're angry or upset about something?

I generally let people know how I feel, to be honest.

I don't go over the top and hit people, but also, I don't sulk about things.

And 'sulk' means when you refuse to smile or speak,

because you want to let people know you're upset about something.

Ah, yeah, sulking is quite childish, isn't it, Catherine?

It is childish. Are you a sulker, Neil?

I don't sulk, I don't think. But as I said I don't often get angry.

I'm a very well-balanced and grounded person, Catherine.

Really? Very good, I'm pleased to hear it, Neil.

Anyway, 'well balanced' means 'sensible and in control of your emotions'.

And 'grounded' means 'mentally and emotionally stable'.

Is that what you're saying, Neil?

— Yeah, that's me. — Right.

Let's listen to Professor Simon Underdown talking about human behaviour.

Can you spot a phrase that means 'the opposite side to an idea'?

One of the things humans are incredibly good at doing is being psychologists.

We're very good at reading situations that we find ourselves in.

We're extremely good at picking up on signals.

What we can then do is trigger the appropriate response.

If it's an empathetic response, we may well need to then be sympathetic,

we maybe need to show our sort of fluffy side, if you want.

But on the flipside, from an evolutionary point of view,

the reason we're so successful and we're still here

is because we can, and when we need to, react aggressively to situations.

Did you spot the phrase? 'Flipside' means ''the opposite side of an idea.

And being aggressive is the flipside of being fluffy and sympathetic.

And 'fluffy' is an adjective we often use to describe soft animal fur or feathers

on young animals or soft toys for children.

But here 'fluffy' means 'behaviour that's soft and unthreatening',

so it's the opposite of aggressive.

Mm, and if you are 'empathetic',

you're able to share or understand other people's feelings.

That sounds like me! I'm an excellent empathiser, aren't I, Catherine?

Neil, you are absolutely totally full of...

empathy.

— Nice pause. — Thank you.

Now, Simon also talks about humans being good at 'reading situations'.

What does that mean, Catherine?

It means understanding what's going on.

For example, if a male gorilla is screaming and breaking branches,

other gorillas will probably see this as a show of aggression.

The male gorilla screams and breaks branches,

signalling to the other gorillas that he's angry or upset.

'Signal' here means 'a noise or a movement that gives someone information'.

And the male gorilla's signal 'triggers a response'' from the other gorillas.

This means one thing causes another thing to happen.

And when a man suddenly punches another man in the face,

what signal do you think that sends?

Well, I think, for me, that would be a signal to, em, leave!

Yes. Quickly.

Yes, indeed, yes. And humans usually give signals just like the gorillas do,

before they start a fight.

So people might shout, or gesture with their arms.

And a 'gesture' is a movement made with arms or head

to give someone else information.

Now then, Neil, let's have our quiz question answer please.

OK, OK, stop waving your arms around.

So I asked when attacked, what does a baboon typically do to show aggression?

Does it a) beat its chest? b) yawn and show its teeth?

Or c) laugh and roll on the ground?

And I said b).

That's right. Well done!

Now, let's hear today's words once again.

They are: out of the blue, aggressive,

sulk, well-balanced,

grounded, flipside,

fluffy, empathetic,

reading situations,

signal, triggers a response,

gesture.

Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English.

Check out more programmes at BBC Learning English dot com.

— Join us again soon. 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.

In this programme, we'll be hearing about the extraordinary life

of a well-known BBC journalist, Fergal Keane.

As a BBC war correspondent,

Fergal witnessed some of the most violent events in recent history.

Fergal's reporting helped his television audiences

make sense of the horrors of war,

but underneath there were more personal reasons attracting him to the frontline.

Despite the danger,

Fergal found himself going back again and again to report from war zones.

It gave him something he couldn't get anywhere else —

a massive rush of adrenaline —

and Fergal started to worry that he was becoming addicted to war.

In his new book, The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and PTSD,

Fergal discusses living with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder,

a type of psychological suffering that results from witnessing extreme violence.

We'll hear about some key events in Fergal's life,

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

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

The term PTSD is quite new,

but descriptions of the mental suffering of war go back to ancient times.

