Listening and Reading Practice - British English Podcast

Anna: Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native Podcast,

the podcast that's designed for lovers and learners of English.

I'm your host, Anna, and today we are talking about love.

Now, I'm not talking about a romantic candlelit dinner.

I'm not talking about dates and rings and wedding bells.

No, I am in fact talking about the love of language, so learning English,

what's love got to do with it?

Ah, and my mind instantly jumps straight to Tina Turner.

"What's love got to do, got to do with it."

Great song!

Bad rendition from me, but great song.

Now the question, "What has something got to do with something?"

is used to ask how two things are related.

For example, if you and I are having a debate about climate change and you

mention the '90s boy band, Take That.

I would want to know how Take That are related to our

conversation on climate change.

I would say, "What's Take That got to do with it?"

By the way, are you familiar with Take That?

They've recently appeared in the Coronation Concert?

Now, I say recently I'm aware that you may be listening to this podcast

10 years from now and wondering what on earth am I talking about?

What concert?

Did I miss something?

Well, today as I'm recording this podcast episode, it is May 2023.

And recently King Charles III was crowned.

The nation came together for a long weekend of celebration and many people,

including myself, had a whale of a time.

There was a star-studded concert in which Take That performed a few numbers.

Now Take That originally consisted of five band members.

They were Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Jason

Orange, and Howard Donald.

Recognise any of those names?

You may have heard of Robbie Williams, who famously ditched Take That to

strike out on his own, which was a risk because when he did leave

Take That were very successful.

But it actually paid off for Robbie because he's enjoyed a very

successful career as a solo artist.

He's had some huge hits with songs like Angel and She's the One,

Millenium, and Let Me Entertain You.

Oh, Angel.

I say Angel.

Angels!

It's called Angels.

And it's one of those songs that always ends a night in a pub.

So if there's some form of disco or karaoke going on, usually Angels is the

last song to be played, and everyone sings along very merrily, very drunk.

They sing along with the song Angels.

"I'm loving angels instead."

Anyway, I will not keep singing, I promise.

So, it was a shock revelation at the time when he left.

He actually left in the middle of a world tour, which was really leaving

them in the lurch, to be honest.

So Robbie left, leaving just four band members to carry on regardless for a short

time, but they split up a year later.

So obviously it had a big impact.

Though, as is often the case, of course, they reunited later down the line, which

was about 10 years down the line, in fact.

So as a newly reformed group in 2005, as a foursome, Take That

enjoyed a huge resurgence thanks to songs like Patience and Shine.

Gosh, I sound like I'm a huge Take That super fan, a groupie who knows everything

about this band, but the truth of the matter is, I hated them back in the '90s.

Aw, hate is a strong word.

I didn't hate them.

I just didn't get it.

I didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

The music was okay, but not really to my taste, at least not by teenage taste.

I guess it was all too generic in my view.

If you are a Take That fan, please don't hate me.

Nowadays, I will sing along quite happily if I hear one of their songs.

I mean, the melodies and the lyrics, they're very catchy, that's for sure.

But I wasn't blown away by them back in the day, and I couldn't understand why

girls were going nuts for these guys.

It baffled me.

Anyway, during the Coronation Concert, Take That were the final act and

well, that says a lot about their place in pop culture because you

know, we always save the best to last.

So the point of this story is I was very surprised to see just three boys

out on stage at the Coronation Concert.

I say boys, I mean men.

Because they are now in their fifties, so I can't really call them boys.

Yeah.

So there's only three.

And so of course I did what I always do when I get curious, I turned

to Google and learned that Jason Orange had also mysteriously taken

a step back from the music industry.

And this got me thinking, the organisers of the concert and the remaining band

members must have spoken to Jason and Robbie when the invitation came in.

When they were asked to perform in, probably one of the biggest concerts

of their career, they must have reached out to the old band members

and said, "Come on, old chaps!

One more for old times' sake."

I mean, they actually wouldn't have spoken like that in that very old English accent.

