Listening and Reading Practice - British English Podcast

102,176 views ・ 2023-06-15

English Like A Native


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:03
Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native Podcast,
0
3240
3960
00:07
the podcast that's designed for lovers and learners of English.
1
7470
5010
00:12
I'm your host, Anna, and today we are going on an adventure
2
12960
5730
00:19
to the great outdoors.
3
19080
1440
00:21
So today's episode is going to be a little bit different.
4
21780
2490
00:24
I want you to find a quiet place, turn up the volume and come with me as we
5
24900
7050
00:31
experience a different environment.
6
31950
3240
00:38
I open my door and swing my bare legs out of the car.
7
38400
3990
00:43
My feet are greeted by the soft cool ground beneath.
8
43410
3690
00:48
The moss has a slight spring to it, and a few blades of grass
9
48240
4529
00:52
tickle my calves as I emerge.
10
52769
2071
00:56
I had forgotten how it felt to stand in this meadow on a summer's day.
11
56250
4830
01:02
Returning always feels like greeting an old friend.
12
62370
3930
01:07
I stretch my arms above my head, close my eyes, and embrace it.
13
67800
6330
01:15
The sun kisses my face, warming my cheeks just a little before the refreshing
14
75540
6495
01:22
breeze comes in, like a jealous rival, to caress my skin, giving rise to goosebumps.
15
82035
6330
01:29
I pull a light shawl over my shoulders and set off for the middle of the meadow.
16
89445
5100
01:35
The beauty here is striking.
17
95715
2400
01:38
The wide open space, the rolling hills beyond, a continuation of green pastures
18
98745
6180
01:44
lifting up to meet the clear blue sky.
19
104930
2885
01:49
I pause again to take in the view.
20
109105
2915
01:53
The desire to explore is growing inside me, but I am here to wait for my
21
113310
6510
01:59
friend, and so I will continue to wait.
22
119820
4109
02:04
I plonk myself down on a boulder that seems oddly out of place, but I
23
124919
5100
02:10
don't give its origin much thought.
24
130019
1801
02:12
I sit and gaze into the distance breathing in the day, filling
25
132420
4920
02:17
my lungs with fresh air.
26
137340
1650
02:22
I scan the scene, a few shrubs randomly dotted across the field,
27
142890
4920
02:28
wild flowers in full bloom, popping their heads above the long grass
28
148680
4770
02:33
and swaying in tandem in the breeze.
29
153450
2370
02:37
A huge oak tree marks the far corner of the meadow.
30
157140
3300
02:41
A solitary oak laden with young acorns offering respite from the unrelenting sun.
31
161160
6000
02:48
A squirrel quickly darts up the trunk with impressive dexterity,
32
168510
3360
02:51
clutching something in its jaw.
33
171875
1975
02:55
Suddenly something buzzes past my ear, making me jump.
34
175410
3120
02:59
A default reaction, which I always scold myself for.
35
179340
3060
03:03
It's just a bee, a busy little bee bumbling about minding its
36
183030
5940
03:08
own business, as it visits each flower that it comes across.
37
188970
3540
03:14
I could stay here all day, lose myself in this noisy quiet, just breathing, not
38
194400
6450
03:20
thinking, but then the noisy quiet is suddenly shattered by my ringtone rudely
39
200850
9570
03:30
blasting out, desperate for my attention.
40
210420
2760
03:33
And once again, I am back to reality.
41
213750
2250
03:37
"Hello, Anna speaking.
42
217609
1391
03:40
Yes, of course I will be right there."
43
220060
2285
03:45
Okay, let's have a look at some of the vocabulary that I used when describing
44
225945
5640
03:51
my experience within the meadow.
45
231585
2160
03:54
First of all, I said I open the door and I swing out my legs.
46
234435
4830
03:59
Now, often when we are getting out of a vehicle we'd say, I stepped
47
239505
6345
04:05
out or I got out of the car, but here I said, I swung out my legs.
48
245850
4890
04:10
And this is the idea of being...
