Learn English Vocabulary Daily #20.4 — British English Podcast

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

My name is Anna and you are listening to Week 20, Day 4 of Your English Five

a Day, the series that aims to increase your active vocabulary by deep diving

into five pieces every day of the working week from Monday to Friday.

So, make sure that you're making a note of this vocabulary.

And if you would like to get your hands on transcripts and vocabulary

lists, then these things are available.

I'll put a link in the description for you.

So, let's start today's list with a verb and it is hydrate.

Hydrate.

To hydrate.

We spell this H Y D R A T E.

Hydrate.

To hydrate is to provide your body with liquid or a cream that's absorbed

by the body and used by the body.

So, you might do that by drinking water.

If you're British, then you probably hydrate by drinking tea.

You may hydrate your skin with a daily moisturiser.

Here's an example sentence,

"It's especially important to hydrate yourself during the

hotter months, I always carry a bottle of water around with me."

In fact, when I'm recording my podcast, I always insist on having a large glass of

water because when you talk so much, you actually expel quite a lot of moisture

in your breath as you're speaking.

And when I record these podcast episodes, I tend to record in batch.

So, I'll record a number of episodes in one go.

And so I can spend quite a few hours sitting here talking to you,

via these wires, via my computer.

So, I have to remember to take moments to pause and hydrate

so that I don't get too dry.

Alright, so moving on to our next word, we have an adjective,

and it is scalding, scalding.

We spell this S C A L D I N G.

Scalding.

If something is described as scalding, then it is violent or strong criticism.

So very, very strong.

Now, commonly, this word would be describing liquid being very hot.

So, if something is scalding hot, then it's very hot.

The water is scalding, you'd say, that's very hot water, it would

burn you, it would burn your skin.

So, when we use scalding in front of a word like 'review' or 'report', a scalding

review or a scalding report or scalding words, then we mean words that intend very

harsh criticism, very strong criticism.

Here's an example sentence,

"The newspaper reported a scalding review of last night's theatre performance of

'Romeo and Juliet', I think there will be some angry actors out there today."

Alright, moving on to a verb and it is concentrate, concentrate.

We spell this C O N C E N T R A T E.

Concentrate.

Concentrate.

To concentrate is to focus all of your attention on a particular thing.

So often, as a teacher, especially a teacher of young people, I would,

in the classroom, have to say,

"Look guys, you need to concentrate."

When I was a drama teacher and we were rehearsing our play, our

end-of-term play, the children would mess around a lot in class.

They'd be having fun and having a giggle with their friends.

Drama is a very physical kind of class, so, it's very easy for people

to get distracted and mess around.

And it was difficult to rehearse.

You know, the children would need to have discipline and to focus on their

lines and focus on what was happening.

And so I kept having to say,

"Come on guys, concentrate.

Concentrate, please.

Stop messing around.

Concentrate on the task in hand."

Oh, I miss those days.

The fun of working with children.

Alright, so here's another example sentence,

"Stop talking and start concentrating.

If you don't listen to the safety rules, you won't know

what to do in an emergency."

Okay, so, next on the list is an idiom, and it is, have your finger on the pulse.

Have your finger on the pulse.

So here, finger is F I N G E R.

Have your finger.

On the pulse, P U L S E.

Like your heartbeat creates a pulse.

So, have your finger on the pulse.

This idiom means that you know what's going on around you.

You're constantly aware of the environment, the wider world.

So, for example, in business, which is where this is most normally used,

if you work in a social media based business or your business has a social

media presence, then the marketing team, or someone within the marketing team

should have their finger on the pulse.

They should be aware of what's trending, what's changing, as these platforms

are always changing how they do things.

What's new?

What are other people doing on social media?

What's working well?

What's no longer fashionable?

So, doing that means that you have your finger on the pulse.

You know what's going on.

Here's an example sentence sentence,

"Flight prices are going up constantly, so it is important to always have

your finger on the pulse and be ready to book them when they're on offer."

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

Now, in this case, we're talking about a person being shallow

rather than water being shallow.

Which is where you'd normally hear this.

But if a person is described as being shallow, then they're not very serious.

Let me spell this for you.

