Learn English Vocabulary Daily #20.5 — British English Podcast

Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast.

My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 20, Day 5 of Your English Five a Day.

This is the series where we aim to increase your vocabulary, your active

vocabulary, by introducing five pieces of vocabulary every day of the

working week from Monday to Friday.

So, let's start today's list with a lovely little adjective, timid, timid.

Now we spell timid, T I M I D, timid, timid.

If you are described as being timid, then you're not very confident,

you're shy or a little bit nervous or you're easily frightened.

A kitten might be quite timid when it enters into a new environment.

Here's an example sentence,

"I'm always quite timid when I meet new people.

It takes me a while to relax and start joining in with the conversation."

I can imagine that using English as a second language might make you feel

a little bit timid when you're first going into an environment with other

English speakers, and you're not used to speaking English with others,

which is why it's important to speak as early as possible in your learning

journey because it's really scary.

I remember learning German a couple of years ago and I didn't mind doing the

lessons, but when I was asked to join in with conversations with other German

language learners I felt really timid.

I felt really nervous because they all seemed to be at a higher

level than me, and I just thought,

"Oh, I'm not gonna know what they're saying.

They'll ask me a question and I'll have no clue what they've

asked me, and I won't know how to respond and they might judge me."

So, I found it quite nerve-wracking.

I was very timid, whereas normally I'm quite confident.

When was the last time you felt timid?

Next on the list is a noun and it is mime.

Mime.

We spell this M I M E.

Mime.

Mime.

Now, mime is like a form of performance, it's a type of act that you do, but

you use your hands and your body and your facial expressions, so you don't

speak or make sounds, but you just show and tell a story through your body.

So, you mime things, so, you don't even use any props.

You can think of Charlie Chaplin, actually, when it comes to mime.

He was a very famous mime artist.

Here's an example sentence,

"Charlie Chaplin has got to be one of the best mime artists ever.

Don't you agree?"

Have you ever seen a mime artist?

I live close to London, to central London, and when I go in, often

if you walk along the South Bank, there are many street performers.

All sorts of different people doing all sorts of different

things, singing, playing musical instruments, doing acrobatics.

And then you also have occasionally, these people who are pretending to

be statues and then mime artists.

It's very interesting.

Next on the list we have an adverb and it is scarcely.

Scarcely.

Scarcely is spelled S C A R C E L Y.

Scarcely.

Scarcely.

Scarcely.

Scarcely means only just or not much, almost not at all.

So, if you sign up for my Conversation Club, and even though we hold

around five classes a week, you only attend one class in a month, then I

could say that you scarcely attend.

So, you don't attend very much, almost not at all, you scarcely attend.

Here's an example sentence,

"After I fell off my scooter and landed on the road, I could scarcely move my arm.

It took weeks of physio to make it better."

OK, moving on.

We have an adjective and it is enduring.

Enduring.

We spell this E N D U R I N G, enduring.

Enduring.

Enduring means long lasting.

It lasts for a long time.

You would hope that you would have an enduring relationship with the person

that you want to spend your life with.

So, when you get married, you anticipate and bank on the fact that

you're going to be together forever.

It's going to be an enduring love, an enduring relationship, a

long-lasting love and relationship.

Here's another example,

"I made many enduring memories of my time in Australia.

I can't wait to go back this summer.".

Okay.

Next on the list is a noun and it is flip side, flip side.

So, we often say on the flip side, flip side.

We spell F L I P, flip and then side S I D E.

Flip side, on the flip side.

This noun is used to talk about a contrasting point, something that's

opposite to what you've been discussing or what you're thinking about.

Often it's the less popular side or the less positive side of something.

So, I might say,

"Yeah, I'm loving my new life in sunny Spain.

It's brilliant.

It's everything I thought it would be, but on the flip side, I'm not

as happy as I thought I would be.

I'm feeling quite lonely.

I'm very homesick.

I miss my friends and my family."

So, it's talking about the opposite side of what you've just

stated or what's being discussed.

Usually the less attractive side, the less positive side.