49
250740
1590
04:12
kind of sitting with your knees pointing in one direction, and then you
50
252660
3090
04:15
swing your body, you turn your body, and at the same time you're moving
51
255750
4920
04:20
your legs into a different place.
52
260670
2595
04:23
So you are swinging them.
53
263265
1230
04:24
You are swinging them to the side.
54
264615
1560
04:26
So it's just a different way of basically saying, I stepped out of the car, but
55
266895
3810
04:30
I swung my bare legs out of the car.
56
270945
3150
04:34
Now I said, bare legs.
57
274335
1710
04:36
Bare here means naked uncovered, which suggests that it's a warm day.
58
276795
6360
04:43
So I swung out my bare legs, my feet greeted by the soft cool ground beneath.
59
283515
7770
04:52
The moss has a slight spring to it.
60
292380
3450
04:56
So moss is like a green...
61
296100
3930
05:01
it's like a plant, isn't it?
62
301710
1230
05:02
A green plant based thing that covers often tree trunks or
63
302940
6100
05:09
stones, boulders, or ground.
64
309630
3170
05:14
And moss can be very soft.
65
314730
2160
05:17
It often grows in places that are a little bit damp, a bit more humid,
66
317070
3690
05:21
so you'll find a lot of moss in places where there's dripping water.
67
321030
4170
05:25
Or in like, you know, the woods, or the forest where it's a little bit
68
325495
3930
05:29
darker, more covered and there's a lot more moisture in the air.
69
329455
5290
05:35
So the moss has a slight spring to it, slightly springy.
70
335224
4831
05:40
Now, I said there are a few blades of grass that tickle my calves.
71
340414
3241
05:45
So a blade of grass is what you use to describe one single piece of grass,
72
345229
5581
05:50
a blade, and I guess it's called a blade of grass because it's very flat
73
350810
5729
05:56
and has sharpish edges, very defined edges like a blade, like a knife.
74
356870
8460
06:06
Although, it would be very hard to cut yourself with a blade of grass.
75
366020
3260
06:10
Anyway, I said a few blades of grass tickle my calves.
76
370000
4380
06:15
Calves is the plural of the muscle that sits on the lower part of your leg.
77
375130
7800
06:22
So the back of your lower leg is your calf, your calf.
78
382930
4560
06:28
So as a single calf, it's C-A-L-F, calf.
79
388270
4480
06:33
But when we're talking about your two legs, your two calves,
80
393080
4500
06:38
then we say C-A-L-V-E-S, calves.
81
398210
4014
06:42
Calves.
82
402854
690
06:44
So the blades of grass tickle my calves as I emerge.
83
404354
3930
06:48
To emerge is to come out of something to, you know, show yourself to the world.
84
408284
6900
06:56
You know, a chick will emerge from an egg when it's finally
85
416204
3060
06:59
ready to come into the world.
86
419264
1860
07:02
I had forgotten how it felt to stand in this meadow on a summer's day.
87
422624
3780
07:06
Returning always felt like greeting an old friend.
88
426734
3090
07:10
I stretch my arms above my head, close my eyes, and embrace it.
89
430364
3390
07:14
The sun kisses my face, warming my cheeks, just a little, before the refreshing
90
434474
5730
07:20
breeze comes in like a jealous rival.
91
440204
4250
07:26
So to be jealous, to have green eyes, to be jealous is to want
92
446099
6510
07:32
something that somebody else has.
93
452609
2401
07:35
You don't want them to have it.
94
455010
1020
07:36
You want it, you are jealous.
95
456034
1856
07:38
And here we are personifying the breeze and suggesting the
96
458879
3360
07:42
breeze is jealous of the sun.
97
462244
2425
07:44
The sun is kissing my face and the breeze wants to kiss my face.
98
464849
3421
07:49
So he is a jealous rival.
99
469454
2610
07:53
A rival is kind of like an enemy.
100
473184
2690
07:56
If two people are rivals, they don't get on, they're usually
101
476114
3630
07:59
fighting for the same thing.
102
479744
1650
08:02
You'll have rival football teams.
103
482624
2920
08:06
It doesn't necessarily mean that you hate each other, but you
104
486955
2760
08:09
can be rivals in a personal way.
