Learn English Vocabulary Daily #10.2 - British English Podcast

Hello!

You're listening to The English Like a Native podcast, hosted by me.

My name's Anna and this series is called Your English Five a Day.

This is Week 10, Day 2.

And we're increasing your vocabulary by five pieces every single day

of the week from Monday to Friday.

So, let's kick off today's list with a verb, and it's

the verb consider, consider.

Now this is spelled C O N S I D E R.

Consider.

But can you hear how I'm pronouncing that O?

/kən/, consider.

This is weak, so make it a schwa sound, uh, /kən/, consider.

So, what does it mean to consider?

It means to spend time thinking about a possibility, "Hmm,

I'm thinking about this."

Or making a decision.

"Hmm, I'm considering whether I should do this or not."

After doing the first week of this series, I considered whether or not to continue.

I didn't just consider, I consulted.

There's another word, a bonus word for you today.

I consulted you, my listeners, and asked what you felt

about this particular series.

And you all said, "Yes, more please."

And so considering your response, I considered that, and my time commitments

and whether I would be able to produce lots and lots and lots of episodes

for you and I decided to go for it.

Go for it was a phrasal verb that we saw in yesterday's episode.

Here's an example sentence:

"Have you considered what you'll do if you don't pass your exams?"

Alright, moving on to the next word of today.

This is a noun and it is obstacle, obstacle.

We spell this O B S T A C L E.

Obstacle.

Obstacle.

An obstacle is something that blocks you so that you're unable to move

forward, or you're unable to act.

It prevents you from doing something, or it makes something more difficult.

Here's an example sentence:

"We faced many obstacles along the way, but our relationship

worked out well in the end.

We've been married for 25 years!"

What obstacles have you faced when learning English as a second language?

Most of my students say that time is one big obstacle, finding

the time to practise often.

And another obstacle is the ability to speak, to have the opportunity to

speak, which is why I introduced The Conversation Club, to give people

an opportunity to connect and have speaking practice from their own homes.

To sit there with their computer or their phones or their tablets and be

able to connect and have conversations with people all over the world.

So there are many obstacles which we all face and we must overcome those obstacles

and not let them stop us in our tracks.

Moving on to another noun.

Now we have principle, principle.

Principle is spelled P R I N C I P L E.

Principle.

Principle.

A principle is a basic idea or rule that explains or controls

how something happens or works.

So a basic idea or a rule.

Here's an example sentence:

"This company works on the principle that all staff members have the same rights."

So, in that example, we're saying that the company works on the idea or the rule

that all of the staff members are entitled to the same benefits, the same salary.

They all have the same rights as one another.

Okay.

So, what are your principles?

What are your basic principles?

The ideas and the rules that you live by personally?

I'm very much a live and let live kind of person.

If I see a huge spider or even a nasty bug, a slug, or something that makes

me feel a bit grossed out in my house.

Then, even if there's a rat in my house, something that I'm like really not very

happy about, I don't want to kill it.

I feel very bad about killing any other animals.

I would much rather evict them, kick them out, put them outside.

We recently found a caterpillar in our fridge inside a celery that

was actually in a plastic bag.

And my partner was like,

"What do we do with it?"

And I was like,

"Well, you can't put it outside because it's winter.

It's freezing cold."

At the time we had a lot of frost, I thought it's just going to die.

It's the wrong time of year for a caterpillar in this country.

So we have a little butterfly house thing.

So we got that out and I put some grapes and sticks of celery and

an apple bits inside there for it to try and help it to grow.

But for days it just didn't seem very happy at all.

So, eventually I did end up putting it outside in the bushes once

it had warmed up a little bit.

I hope it survived.

I don't think it would have done, but I gave it the best chance.

I gave it the best chance possible.

So that's one of the principles that I live by.

Live and let live.

If you can give something the chance, then why take its life away?

So, moving on to an idiom now, we have how on earth, how on earth?

So, this phrase is something you use when you are extremely

surprised or confused or angry.

I'm confused about how something was done.

So, for example, if I suddenly spot a cat on top of a very high platform and

there doesn't seem to be any conceivable way that that cat could have got up

onto this platform, you would say,

"How on earth?