Okay, here's an example sentence,

"It must be amazing to be a famous movie star.

But, on the flip side, you lose all privacy and you're constantly

hassled by photographers."

Okay, so that's our five.

Let's do a quick recap.

We started with the adjective timid.

Timid, to feel nervous, to have little confidence, to be a bit shy.

Then we had the noun mime, which is the performance or the act where someone

doesn't use speech or sound, but they use their body and their face and their

hands in order to act out a scene.

Usually, it's a comedy scene.

Then we had the adverb scarcely.

Scarcely, where something doesn't happen much at all.

It's only just happening.

And then we had the adjective enduring.

Enduring, which means it lasts a long time.

And we finished with the noun flip side, flip side, or rather on the flip

side, which means the opposite to what you're thinking, or the opposite to the

positive thing that's being presented.

Let's now do this for pronunciation, so please repeat after me.

Timid.

Timid.

Mime.

Mime.

Scarcely.

Scarcely.

Enduring.

Enduring.

Flip side.

Flip side.

Very good.

Let me test your memory now.

If I told you that my relationship with my best friend had lasted for a very

long time, even through times that were difficult and long distance because

we moved into separate countries, what adjective could I use to describe

this long-lasting relationship?

Enduring.

It's an enduring relationship, and this friendship is fantastic.

However, on the opposite side, I would say that occasionally we do bicker.

We do argue about silly things.

What noun could I use instead of saying on the opposite side?

What would I say?

On the flip side.

On the flip side.

We do bicker sometimes.

It's not all perfect.

And actually, to be honest, we don't speak to each other much at all these days.

I almost never hear from her.

Maybe just once in a blue moon.

What adverb could I use to describe how often I hear from her?

Scarcely.

Scarcely.

I scarcely hear from her.

And I hear, actually, she's moved out to Australia, I hear

that she's become a performer.

She doesn't use her voice or make any sounds, but she uses her

body and her hands and her facial expressions to act out scenes.

What is she doing?

What's the name of that kind of performance?

Mime.

So, she is a mime.

She's doing mime.

Fantastic.

She struggled at first though, because she's actually quite shy.

She doesn't have much confidence, so she's stepping outside of her comfort zone.

What adjective could I use instead of shy?

Timid.

Yes, absolutely.

She's quite timid when she's doing her mime.

Even though I scarcely hear from her, I wish her all the best because our

friendship is enduring, even though, on the flip side, we do bicker at times.

I love her dearly.

Okay, I hope that you did alright with that little quiz.

Let's now listen out for them once again in our little story.

Let me share a little anecdote from a visit to London last summer.

In the midst of the chaos and the noise of the city streets, there

was one performer who stood out.

He stood so still it was almost as if he was part of the scenery.

I couldn't help but stare in amazement at this still street performer dressed all

in white and painted in intricate designs.

I had never seen anything like it before.

His movements were scarcely noticeable and I couldn't tell if he was even breathing.

I was mesmerised by his enduring stillness.

And then suddenly he moved.

I was shocked and taken aback, almost jumping out of my skin.

It was like he had been frozen in time and had suddenly been released.

He was no longer just a still street performer, but

an incredibly talented mime.

His movements were so precise and graceful, it was like watching a dance.

As I stood there, in awe of this unexpected sight, it made me realise

that sometimes, the flip side of stillness is even more powerful.

This timid mime had captured the attention of the entire

street and left us all in awe.

And just like that, he was still.

As if nothing had ever happened.

But for me, that moment will be etched in my memory forever.

So, if you ever come across a still street performer, don't be

fooled by their timid appearance.

You never know what kind of surprises they may have in store for you.

And that brings us to the end of today's episode and to the end

of this week's Five A Day series.

If you found it useful, then please remember to like, give a rating or review.

And if you know anyone else who's learning English, then please recommend

The English Like a Native Podcast.

It all helps me greatly.

And if you help me, then I can continue to help you.

It's an ever-giving circle.

So, thanks so much for letting me tickle your eardrums.

I look forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Until then, take very good care and goodbye.