105
489715
3370
08:13
And then I go on to say that the breeze caresses my skin.
106
493864
4895
08:18
So to caress is another way of saying kiss, to caress, or touch, to caress.
107
498764
5935
08:25
Giving rise to, this is a nice phrase, meaning it causes,
108
505629
5490
08:31
causing, giving rise to goosebumps.
109
511899
3620
08:36
So the breeze causes goosebumps.
110
516069
3750
08:39
It gives rise to goosebumps.
111
519879
2430
08:42
Now, goosebumps describes the raised little bumps you get
112
522549
4140
08:46
on your skin when you're cold.
113
526689
1590
08:48
I've heard other people in different countries calling it 'chicken skin'.
114
528699
3665
08:53
When a chicken has been plucked, it has all these little, little
115
533144
2640
08:55
bumps on its skin and that's how you look when you have goosebumps.
116
535789
4345
09:00
So the breeze gives rise to goosebumps.
117
540344
3450
09:04
I pull a light shawl over my shoulders.
118
544934
3710
09:09
Now here I'm talking about the material of the shawl being light, a light shawl.
119
549944
6197
09:16
So it's just a very thin, lightweight shawl.
120
556331
4720
09:21
A shawl is like a piece of material that you hang on your shoulders or on
121
561061
5820
09:26
the upper arms, goes around your back and hangs over your arms or shoulders.
122
566931
5190
09:32
It's like a scarf, but it's not, like a full length, like a scarf is, it doesn't
123
572331
5250
09:37
wrap around your neck several times.
124
577581
1800
09:39
A shawl is just to go over the shoulders or upper arms.
125
579381
2880
09:42
Sometimes shawls are quite large actually, and they can wrap
126
582651
4020
09:46
around your entire upper body.
127
586671
2520
09:50
But in this case it's just a light shawl, just something for the summer.
128
590961
3810
09:55
And I set off for the middle of the meadow.
129
595821
2760
09:58
To set off is a phrasal verb, meaning to go.
130
598581
2730
10:01
Like head off, I go, I set off.
131
601391
2020
10:04
The simple beauty is striking.
132
604386
2010
10:06
Striking is a nice way to describe something that is very
133
606966
5250
10:12
beautiful or very impressive.
134
612216
3900
10:16
It impresses you in a way that really hits you.
135
616596
3510
10:20
To strike is to hit.
136
620106
1405
10:21
So if something is striking, then it stops you.
137
621801
3525
10:25
It makes you take notice of it.
138
625326
1830
10:27
Whoa.
139
627186
990
10:28
That is amazing.
140
628866
1860
10:30
That is a gorgeous view.
141
630966
1890
10:35
So the scene, the beauty, the simple beauty is striking.
142
635526
3720
10:39
The wide open space.
143
639246
1680
10:41
This is a nice collocation.
144
641436
1500
10:42
We all often talk about a big space, like a field, as being a wide open space, a
145
642941
7662
10:50
wide open space, and the rolling hills.
146
650603
3630
10:54
Here's another collocation.
147
654233
1140
10:55
We talk about the rolling hills.
148
655373
1710
10:57
The rolling hills is where you have hill after hill after hill.
149
657683
3410
11:01
Just like a big ball would be rolling up and down these hills, up and
150
661743
4415
11:06
down, up and down the rolling hills.
151
666158
2580
11:09
A continuation of green pastures lifting up.
152
669908
4680
11:14
So I'm thinking of these green hills all reaching up, trying to touch the sky.
153
674588
5250
11:21
So lifting up to meet the clear blue sky, that's another collocation.
154
681878
3810
11:25
We often talk about the clear blue sky.
155
685688
3390
11:30
I pause again to take in the view.
156
690188
2430
11:32
Now, take in is a great phrasal verb.
157
692918
2080
11:35
It means to have a moment to absorb something.
158
695528
4780
11:40
We often use this phrasal verb for news.
159
700538
3990
11:45
So something is news to you, you might need a moment to take it in, especially
160
705068
5955
11:51
if it's shocking or unexpected news.