"oh chaps, come on one more for old time's sake."

No, they're all Northern, actually, so Gary Barlow would've been

like, "Oh, come on, old chaps.

One more for old times' sake."

Well, if it was me, I would've jumped at the chance to take

part in an event like that.

I would have snapped up that offer in a heartbeat.

Right.

Okay.

I've gone right off on a tangent here.

I do apologise.

I'm meant to be talking about learning English, and somehow I ended up

babbling on about a '90s boy band.

Naughty Anna.

Let's get back on track.

So, about-face, here we go in the right direction.

Learning English, what has love got to do with it?

So whenever I get a new student join my Fluency Programme, which is a programme

designed to help English learners to achieve fluency through online immersion.

Whenever I get a new student join our fluency program, I have a one-to-one,

face-to-face, heart-to-heart with them.

Oh, that was fun.

Let me say that again.

A one-to-one, face-to-face, heart-to-heart.

Oh, I love that.

Okay, so basically that means we have a private chat on Zoom and

we discuss the student's goals and motivations for learning the language.

Now, from conducting these meetings, I've started to notice a pattern emerge.

All the students are very different, but each and every one of them love English,

and the ones who speak of a deep love for the language are the ones that see the

fastest progression in their learning.

You may have heard the quote by Confucius, "Choose a job you love and

you'll never work a day in your life."

Now, work is often considered to be hard, laborious, dull, draining.

Work is something we have to do, we must do, but not necessarily

something we enjoy doing.

However, if you do enjoy your work, then the typical negative

associations with work will not apply.

In essence, you won't be working at all.

You will be playing.

When we play, we transform into creatures of exploration, full of

energy, positivity, and curiosity.

We feel more open to collaboration with others, assuming the others are also in

a playful mood and not just miserable.

We don't like working with a fun sponge, that's for sure.

Now, the quote from Confucius tells us that doing something

we love makes the experience so much more enjoyable and easy.

And we can relate this to learning.

If you love the subject that you are studying, then you aren't going to

dread going to your lessons and dodge your assignments by giving some lame

excuse or playing truant, but rather you will be in your element, thriving,

satisfying your thirst for knowledge.

Now we're not all lucky enough to find work that inspires

us, that lights our fire.

And you will hear the phrase soul-destroying work, which I

actually saw in the papers recently.

Apparently, a third of UK workers describe their work as

soul-destroying and utterly dull.

I have certainly felt that way with some of my many jobs from the past.

I did a lot of different jobs when I was younger, and I think the

worst of those jobs were working on a production line, packing boxes.

I thought it would be fun because I was actually working in like a sweets factory.

I was packing Roses Chocolates, if you are familiar with Cadbury's Roses Chocolates.

I was, I'm not so much now because I prefer dark chocolate, but I was

quite partial to a little Cadbury's Chocolate when I was younger and

I thought working in a chocolate factory, that's going to be amazing.

But all I was doing on this production line was unfolding the boxes that

were initially flat and I would pop them open and taking a packet,

a sealed packet of the chocolates, and putting them into the box.

And then it would carry onto the next person who would seal the

box, and then the next person would put the sticker on the box.

So why was this so dull?

I mean, firstly, I didn't get to eat any chocolate while doing this

job, which I think was probably the most soul-destroying part of it.

No, I'm joking.

The worst thing was not being able to talk to anyone.

So we're sat in this line, but we're probably...

How far?

Maybe a metre and a half apart.

And we're all sitting facing the same direction.

So I was looking at the back of somebody else, just staring at the back of her

head, and we were working to the clock.

So the production line would start, and if you weren't sat in your spot, then

you would hold up the whole production line, and so you had to be there.

You couldn't stop.

You had to just keep doing it, the same repetitive task.

It didn't require any creative thinking.

You couldn't even really stop to scratch your nose.

There was this huge clock on the wall.

And I remember we'd have a break, a morning break, which was about 15

minutes, in which time you had to...