Something similar to PTSD is mentioned in Viking sagas

and in stories about both World Wars.

So, what was the name of the PTSD-like condition

suffered by many soldiers during the First World War?

Was it a) nostalgia?

b) shell shock?

Or c) combat stress?

I think the answer is shell shock.

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

Fergal Keane, who was born in Ireland,

had seen violence ever since the early days of his career

covering the fighting in Belfast.

He had already reported from wars all over the world

when, in 1994, he was sent to cover the civil war in Rwanda.

But what Fergal saw there shocked him like nothing before,

as he told Mobeen Azhar,

presenter of BBC World Service programme Lives Less Ordinary.

And I began to have nightmares of Rwanda.

And, of course, at that stage, you know, it was obvious that I was traumatised

but, again, did I go to a psychiatrist?

No, I didn't.

I kept doing the job.

Did you turn to other things?

Booze.

Booze. I mean, how much booze are we talking?

You know, the truth is, I was an alcoholic long before I got to Rwanda.

But I was in the kind of functioning alcoholic — what they call, you know,

managing it stage of the, of the disease.

When Fergal returned home from Rwanda,

he started having 'nightmares' — upsetting and frightening dreams.

It was obvious he was traumatised from the violence he had seen,

but still Fergal didn't go to a 'psychiatrist' —

a medical doctor who specialises in treating mental illness.

Instead, Fergal turned to 'booze' — an informal name for alcohol.

Fergal had been addicted to alcohol before he arrived in Rwanda,

but now he had another addiction to cope with — the need to keep returning to war.

Fergal knew it wasn't healthy, but he couldn't stop.

Around the year 2001, it seemed that war was everywhere,

and Fergal kept on reporting — in Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.

But the nightmares didn't stop and his mental health got worse and worse.

Here Fergal takes up the story

with BBC World Service programme Lives Less Ordinary.

I reach a point where I can't carry that any more,

and it's not dramatic, it's a slow, steady erosion.

And that ends with a breakdown, and admission to hospital,

and this time, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

And fulfilling the kind of essential criteria as the psychiatrist saw it

of hypervigilance, nightmares, flashbacks.

More nightmares than flashbacks.

And this sense of being under threat, and anger.

How did you feel?

Relief, I think. You know, there's a name to this.

You might expect Fergal to call it a day at this point,

but that's not how addiction works.

He just kept getting pulled back in.

Fergal had a 'nervous breakdown' —

a period of acute mental illness leaving him unable to cope with life.

After the terrible things Fergal had witnessed,

you might expect him to 'call it a day' —

a phrase meaning 'to decide to stop what you are doing'.

But Fergal's addiction made that impossible.

After his diagnosis of PTSD,

he got support and was able to stay away from booze and war.

OK, it's time to reveal the answer to my question.

I asked about the name of the PTSD-like condition

suffered by soldiers during World War One.

And I said it was shell shock.

Which was the correct answer.

Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned

from the extraordinary life of Fergal Keane, the war correspondent

who suffered PTSD or 'post-traumatic stress disorder' —

a mental illness experienced after violent or shocking events.

A 'nightmare' is an upsetting or frightening dream.

A 'psychiatrist' is a type of doctor who specialises in mental illness.

'Booze' is slang for alcohol.

A 'breakdown', is an acute period of psychological illness

leaving you unable to cope with life.

And finally, the phrase 'call it a day'

means to stop what you are doing because you no longer want to.

Once again, our six minutes are up. Goodbye for now!

Goodbye.

6 Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

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

— I'm joined today by Neil. Hello, Neil! — Hi there, Rob!

Today, we're talking about a very serious topic — bullying —

and you're going to learn some vocabulary related to this topic.

It's a serious matter, because it can leave people traumatised.

'Traumatised', it means they end up with emotional wounds

which affect them psychologically. Bullies want to intimidate people.

To 'intimidate', in other words, to make people fear them.

Yes, it does make people feel they can't help themselves — they're powerless.

They feel 'helpless'.