161
711023
3720
11:54
If it's very good news or very bad news, you might need a moment to absorb it and
162
714743
5490
12:00
think about how you feel, understand how you feel, and what you think about it.
163
720233
4320
12:05
You need to take it in.
164
725003
1140
12:06
But we also take in the view.
165
726743
2940
12:10
So it's having a moment to absorb the view, look at the
166
730853
5010
12:15
view, think about it, enjoy it.
167
735863
2070
12:17
You take in the view.
168
737933
1320
12:21
The desire to explore is growing inside me, but I'm to wait here for
169
741503
3595
12:25
my friend, but I'm content to wait.
170
745098
3600
12:28
Content is a nice word.
171
748728
1230
12:29
To be content just means to be happy.
172
749963
3115
12:33
I am not upset about this.
173
753768
1770
12:36
I'm just content.
174
756078
900
12:37
Everything is okay.
175
757518
1290
12:40
I plonk myself down.
176
760128
1950
12:43
It's a bit of a juxtaposition in the type of language I've
177
763608
4370
12:47
been using up to this point.
178
767983
1315
12:49
I plonk myself down.
179
769298
1500
12:52
Plonk yourself down is kind of like a slang phrase, meaning I sit down.
180
772288
5765
12:58
But to plonk yourself down is to sit down a bit haphazardly.
181
778053
4230
13:02
So without much care, you just throw yourself down.
182
782823
3870
13:06
I plonk myself down on a boulder.
183
786963
3290
13:10
That seems oddly, out of place.
184
790593
3340
13:14
So it's weird.
185
794563
1020
13:15
It's oddly.
186
795583
870
13:16
It's odd.
187
796543
660
13:17
Oddly out of place.
188
797773
1290
13:19
Out of place is a nice phrase to remember.
189
799153
2220
13:21
If something doesn't seem like it belongs, it is out of place.
190
801673
3690
13:26
I felt out of place.
191
806413
1680
13:30
The boulder seemed oddly out of place.
192
810133
3060
13:33
Very weird for this boulder to be on its own in the middle of a meadow.
193
813373
4830
13:38
Where on earth did it come from?
194
818203
1630
13:41
But I don't give its origin much thought.
195
821783
3775
13:46
Here's another phrase.
196
826248
750
13:46
To give something much thought.
197
826998
1590
13:49
You usually use this in the negative.
198
829308
1530
13:50
I don't give it much thought.
199
830838
1560
13:53
Just means you've, you didn't think about something very much.
200
833028
3150
13:56
I didn't give it much thought.
201
836448
1230
13:58
"Didn't you question why there was a cat outside your front door?"
202
838378
4590
14:02
"No, I didn't give it much thought."
203
842998
1410
14:06
"Didn't you care that your brother hadn't come home that night?"
204
846208
5380
14:11
"Oh I hadn't given it much thought, really.
205
851588
1730
14:13
He stays out late often.
206
853318
1290
14:16
You don't give something much thought.
207
856648
1890
14:18
I hadn't given it much thought.
208
858538
1680
14:21
I sit and gaze into the distance.
209
861868
2910
14:25
To gaze is to look for a long time I gaze.
210
865558
4680
14:30
We often talk about gazing into someone's eyes if we are enamoured.
211
870853
4710
14:36
"Oh, I'm gazing into your eyes.
212
876233
2030
14:38
I love you."
213
878263
600
14:40
Breathing in the day, filling my lungs with fresh air.
214
880213
4350
14:44
To fill your lungs is to breathe in deep.
215
884953
2100
14:48
Your lungs, obviously it's an organ in your body.
216
888703
2940
14:51
We have two of them.
217
891693
1140
14:52
We use them to breathe.
218
892863
1170
14:54
If we fill our lungs, then we're taking a deep breath.
219
894153
2640
14:56
We fill our lungs with fresh air.
220
896823
2290
14:59
That's another collocation.
221
899703
1260
15:01
Fresh air.
222
901143
780
15:02
I might tell you, "Uh, you've been inside all day.