There was a huge alarm that would go off, ehh, and the production line would stop.

And then you had 15 minutes to run from the factory floor up into

the staff area, go to the toilet.

You'd have to remove your protective clothing.

Go to the toilet.

I might have time to quickly grab a drink, throw a snack down my neck,

and then get back to the production line, because exactly 15 minutes

after that first alarm, ehh, the production line started once again.

So it was very strict and I just...not having that flexibility, even though

I'm not one to slack off, it just felt really rigid and I didn't speak to anyone.

It was awful.

It didn't feel very sociable or creative in any way.

I didn't feel very valuable.

That was for sure.

Anyway, that was the first one and the second one...

The second job that was soul-destroying was standing in

a town centre with a sale sign.

So this was a huge sign on a really long pole, a big sign that was, I

don't know, 10 feet high and this huge sign that said, 'closing down sale'

and then an arrow pointing to the shop that I was representing at the time.

I did this for a few days in different places.

This particular day that I'm thinking of, it was a full day, so it was eight hours.

Eight hours of standing out in the town centre, which wouldn't be that bad.

I mean, it's boring.

I used to sneak a little headphone in.

I wasn't really allowed to, but I would sneak a little headphone in

my ear and listen to my podcast, but for eight hours, it's very dull.

You're just standing holding a sign.

I mean, oh, I was basically a flower pot.

That's all I was.

I was a concrete block holding a post.

I didn't have to talk to anyone.

I wasn't expected to talk to anyone, and people just ignore you.

So this one particular day, it was torrential rain all day.

So we had torrential rain all day, just absolutely pelting it down.

So no one was out.

Everyone was sheltering from the rain.

No one was coming anywhere near me.

People probably couldn't see the sign because the visibility was so poor.

And I just had to stand there in the rain.

In fact, the manager of the shop, I wasn't working for them directly.

I was working for an agency and the agency would come and check up on us,

sneakily come and arrive and see if I was in my post standing there doing my job.

But the manager of the shop felt so sorry for me.

He said to me at one point, do you want to come in just for a little while?

And let me have a 20-minute break, extra to my normal break times.

Yeah, that was soul-destroying.

But I've moved up in the world, I'm no longer representing a concrete block.

I'm now teaching English.

Fantastic.

I'm so pleased.

Anyway.

The problem with feeling this way at work is that it directly impacts your output.

You lack energy, thus, production is slower, attention to detail easily

wanes, and mistakes are more common.

You're more susceptible to stress.

And you may come across as not caring about the job, which can put a strain

on your professional relationships and in turn, lower your chances of

promotion and career progression.

On the other end of the spectrum, loving what you do enhances productivity

and boosts your performance.

You are more optimistic, you're motivated, so you take more care over

each task, which decreases mistakes.

You don't make as many mistakes, colleagues and clients or customers,

they love to be around you because, well, you have a positive attitude

and you seem to love your work.

So, they love you, they love to be around you, they want to work with

you more, or they want to revisit you.

They want to buy products from you, and so that gives you greater

opportunities in your career.

Now, let me ask you an important question.

Why are you learning English?

Is it something you NEED to do or something you WANT to do?

Some of you may answer both.

You may need to learn because you're moving to the UK perhaps.

But equally, you love the language and that's why you're moving to the UK.

Now, loving English is going to make your learning experience

much more effective and enjoyable.

And if you do love English, that's great!

But if you don't, what can you do about that?

Well, if you are not a fan of the language, if English is to

you as Take That are to me, then it's not the end of the world.

It is possible to train yourself to love English, and I'm going to

give you three steps to help you to fall in love with this language.

So number one - you need to SORT.

Number two - you need to BUILD.

And number three - REDEFINE.

So firstly, sort!

You need to sit down and examine why exactly you don't like English.

What is it that turns you off?

Are there negative associations from your past?

Maybe you were once verbally abused by an Englishman, and if that's the

case, then I apologise on their behalf.

That's terrible.