It's S H A L L O W.

Shallow.

Shallow.

So, it means that a person doesn't show much concern.

It's like they're not very deep.

They don't have much in the way of emotion or thought about something.

They're not serious about things.

They're very shallow.

They care about unimportant things.

Do you know anyone that you would describe as being shallow?

Okay, so here's an example sentence,

"You might be good-looking, but you can be very shallow at times, try

to think of others for a change."

Alright, so that's our five for today.

Let's do a quick recap.

We started with the verb hydrate, hydrate, which is to provide your

body with the liquid that it needs.

Then we had the adjective scalding, scalding, which is

very strong, burning criticism.

Then we had the verb concentrate, concentrate.

So, you focus all your attention on one thing if you are concentrating.

We then had the idiom to have your finger on the pulse, which means

you are aware of what's going on around you and you keep an eye on it.

And then we finished with the adjective shallow, shallow, to be a

person who doesn't seem concerned or emotional or serious about anything.

They're concerned with the shallow things, that don't matter very much.

Like appearance, for example.

Let's now do this for pronunciation.

Please repeat after me.

Hydrate.

Hydrate.

Scalding.

Scalding.

Concentrate.

Concentrate.

Have your finger on the pulse.

Have your finger on the pulse.

Shallow.

Shallow.

Very good.

Okay, let's test your memory.

If I really need you to focus all of your attention on this particular

project, what verb could I use?

I need you to...

Concentrate.

Concentrate.

Because it's your job, particularly in this team, to know what's going on.

You need to constantly appraise the situation.

You need to constantly look around and see what's going on around us.

What idiom could I use for this?

Have your finger on the pulse.

I need you to concentrate and you have to have your finger

on the pulse at all times.

Now your behaviour lately has been a little bit odd.

You haven't seemed very serious.

You haven't given things much thought and you haven't shown much concern.

You've behaved like a person who is quite what?

What adjective would you use to describe someone who doesn't

show much concern or seriousness?

Shallow.

You're behaving like someone who is shallow.

And because of this, I'm going to give you a very negative report,

a report that includes lots of strong criticism of your behaviour.

What adjective could I use instead of saying it's full of strong criticism?

It's a scalding report.

A scalding report.

And finally, we discover that the problem is actually that

you lack water in your body.

You're not drinking enough at work and you're really struggling to focus.

You're feeling bad because you don't have enough water in your body.

You need to provide your body with liquid.

What verb could we use instead?

Hydrate.

You need to hydrate and once you hydrate you'll be able to

concentrate and keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on.

You'll no longer seem shallow and I won't give you another scalding report.

Fantastic.

Well done.

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

Alex is a college student who moved to London to pursue his

dreams of becoming a chef.

But with the high cost of living and tuition fees, he had to

find a way to support himself.

That's when he landed a job at one of the busiest restaurants in the city.

Alex may be new to cooking, but he is eager to learn.

He spends every spare moment studying recipes and techniques, determined to make

a name for himself in the culinary world.

But it's not an easy job.

His boss is just like celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, a so-called shallow

man who is always using scalding words for even the smallest mistake.

But Alex takes it in his stride, knowing that this is just part of the intense

and fast-paced restaurant environment.

Every day, Alex is challenged to push himself to his limits.

He has to hydrate constantly as the kitchen is so hot

and he's always on the go.

Sometimes it can be a struggle to keep up with the demands of the job, but he

never gives up, knowing that hard work and determination will pay off in the end.

Alex's ultimate goal is to become a head chef and one day,

move to Paris and work in the 3 Michelin-starred restaurant L'Amboise.

He is dedicated to concentrating on his innovative recipe ideas, flavour

combinations, and presentation skills.

And, despite his boss's rather harsh approach, Alex knows that with his

mentor's guidance, he's well on his way to achieving that dream.

However amidst all the hustle and bustle, Alex never forgets to

have his finger on the pulse of what's happening in the restaurant.

Because in this industry, every second counts.

So, next time you're dining in a busy London restaurant, or any other city

for that matter, remember that behind every delicious dish is a hardworking

and determined chef like Alex.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to the end of today's episode.

As always, I do hope you found it useful.

Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.