223
902913
2610
15:05
Don't you want to go outside and get some fresh air?"
224
905523
2040
15:08
The funny thing is we use the phrase fresh air even if we are in a city
225
908733
5850
15:14
and perhaps the air isn't so fresh, I say, "Do you want some fresh air?"
226
914583
3360
15:18
Usually it means do you want some air from outside?
227
918363
2490
15:20
Do you want some outdoor air rather than the stale indoor air?
228
920883
2820
15:25
"Should we get some fresh air?"
229
925203
990
15:26
"Yeah, let's stretch our legs and get some fresh air."
230
926223
2100
15:29
I scan the scene.
231
929943
1950
15:32
To scan something.
232
932373
1260
15:34
Usually when we're talking about scanning something, we're talking
233
934023
3480
15:37
about a machine that scans.
234
937508
2435
15:40
So these days we have scanners in almost every shop because we scan cards.
235
940063
6090
15:46
We scan coupons, barcodes are scanned.
236
946153
3360
15:50
We have a barcode scanner.
237
950553
1390
15:52
At the supermarket, everything is scanned, isn't it?
238
952493
2750
15:56
But to scan just means to kind of do a thorough look across something.
239
956083
5070
16:02
So if I scan the room, it means I look across the whole room, "I've lost my keys.
240
962203
5580
16:07
Where are my keys?
241
967788
835
16:08
I've scanned the entire house and I can't find them anywhere."
242
968628
2725
16:13
A few shrubs randomly dotted across the field.
243
973693
3465
16:17
Now, a shrub.
244
977338
930
16:19
What is a shrub?
245
979528
930
16:20
It's like a tree, but not a tree, and it's not a plant.
246
980518
3930
16:24
A shrub is like a bigger, bushier plant, like a woody plant.
247
984898
5690
16:30
It's smaller than a tree, so it's not a big tall tree.
248
990798
3300
16:34
You couldn't climb a shrub, but it's not like a little plant
249
994098
3810
16:37
that would give you flowers.
250
997938
1290
16:39
It's got woody stalks, like a bush.
251
999468
3420
16:43
That's a shrub.
252
1003308
720
16:44
And I said there were a few shrubs randomly dotted across the field.
253
1004648
4830
16:49
If things are dotted across an area, it means there are just a few of them
254
1009868
4860
16:54
kind of spaced out across the area.
255
1014728
3120
16:57
There's not like a group of shrubs in one area, they're dotted around.
256
1017968
4600
17:03
They're very random, all over the place.
257
1023468
2100
17:07
Wild flowers in full bloom.
258
1027008
2550
17:10
Wild flowers are the kinds of flowers that will just pop up anywhere,
259
1030428
3360
17:14
and they're usually very beautiful.
260
1034358
1260
17:15
There's been a big push in recent years to kind of encourage the
261
1035798
3910
17:19
growth and the seeding of wild flowers because it helps with the
262
1039708
4140
17:24
wildlife, particularly with the bees.
263
1044258
2080
17:27
Because obviously there's a problem with the decline in bee
264
1047028
3780
17:30
population, so wildflowers are, you can find them everywhere now.
265
1050808
3630
17:34
These fields are being left to go to seed and for all these wild
266
1054438
4520
17:38
flowers to be introduced so that the bees can really enjoy them and
267
1058958
5050
17:44
hopefully increase their population.
268
1064013
1655
17:46
So the wild flowers in full bloom, they're all out, they're all blooming.
269
1066768
4500
17:51
You'll see all the beautiful flowers popping their heads above the long grass.
270
1071298
6325
17:58
So we have long grass, which is usually the wild grass that's
271
1078426
3060
18:01
been allowed to grow up tall.
272
1081486
2370
18:05
And we have short grass, although we don't call short grass
273
1085246
2900
18:08
"short grass", it's just grass.
274
1088146
1590
18:09
And that's the kind of grass that you would have on a
275
1089946
2370
18:12
playing field or in your garden.
276
1092316
2340
18:14
If you have an area of grass, that would be a lawn that you would have to mow.
277
1094926
5030
18:20
To mow is to cut.