Perhaps your family had negative views about English and

passed those views on to you.

That reminds me, I remember stating once, " We can't have a Volvo."

When my partner wanted to test drive a Volvo.

Now, despite this particular car having an incredible safety record,

I think it was touted as one of the safest cars in the world.

I wrongly believed that they were bad cars because my stepdad had been

knocked off his bike by a Volvo.

Now, it was a bad accident that left my stepdad in intensive care for months.

And after that, he would always say, "Never drive a Volvo.

Volvos are terrible.

Never drive a Volvo."

And that negative influence really stuck until I addressed the root cause of

my opposition to Volvos later in life when I examined why I didn't like them

and realised that's the association.

And then I realised that that association was silly and I

should just use my common sense.

Anyway, long story short, we now have a Volvo and it's wonderful.

So work out why you don't like English and try to sort out what

pros and cons exist for you.

So perhaps one of the pros is you like speaking English, but the con is

you hate grammar, because it's very different to the grammar in your own

language, and that just confuses you.

Maybe the pro is you don't mind reading English because you love reading.

You're a bit of a bookworm, but the con is speaking terrifies you, you

haven't had any good experiences and you just get too nervous.

Maybe a con is you found English class really boring at school, and so you think

that general English classes are boring.

So you have to try to get a good idea about why exactly you don't like English,

and then dig even deeper and find what aspects of English really bother you.

Secondly, build!

Build associations with things that you do love.

If you love literature, then rediscover literature in English.

If you love horror films, if you like scaring yourself silly, then watch

English horror films with subtitles.

If you love knitting, find knitting groups online and start interacting with others

in English over a subject that you love.

If you are very sociable, find an English friend.

Last but not least, redefine!

Visualise the end goal.

If you are learning English because you have to, then focus on the

outcome of acquiring English fluency.

What will it mean to be fluent in English?

Better outcomes at work, perhaps.

Fitting in more easily in your local community in the English-speaking

country you've just moved to.

Making friends and having people to hang out with.

Travelling with the freedom to communicate your thoughts and feelings.

Everyone's goal will be slightly different.

So, what does it mean to you to be a fluent English speaker?

If you dislike the journey, then focus instead on the destination.

Just like when you are heading out to a far-off destination for the holiday of a

lifetime, the journey to get there sucks.

It really sucks.

It's long.

It's tiring.

Oh, my knees always hurt on the plane, when I've been sat down for too long.

The food's not always great.

It can be stressful.

Sometimes the journey's even longer than you planned because of delays and

people going on strike and whatever.

But the point is you go through that, all that torture.

Some people like travelling, the actual travelling part.

You go through that knowing that paradise awaits when you get there, when you go

through that torture, something amazing will reward you at the other end.

So, English is your long uncomfortable journey.

So just focus on your paradise at the other end.

Wow, that that got a little deep.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it has been an absolute pleasure

to tickle your eardrums today.

So, whether I accompanied you during your commute or while you were sat in a traffic

jam, or while you worked out at the gym or did some housework, whatever you were

or still are doing, I am pleased that you chose to listen to me while you did it.

Now, if you are watching the video version and wondering, "Why some

of your words and phrases are highlighted in big, bold letters?"

Well, these are the common phrases and phrasal verbs or idioms, or even like

single words like nouns that I think you should add to your vocabulary list.

So, if you're watching the video, start to make a list of those

words, or at least notice them.

Take a mental note of them.

And if you are listening to the audio only version and you are not aware that

there's a video version, then you can find this podcast in video form on my

YouTube channel, English Like a Native.

For those of you extra generous listeners who support this

podcast via the Plus membership.

Then towards the end of each month, around the 25th, you will receive

an email with links to all available bonus material from the past month's

episodes, which will now include bonus podcasts where I dive deeper into the

highlighted text in these public podcasts.

So the bonus material will be like support material to the public podcasts.

I hope that makes sense.

Thank you so much for listening.

Until next time, take care and goodbye!