How on earth did he get up there?"

So, you're just showing that you're shocked.

And you're confused.

You're very surprised that this cat is now up on this very high platform.

Or, another example, something that I deal with regularly is being messaged

on WhatsApp by people I don't know.

And my first response is,

"How on earth did this person get my phone number?"

I try to be very guarded when it comes to my personal details like my phone

number, my address and my personal email address because I've got a lot going on.

I don't need to be bombarded with unsolicited messages and emails

and anyone knocking on my door.

So, I keep those things to myself.

So when I do get someone coming at me with a WhatsApp message, inviting me to go and

be a teacher somewhere, or asking me if I can have a call with them or something.

I'm like,

"How on earth did this person get my phone number?"

I get very upset about it.

Okay, so here's an example sentence.

"How on earth did you afford a holiday to Miami?

I thought you said you had no money."

Okay, the last phrase on our list is on the contrary, on the contrary.

I don't know why I'm saying that in a very posh voice.

On the contrary.

This is spelled on, O N.

T H E, the, on the.

Contrary is C O N T R A R Y, contrary.

On the contrary.

I always find that a little bit of a mouthful.

But you use this phrase to show that you think or you feel the

opposite of what's just been stated.

So, if you say something and I don't agree with you, and actually I think or feel

completely opposite to you, then I would use this phrase before saying what I feel.

Here's an example:

"I thought you said the film was exciting?"

"Oh, on the contrary, I nearly fell asleep halfway through it!"

So, quite the opposite of thinking the film was exciting, this chap said it was

so boring that he nearly fell asleep.

On the contrary.

Okay, so, that's our five for today.

Let's quickly recap.

We had the verb, to consider, so to spend time thinking about a

possibility or a decision to make.

We have the noun, obstacle, something that blocks you from progressing.

We have the noun, principle, which is a basic idea or rule that explains

or controls how something happens.

We had the idiom, how on earth?

Which shows extreme surprise, confusion or anger about something.

And we finished with the phrase, on the contrary.

Which means that you have an opposing feeling or thought

about what's just been said.

Now, let's try for pronunciation, shall we?

Please repeat after me.

Consider.

Consider.

Obstacle.

Obstacle.

Principle.

Principle.

How on earth?

How on earth?

On the contrary.

On the contrary.

Alright, let's bring everything together in a little story.

Jasmine felt like her world had ended.

Her partner, Rob, of 38 years was gone, and she didn't

know how to live without him.

They had done everything together, travelling the world, cooking delicious

meals, salsa dancing on Friday nights.

He was her best friend, her soulmate, her everything.

She couldn't imagine a future without him.

How on earth could she move on with life?

She had no motivation, no purpose, no joy.

She felt alone and hopeless.

She didn't want to see anyone or do anything.

She just wanted to be with him again.

Rob would want her to be happy, and she knew that, but she couldn't

find any happiness in this world.

Even considering the possibility of moving on made her feel guilty, like

it would be a betrayal of their love, their memories, their life together.

She just wanted to curl up in a ball and shut herself off from

the world for a while but there were too many obstacles preventing

her from wallowing in her grief.

She had to deal with the practical matters of his death, such as the

funeral, the paperwork, his belongings.

It was a lot to deal with, and all alongside having to cope with the

emotional pain of losing him, the shock, the anger, the sadness, not to

mention the reactions of others, the sympathy, the advice, the expectations.

She tried to follow the principle of taking one day at a time,

but every day was a struggle.

She felt like she was drowning in her sorrow, and no one could save her.

She hadn't just lost Rob, but she had also lost herself along with him.

She wished she could find some peace, some comfort, some hope.

She wished she could see that life was still worth living, that there was

still beauty and meaning in the world.

She wished she could realise that moving on didn't mean

forgetting him, but honouring him.

She wished she could sense that he would always be with her in her

heart, in her mind, in her soul.

All her friends kept telling her she was so brave and strong, on the

contrary, she was falling apart.

And on that happy note, we shall end this episode right there.

I do hope you found today useful.

Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.