278
1100796
1260
18:22
But in a meadow, you'd often have a long grass and that was swaying
279
1102596
4200
18:26
in tandem with the wild flowers.
280
1106801
2275
18:29
If you do something in tandem, you work together, you do it together.
281
1109346
3670
18:33
So the wild grass and the wild flowers were swaying in tandem.
282
1113736
4380
18:38
Swaying is moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in the breeze.
283
1118176
6000
18:45
A huge oak tree marks the far corner of the meadow.
284
1125616
5617
18:52
So if it marks the corner, it shows me where the edge of the meadow is,
285
1132463
4880
18:57
or the far corner of the meadow.
286
1137523
1530
18:59
I know where the far corner of the meadow is because the oak tree is right there.
287
1139773
3450
19:03
It marks that point.
288
1143253
1530
19:06
A solitary oak.
289
1146673
1650
19:08
So this oak is all alone.
290
1148938
1320
19:10
Often that is the case, isn't it?
291
1150468
1380
19:11
We tend to have these huge oak trees in meadows, and there'll just be one, maybe a
292
1151848
4620
19:16
couple, but usually it's just one big one.
293
1156468
2190
19:18
They are huge, really, really big trees, and this one is laden with young acorns.
294
1158658
6900
19:25
Acorns are the fruit of an oak tree.
295
1165588
3090
19:29
If you are laden with something, then you are full of it, you
296
1169108
2840
19:31
are weighed down with it almost.
297
1171948
1770
19:33
To be laden.
298
1173868
990
19:35
You have lots of things laid on you.
299
1175338
2400
19:38
That's the way I think about it.
300
1178278
1470
19:40
And this solitary oak is offering respite from the unrelenting sun.
301
1180138
5430
19:45
To offer respite.
302
1185748
1740
19:47
Respite is like a break or a temporary pause in something that is difficult.
303
1187488
9120
19:56
So, if I am suffering with long-term pain, maybe I have problems with
304
1196978
8105
20:05
my joints and inflammation, and I'm always in agony, well, medication might
305
1205083
5100
20:10
offer me some respite from that pain.
306
1210183
2400
20:12
It might give me some short-term relief from that particular troublesome problem.
307
1212583
7500
20:20
Some people would find the unrelenting sun too much.
308
1220968
3510
20:24
Some people are sun-worshippers and love the sun, but it
309
1224718
3360
20:28
can be too much for others.
310
1228078
1350
20:29
And so this oak tree is offering shade so that it's a point of
311
1229428
5910
20:35
respite for people who don't want to be in the unrelenting sun.
312
1235368
4380
20:40
Unrelenting means never ending.
313
1240018
2250
20:42
It doesn't stop.
314
1242268
660
20:42
It just keeps going, keeps going.
315
1242928
1740
20:44
And obviously we have clear blue skies, which means there's no cloud cover.
316
1244848
4980
20:50
There's nothing to stop this sun beating down on you all day long.
317
1250758
3690
20:56
And then a squirrel quickly darts up the trunk.
318
1256158
3510
21:00
The trunk is the body, the thick part of a tree, the part that goes
319
1260208
6250
21:06
from the earth up into the sky.
320
1266458
2370
21:08
That's the trunk.
321
1268833
1285
21:11
And this squirrel darts up the trunk.
322
1271198
2160
21:13
To dart somewhere is to move very quickly.
323
1273358
4190
21:18
And squirrels do dart around very fast, so the squirrel darts up
324
1278968
5880
21:24
the tree with great dexterity.
325
1284848
2490
21:28
To be dexterous means to be strong and good at something physically.
326
1288534
4560
21:33
And actually I didn't say great dexterity in the story, I said impressive dexterity.
327
1293371
5220
21:38
I'm impressed by how well this squirrel can go from the bottom of the tree to the
328
1298951
4680
21:43
top while clutching something in its jaw.
329
1303636
4615
21:48
So to clutch something is to hold on something very tightly.
330
1308671
3300
21:52
We have a kind of handbag here called a clutch.
