Ukraine: A turning point?: BBC News Review

Ukraine retakes 6,000 square kilometers

of land from Russian forces, says President Zelensky.

This is News Review, from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil. And I'm Sian.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary about today's story.

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, the story.

6,000 square kilometres. That's how much land

the Ukrainian president says his soldiers have retaken

from Russian forces.

Volodymyr Zelensky's figures can't be confirmed,

but Russia has admitted to losing key cities

in the north-eastern region of the country.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February

this year and still holds about a fifth of the country.

You've been looking at the headlines, Sian.

What's the vocabulary?

OK, we have a 'turning point', 'on the back foot' and 'cement'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline. OK. This one is from The Financial Times.

According to The Financial Times,

the war in Ukraine has reached a 'turning point'.

And that's the expression we are going to look at - 'turning point'.

Now, the word 'turning' is connected to changes in direction.

Is that sense the same here?

It is, so, as is often the case in this programme,

we're talking about metaphorical language.

So, literally a turning point is the point in a road where you can stop

and go in a different direction.

So, in this headline, and in common use,

we use it non-literally to talk about situations that are starting to change.

And the situation that has started to change,

according to this headline writer,

is that Ukrainian forces are taking land from Russian forces.

And that's land that Russian forces took when they invaded

Ukraine earlier in the year.

But this expression has a wider use.

It's not only about war, is it? That's right.

So, we use it to talk about moments in our life when things start to change

in a really important way. We often use it with the verb 'reach'.

So, you 'reach a turning point'.

So, Neil. For example.

You have children, right?

I do. And that was a major turning point in my life.

Everything changed. The direction of my life changed when I had kids.

And Neil used 'major' here, which is a common use.

We often use 'major' with 'turning point'.

OK. Let's have a look at that again.

Let's have a look at our next headline, please.

This one is from Sky News.

The headline is saying that Russia is 'on the back foot',

and that's an expression that means 'at a disadvantage'

or 'in a defensive position'.

And it comes from sport, doesn't it?

That's right.

So this expression is from sport, probably

or possibly cricket and if you're on the back foot,

your position is not ready to attack, your balance is ready to defend

and that is the same as the meaning here, isn't it?

Yes. And so, by saying that Russia is 'on the back foot',

the headline writer thinks that they are less stable than before.

Now, another version of that expression is 'caught on the back foot'.

That's right. And that means someone is not prepared for something.

Yeah, and there are some other related expressions

with the word 'balance' this time.

So, you can be 'caught off balance' or 'knocked off balance' and again

it's connected to being prepared.

Have you got some examples of these expressions?

Yes, I do, actually.

So, when I was younger and not as reliable as I am now,

I had a job interview and there was lots of traffic.

So, I turned up late for the interview.

So, the interview started and I was already 'on the back foot'.

Sounds like you were 'caught off balance'.

I was and I didn't get the job.

Oh, dear. Let's have a look at that again.

Let's have our next headline, please.

OK. This is from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

And so this headline means that President Zelensky is asking

for more sanctions, that's measures to hurt the Russian economy. Also arms,

that's weapons, to 'cement' the military gains that Ukraine has made recently.

We're looking at 'cement'.

Now, 'cement', I know what that is.

Yeah, it's building material.

So, it's the grey stuff that you use to stick bricks together

if you build a house.

So, it's quite strong stuff.

Yeah. As you said, it's stuff.

But here, in this headline,

it's a verb - 'to cement'.

But it carries the same meaning - to make something stronger.

What kind of things can we 'cement'?

OK. So, we talk about 'cementing' an agreement,

or you can 'cement' a relationship or a friendship,

but it does sound quite formal.

So, you can say the president's visit 'cemented' relations

between the two countries, for example.

Yeah, but I probably wouldn't say "I went for a coffee with Rob and

it 'cemented' our friendship."

No. No, that doesn't sound right.

That's too formal here.

You could just say "we got on well".

A quick note on pronunciation.

So, with the word 'cement', the verb and the noun, we stress the second syllable.

So, it's 'cement'.

OK. Let's have a look at that one more time,

so you can 'cement' your knowledge of that word.

We've had 'turning point' -

things start changing from here. 'On the back foot' -

at a disadvantage. And 'cement' - make stronger.

Don't forget there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Thank you for joining us, and goodbye. Goodbye.