Learn English Vocabulary Daily #13.2 - British English Podcast

Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast.

My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 13, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day.

This is a series that aims to increase your active vocabulary by deep

diving into five pieces every day of the week from Monday to Friday.

Now, let's get started.

The first word on our list today is a noun and it is Advocate.

Advocate.

So, this is spelled A D V O C A T E.

Advocate.

Advocate.

An advocate is a person who speaks for, supports, or represents a

person or a group of people who may need extra help or protection.

I recently adopted a kitten, a little kitten who'd been abandoned and was

being helped by a local cat charity.

Now I've been following this particular charity online for a few

months and I have become an advocate of what they're trying to do.

An advocate of all these poor little pussycats.

So, I was more than happy to opt to help out.

So, I went and adopted this kitten and made a generous donation and

have been looking after this kitten who is now a member of my family.

So, I am an advocate of that charity.

I support them.

I don't officially represent them.

So, I'm not an official advocate.

I'm just a social advocate of the work that they do.

I support them and I'm happy to speak to others about the work that they do.

So, here's an example sentence.

"Candidates for the job need to have at least five years'

experience as a solicitor or advocate in a similar industry."

Have you ever been an advocate for anything?

Let's move on to our next word, which is going to be quite interesting.

This is a verb and it is advocate.

Advocate.

And it's spelled A D V O C A T E.

It's spelled exactly the same way as our first word, the noun advocate.

So, yes, this is the same word, or at least it has the same

spelling but it sounds different and it has a different meaning.

Okay, so these are homophones.

An advocate is the person who advocates for a person or a

group that needs supporting.

So, to advocate for something is to publicly support or suggest an idea,

development, or way of doing something.

So, you might advocate for healthy eating.

I am an advocate of healthy eating.

I often advocate publicly the work of ZOE, which is a company that are

currently doing these huge studies and tests and helping people to

improve their lifestyle through food.

And I am happy to advocate for them because I have done it.

I'm happy to represent them, so I'm an advocate for them,

and I will advocate for them.

Okay, so advocate.

I will advocate for them.

Here's another example.

"I advocate for the return of swimming lessons in school, children need to

be aware of the dangers of water."

Okay, so moving on, we have the phrase equal footing.

Equal footing, we often talk about being on an equal footing,

to be on an equal footing.

We spell this E Q U A L, equal.

Footing, F O O T I N G.

Equal footing.

So, this phrase means to be in an equal or safe situation, okay.

So, sometimes you might actually hear this as even footing.

So, to be even is to be the same.

Even is very similar to equal.

So, to be on equal footing or even footing is to be in the same or safe situation.

So, if you and I are in the same situation, you could say

that we're on equal footing.

Here's an example sentence:.

"What are your thoughts on the topic of men and women being able to compete

for the same jobs on an equal footing?"

If two candidates for university were to take the same entrance exam, but one

candidate had been shown a previous exam paper, so they had more opportunity to

prepare, to be more thorough in their preparation, and the other candidate

had not been shown that entrance paper, then they were not on equal footing, so

they might meet up face to face and say:

"Oh, good luck.

I hope you get it."

"Yeah, you too."

"It's not like we're on equal footing though, is it?

Because I know that you had extra help that I didn't get.

So, you have an advantage over me.

So, we're not on equal footing.

So I'm sure you're more likely to get it than I am."

Okay, let's move on.

We have next a noun and it is feminism.

Feminism.

This is spelled F E M I N I S M.

Feminism.

Notice how that S becomes a Z sound.

Zzzz.

Feminism, feminism, feminism sometimes makes people feel very emotional.

Feminism.

So, this can sometimes stir the pot.

People have different ideas about what feminism means and represents.

The word feminism means the belief that women should be allowed the same

rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way.

Okay, so, here's an example sentence.

"Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the first women to promote feminism,

she was an inspiration to many."

Now am I a follower or advocate of feminism?

Well, it's one of those things that can really cause people to get very emotional.

I remember having some hate mail from a young man.

Once who accused me of being a feminist and pushing feminism on my channel.

And I was like,

"What do you mean by feminist and feminism?

What's your understanding of it?"

And he was like,

"Well, you hate men.

You hate men.

And you want to promote the hatred of men."

And I was very confused because my understanding of feminism is that

it is about equal rights for women.

That women should have opportunities like the opportunity to vote and to enter the

workplace and to be paid the same for the same type of work as a man would be paid.

And treated as, you know, this, just treated as a person rather

than a second-class citizen, just the same as everybody else.

That doesn't mean I hate men.

I love men.

I love men.

I, I live with three men: two young men, my sons and my partner.

I hope that I bring them up to be very strong and happy and

polite men who give something to society, who respect themselves

and other people, including women.

So, I definitely don't hate men in any way, but I do believe

in equal rights for all.

So, feminism, what are your thoughts on feminism?

So, next we have the adjective rebellious.

Rebellious.

And this is spelled R E B E L L I O U S, rebellious.

Rebellious.

Sometimes people struggle when there's an L in the middle of a word.