331
1312541
3070
21:56
A clutch purse or a clutch bag or just a clutch and it's like a
332
1316361
3860
22:00
little handbag or a large purse that doesn't have like a strap.
333
1320381
5210
22:06
So you don't wear it over your shoulder, you literally just hold onto it.
334
1326101
3630
22:10
And because it's got your phone and your money in you do clutch it.
335
1330661
3540
22:14
You do hold it tightly and make sure it stays with you at all times 'cause
336
1334201
4260
22:18
you don't want to lose those things.
337
1338481
1500
22:20
So to clutch.
338
1340221
1170
22:21
Then something suddenly buzzes past my ear, making me jump.
339
1341801
6180
22:28
Oh!
340
1348111
500
22:29
To jump is to flinch, to physically act very quickly and usually without
341
1349661
6025
22:36
thinking, it's like a natural reaction.
342
1356166
2070
22:38
If someone sneaks up behind you when you are not expecting and goes, "Boo!"
343
1358356
4300
22:43
then you're going to jump.
344
1363086
1180
22:45
If you jump in a big way, then you'd say, I jumped out of my skin.
345
1365136
5610
22:52
But here I just said, this little buzz by my ear made me jump.
346
1372006
3450
22:55
And I do jump actually personally quite a lot, if there's like an unexpected spider.
347
1375756
5505
23:01
Ah, I remember once.
348
1381681
1150
23:03
Here we go.
349
1383651
700
23:04
Here's my life story.
350
1384921
1230
23:06
I remember once lying in bed with my son, so we were sleeping
351
1386401
5850
23:12
on a floor bed together.
352
1392711
1260
23:13
It's when my son was just about one year old and I remember thinking, 'cause
353
1393971
5470
23:19
we're on a floor bed, I thought, "Oh, I bet the spiders at some point do
354
1399441
3860
23:23
come and, like, walk across this bed."
355
1403301
2400
23:26
And as I thought that, I thought I'll check under my pillow
356
1406301
3675
23:29
just to make sure there are no spiders and would you believe it?
357
1409976
4020
23:34
Would you, Adam and Eve it?
358
1414086
1560
23:35
I lifted up my pillow.
359
1415646
1590
23:37
And there was a huge spider, just having a nice time on the sheet under my pillow.
360
1417971
7260
23:45
I jumped out of my skin.
361
1425531
1770
23:47
It was not pleasant.
362
1427811
1450
23:49
And then it didn't make for a good night's sleep because I was, like,
363
1429291
3100
23:52
paranoid about spiders forever after that.
364
1432421
2670
23:56
Anyway, we no longer use the floor beds.
365
1436021
1890
23:57
That's good.
366
1437911
500
23:58
Right.
367
1438481
330
23:58
So coming back to the story, this little buzzing past my
368
1438811
2610
24:01
ear, made me jump, a default...
369
1441421
2670
24:04
So the default is what you go to, what you keep coming back to, like your
370
1444466
4140
24:08
basic setting, a default reaction, which I always scold myself for.
371
1448606
7140
24:16
So to scold yourself or to scold someone is to tell them off, to be angry with
372
1456166
5190
24:21
them and tell them, that's not right.
373
1461356
1380
24:22
Don't do that.
374
1462736
540
24:24
So I tell myself off for having this reaction, this default reaction to bees.
375
1464446
8205
24:33
A buzz.
376
1473061
520
24:34
It's just a bee.
377
1474621
1870
24:37
It's not gonna hurt you.
378
1477931
1260
24:40
It's a busy little bee.
379
1480001
1350
24:41
And this is quite a common way to describe a bee, a busy bee
380
1481411
4740
24:46
because of the alliteration.
381
1486181
1560
24:48
And because bees by nature are very busy, they are busy working,
382
1488311
4140
24:52
collecting all the pollen, making honey, looking after the queen.
383
1492751
2970
24:56
Bumbling along.
384
1496576
1380
24:58
They are called bumblebees and they do bumble along.
385
1498056
2940
25:01
We can say that a person bumbles along.
386
1501296
2190
25:03
It's where you kind of move around without much direction.
