Learn English Vocabulary Daily #13.4 — British English Podcast

Hello, and welcome to The English Like A Native Podcast.

My name is Anna and you are listening to Week 13, Day 4 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 start today's list.

We're starting with the noun circus.

Circus.

How do we spell that?

It's spelled C I R C U S.

Circus.

Circus.

The circus is a group of travelling performers that includes acrobats and

those who work with trained animals and other performers that usually

put on their show in a large tent.

So, it's a travelling show with very specific, skilled performers

who do wonderful things.

Now, here's an example sentence.

"I can't wait for the circus to come to town this weekend, I

haven't been since I was a kid."

Have you ever been to a circus?

I've been to quite a few circus performances actually, and I've

known quite a few circus performers.

A friend of mine who I used to train with at gymnastics was a fire

eater, and he was also a strongman.

And I did a show once, a pantomime, with a lady who could do contortion,

so she could bend herself into all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes

that just seem completely unnatural.

And yes, I've known many acrobats who have also spent time in the circus.

So, moving on to our next word.

This is also a noun and it is trapeze, trapeze.

We spell this T R A P E Z E, trapeze.

The trapeze is a short bar that hangs high in the air from two ropes and acrobats

use it to perform special movements.

So, it's a bar that you'd hold onto and swing high in the air, and then you

can turn around and hang off it with your legs and do all sorts of things

and jump from one trapeze to another.

It's very, very scary, takes a lot of skill.

And here's an example sentence.

"The glamorous couple performed amazingly on the flying trapeze, they

must spend hours practising every day."

Next on the list is an adverb and it is clownishly.

Clownishly.

We spell this C L O W N I S H L Y.

Clownishly.

Clownishly.

So, this means to be acting in a way that is similar to a clown.

So silly and foolishly.

Clownishly.

Here's an example sentence.

"Johnny always acts so clownishly when he gets together with his

brother, it's funny to watch."

Next on the list is an adjective and it is awestruck, awestruck.

We spell this A W E S T R U C K.

Awestruck.

Awestruck.

If you are awestruck, then you are filled with a feeling of admiration or respect.

You're normally awestruck when you see or hear something incredible,

like an amazing singer or a fantastically skilled performance.

Here's an example.

"I was totally awestruck when I saw the young performers do their acrobat

routine, they were so talented."

Have you ever been awestruck?

I'm quite easily awestruck actually.

I find people quite amazing, really.

Just trying to think of a specific occasion when I've been awestruck.

Oh, I remember being on the cruise ships one day and walking past the

theatre in the middle of the day.

I'm walking past the theatre before showtime and hearing one of the

performers in there warming up and doing their technical rehearsal.

And this young man was an incredible singer from New

Zealand who also plays the piano.

And just hearing him work through his material made me stop and go

into the theatre and sit at the back and watch his rehearsal.

I was awestruck; his talent, his charisma, his voice, it was just wonderful.

And we became good friends after that.

Anyway, carrying on, the last one on our list is a verb and it is wonder, wonder.

We spell this W O N D E R.

Wonder.

To wonder.

To wonder is to ask yourself questions, or to wish to know more about something.

"I wonder, hmm."

Here's an example sentence.

"The audience was left wondering how on earth the ringmaster managed to quickly

change into the most glittery of outfits."

Do you ever have that when you go to the theatre?

When you wonder how things are done?

I wonder how they managed to achieve that effect.

I wonder how that person managed to tell that story so convincingly.

I wonder how they managed to do such a big, energetic performance

every single day, twice a day.

It must be exhausting.

I wonder what was the last thing that you wondered to yourself?

Okay, that was our five.

Let's quickly recap.

We started with the noun circus, circus, a group of travelling performers

that perform in a tent, and they normally do very skilful performances

like acrobatics and fire eating.

Next, we had the noun trapeze.

Trapeze, which is the high-flying bar that people swing on.

I say people, acrobats, swing on and perform their acts on this

bar that sits high in the air.

Then we had the adverb clownishly, clownishly, to act in a way that's

very similar to a clown, very silly.

Then we had the adjective awestruck, to be awestruck, to be filled with

a feeling of admiration or respect.

And we finished with the verb wonder, to wonder, to ask yourself questions

and wish to know more about something.

So, let's do this for pronunciation and then I'll test your knowledge.

Here we go.

Repeat after me.

Circus.

Circus.

Trapeze.

Trapeze.

Clownishly.

Clownishly.

Awestruck.

Awestruck.

Wonder.

Wonder.

Fantastic.

So, time to quiz you.

What do I call that group of travelling performers who perform in a tent?

A circus.

And how about the bar that hangs at the top of the tent that acrobats swing on?

What's that called?

Trapeze.

Trapeze.

And if I sit there and I ask myself questions or wish to know more about

something, what verb could I use?

Wonder.

Wonder.

And if I'm filled with feelings of admiration and respect,

which adjective could I use?

Awestruck.

Awestruck.

But if I behave and do things in a very silly way, very similar to

a clown, what adverb could I use?

Clownishly.

Fantastic.

Let's bring everything together in a little story.

In days gone by, a trip to the circus was a traditional family outing

that you would go on once a year.

There used to be lions, elephants, monkeys, horses and other exotic

animals, all doing tricks and making the crowd go wild with amazement.

There were clowns, acrobats, dancers and a whole host of

daring and death-defying stunts.

Now, a trip to the 'Big Top' - the 'Big Top' being the huge tent

that a circus is held in - is a completely different experience.

As you walk through the entrance curtains to find your ringside seats,

you're hit by the smell of salty popcorn and sweet candy floss, and

you begin to wonder which world you're in as you're greeted by funny-looking

people with huge hair, giant feet, large red noses and colourful outfits.

They're all running around clownishly to the music that is blasting out of

the big speaker at the top of the tent.

Next up are the strongmen, lifting impossible weights and throwing each other

around like they're as light as a feather.

The trapeze, one of the most popular parts of the whole show, comes last.

As the acrobats swing and fly, twist and turn gracefully across the air,

everyone is awestruck at the glamour and talent of these flexible performers.

A world away from the animal circus of days gone by, but an experience to

remember and treasure all the same.

And that brings us to the end of Episode 13.4.

I do hope you found it helpful.

Until tomorrow, take care and goodbye.