Unfortunately, bullying has been increasing in the workplace,

in spite of laws against it.

Let's go for some figures. Are you ready for a question, Neil?

Yes, I am.

The Workplace Bullying Institute based in the US conducted a survey last year.

How much of the American workforce has experienced bullying at work?

Was it a) 7%? b) 27%? c) 47%?

Well, I don't know, but I'm going to go for 27%.

OK. I'll give you the answer at the end of the programme.

I'm very keen to know, Rob.

Intimidating people is a very bad thing,

but some might say that, well, aggression is part of human nature.

Yes, that's an interesting point, Neil.

I can imagine big strong men imposing their will by force in the Stone Age,

but behaving this way now probably isn't a good idea.

The California-based anthropologist Christopher Boehm explains.

Listen and then tell me what made bullying go out of fashion?

About a quarter of a million years ago, humans began to hunt zebras and antelope.

And they had to cooperate to do so because their weapons were rather primitive

and they did not want alpha males

to be dominating the carcass after it was killed.

So the thing that everyone else did was to start killing alpha males.

Bullies simply were not tolerated.

Ah, people had to 'cooperate' with each other —

in other words, to work together for their mutual benefit.

They were hunting animals for food.

Yes, and nobody wanted the 'alpha male' —

the strong man in the group who wanted to dominate everybody else —

to take all the meat for himself.

So, about 250,000 years ago, when human society was evolving,

people realised it wasn't good for the community to have a bully around.

No. So if we make a big jump in history and back to the 21st century,

well, modern companies value cooperation. People's wellbeing matters too.

That's right. Many countries have laws against bullying

which is part of the companies' human resources policy.

'Human Resources' — also known by the initials HR —

is the department which hires new employees

and stores information about their career at the company.

And what sort of behaviour is considered bullying in the civilised world?

Well, that's what Helene Guldberg is about to explain to us.

She's a specialist in developmental psychology.

What's the main thing that defines bullying?

Something that is intentional on the part of the perpetrator.

It has to involve some kind of power imbalance,

so it's not an argument between equals, and it's something that is repetitive.

So it's not a one-off rage by one person against another.

The intent is to cause harm, which can be psychological or physical.

To be considered bullying, the behaviour has to be 'intentional',

which means it has to be planned or deliberate.

And also has to happen many times and involve power.

Yes, indeed. One person has to have more power than the other.

You know, Rob, this idea of intention is very important,

because some people are just more confident and demanding then others.

They might say that they didn't mean to cause any harm.

They don't mean to bully anyone.

Yes. But it can be interpreted differently.

Darren Treadway, at the State University of New York,

studied bullying in the workplace.

He uses a word which means

'the way someone interprets something they see or hear'. Which word is it?

At the end of the day, if the target feels as if they're being bullied,

the corporation needs to make sure they're addressing that feeling.

If you're the supervisor who's...

your subordinate says that they're being bullied by you or abused by you,

while you may not feel you're doing that, it's your responsibility as a communicator

to make sure that they are getting the accurate perception of your behaviour.

Being known as a bully is a stigma that nobody in a corporation wants.

It's 'perception'.

According to Darren Treadway, bullying is a matter of perception —

the way some action is interpreted by a person, in this case, a subordinate.

And supervisors have to be aware of how their subordinates see their behaviour.

It's all a matter of communication.

Yes, indeed. But we are running out of time, I'm afraid.

Let's go back to the question I put to you earlier in the programme.

It's about a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute.

I asked how much of the American workforce has experienced bullying in the workplace.

The options were 7%, 27% and 47%.

And I guessed 27%.

And you guessed very well. The answer is indeed 27%. What do you think about that?

Well, it's depressingly high, isn't it?

Yes, it is. OK.

Well, before we go, could you remind us of some of the words that we've heard today?

Yes. We heard: traumatised,

to intimidate,

helpless,

to cooperate,

alpha male,

human resources,

intentional,

perception.

Right. Thanks, Neil.

Do log on to BBC Learning English dot com to find more 6 Minute English programmes.

— Bye. — Bye-bye.

6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.