387
1503486
4402
25:08
Just like a bee does.
388
1508068
1090
25:09
A bee kind of moves around without a definite direction.
389
1509158
4110
25:13
It doesn't go directly from one flower to the next.
390
1513268
2810
25:16
It kind of hovers up and almost like it's drunk.
391
1516078
3460
25:19
It doesn't do it in an efficient way, it just bumbles around.
392
1519851
3670
25:24
So it bumbles along minding its own business.
393
1524661
3630
25:28
This is a common phrase to mind your own business.
394
1528621
3450
25:32
This means to just care about what you are doing, not about
395
1532821
4470
25:37
what other people are doing.
396
1537291
1110
25:38
So don't worry about anyone else.
397
1538671
1830
25:40
Mind your own business.
398
1540921
1080
25:42
I might say that to you, "Hey, look!
399
1542001
1650
25:44
Stop asking me questions about what I'm doing.
400
1544341
2250
25:46
Mind your own business, please."
401
1546621
1440
25:49
Look after your own things, your own behaviour, your own projects.
402
1549201
4500
25:54
Whatever you are doing, you look after that, you mind your own business.
403
1554031
3360
25:58
So this little bee was minding his own business.
404
1558861
2670
26:02
As it visited each flower that it came across.
405
1562221
2970
26:05
To come across something is to just discover something by accident
406
1565191
5370
26:11
as you are travelling along.
407
1571221
1440
26:13
I was walking down the high street and I came across a young woman
408
1573201
4740
26:18
who looked just like my mother.
409
1578181
2160
26:21
We got talking and it turns out that she is my long lost sister.
410
1581541
4920
26:28
Okay, moving on.
411
1588381
1320
26:30
I could stay here all day, lose myself in this noisy quiet.
412
1590151
4530
26:35
Okay. That's a bit of an oxymoron, isn't it?
413
1595101
2580
26:38
An oxymoron, where two things don't seem to belong together.
414
1598051
2930
26:41
They seem to be the opposite of one another.
415
1601161
1530
26:43
A noisy quiet.
416
1603051
1230
26:44
It's noisy 'cause you have all that sound of outdoors.
417
1604281
2970
26:48
But it's quiet because you don't have any of that industrial
418
1608001
3300
26:52
distracting noise of modern living.
419
1612751
2180
26:55
So the noisy quiet, just breathing, not thinking, and then the noisy
420
1615231
4980
27:00
quiet is shattered, shattered.
421
1620216
3115
27:03
Shattered is normally a word that we use to describe the breaking of
422
1623811
4290
27:08
glass, but we also use it to talk about the sudden breaking of silence.
423
1628101
4830
27:13
The silence was shattered.
424
1633321
1370
27:15
Think about how glass breaks, when you break glass, it doesn't just crack.
425
1635601
4020
27:20
Usually, it like breaks into a thousand pieces, doesn't it?
426
1640281
3660
27:23
It absolutely shatters.
427
1643991
1390
27:25
It completely breaks into lots of little pieces.
428
1645381
2700
27:28
That's what shattered means.
429
1648351
1620
27:31
So this noise shatters the noisy quiet.
430
1651141
5000
27:36
And it's my phone rudely, blasting out, blasting out.
431
1656691
5627
27:42
It's very loud, it's very rude.
432
1662318
2280
27:44
It blasts.
433
1664958
1170
27:47
It's desperate for my attention.
434
1667118
2040
27:49
Really wants my attention.
435
1669638
1260
27:51
And once again, I'm back to reality.
436
1671813
1980
27:53
So back to my normal life, boo.
437
1673823
2430
27:57
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you found this
438
1677903
2850
28:01
particular podcast interesting.
439
1681053
1880
28:03
If you did, then please come and let me know.
440
1683243
2550
28:05
You can find me on Instagram at British English Pro, and yeah, drop me a
441
1685798
5155
28:10
message and tell me what you thought.
442
1690953
2100
28:15
Thank you for being here.
443
1695093
1170
28:16
Until next time, take care.
444
1696503
1980
28:18
And goodbye.
445
1698483
3840
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7