So just making sure that your tongue tip comes up to the

roof of the mouth for the L.

Rebel, rebellious, rebellious.

Now, if you are described as being rebellious, then you're a person who

is opposed to the ideas of the people in authority, the people in charge.

Rebellious people often plan to change the system, often by using force.

Also, they can be difficult to control.

They don't comply.

They don't go along with the rules and what is expected of them

from the society they live in.

So, they don't behave in the way they are expected to behave.

They fight against it because they want something different.

So, to be rebellious.

Here's an example sentence.

"Marianne's teacher regarded her as a rebellious, trouble-making student."

Are you rebellious?

I definitely went through a rebellious stage when I was a teenager.

I have this really strong memory of being 16 years old and almost 17 actually.

And I started college, so I'd chosen to do my A-levels, and that was my

decision because in this country, at least when I was studying, once you

finish school, high school, secondary school, then you're done with education

unless you choose to continue.

So, education beyond 16 is not compulsory, or at least it wasn't.

And so I had chosen to stay on and study, but I was also working

part-time and paying rent to my mum and so I felt like I was now an adult.

I was making my own choices and one day I said to my mum,

"I'm going to go and stay at my friend's house tonight."

I'm going to stay over, which is to sleep in that particular place.

"So, I'm going to stay over at my friend's house, mum."

And my mum looked at me and said,

"Not on a school night."

And I said,

"Mum, I'm at college and my friend goes to my college.

I'll just stay over with her and go to college with her in the morning."

She says,

"No, you're not staying over at your friend's on a school

night, on a college night."

And I said,

"Mum, I'm 16.

I can make my own decisions."

And so at that point, I just decided that I was the master of myself that I was

no longer going to be told what to do.

I would still respect my mum, but she was no longer in control of what

I did, as far as I was concerned.

But my mum did not agree, and I remember having this huge argument, and her

chasing me out of the house saying,

"You're leaving this house if you don't want to live with my rules,

then you're not living under my roof."

And saying,

"Give me your keys."

And me saying,

"No, I won't give you my keys."

It was very dramatic.

It should have been in a soap opera.

But I was definitely in a rebellious phase at that point in my life

when I was just trying to find my own voice and my own way in life.

And I started pushing back against my authority, which was my mum and my dad.

I was pushing back and saying no!

I don't like this system anymore.

I want to put my own system in place.

So, I was rebellious for a short period.

Now that brings us to the end of this list.

So, let's do a quick recap.

We had the noun advocate, to be an advocate, someone who speaks for

and supports and represents another person or group of people, usually

those who need help or protection.

Then we had the verb to advocate, to advocate.

Advocate, which is the act of publicly supporting an idea, a development,

a person or a way of doing things.

So, advocate, the noun, advocate, the verb.

We had the phrase, on an equal footing, which is to be in

an equal or safe situation.

Then we had the noun, feminism, feminism, the belief that women

should be allowed the same rights, powers and opportunities as men.

And we finished with the adjective rebellious, a person who is

opposed to the people in authority and wants to make a change.

Okay, so let's now do this for pronunciation.

Here we go, repeat after me.

Advocate.

Advocate.

The verb advocate.

Advocate.

Equal footing.

Equal footing.

Feminism.

Feminism.

Rebellious.

Rebellious.

Fantastic!

So, what would I say if we are both in a very similar situation, we're quite equal?

What phrase could I use?

On an equal footing, that's right.

And if I am a person who speaks for another person who needs my protection.

What would you call me?

An advocate, an advocate.

And what am I doing?

If I'm an advocate, what am I doing when I'm publicly supporting this person?

What's the verb?

Advocate.

I'm advocating.

I'm advocating for that person.

What would you call the belief that women should be allowed equal rights to men?

That's right, it's feminism.

And if you are a person who's opposed to the ideas of those in authority.

What adjective could I use to describe you?

Rebellious, rebellious, of course.

Now, let's bring that all together in a little story.

And we're going to be touching on history here.

Emmeline Pankhurst, a fearless and rebellious force, took on a

daring mission in the early 1900s to challenge the unfair government

rule and fight for women's rights.

With pure determination, she became a prominent figure in the

feminist movement, advocating for gender equality and social justice.

As an advocate for women's rights, Emmeline Pankhurst fiercely spoke

out against the discrimination faced by women in society.

She passionately fought for their voices to be heard, demanding equal

footing with men in all aspects of life.

Pankhurst's advocacy was not restricted just to words; she took bold actions

that captured the world's attention.

Her active approach ignited a spark in the suffragette movement, pushing

boundaries and defying societal norms.

Pankhurst's tireless efforts paved the way for women to use their

rights and challenge the status quo.

Her actions demonstrated that women were capable of taking matters into

their own hands and demanding the respect and recognition they deserved.

Feminism was here to stay.

Emmeline Pankhurst's legacy as a fierce advocate for women's rights remains

an inspiration to this day, reminding us of the power and strength that

lies within the fight for equality.

And that brings us to the end of today's lesson.

I do hope you found this useful.

Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.