An English Lesson: What to do and say when you are sick.

Hi, Bob the Canadian here.

I'm in town today because I thought I would show you

four different places that you can go

if you're feeling sick.

As you know, last week, I wasn't feeling well.

Last week I was sick.

And I thought that during my time while I was sick,

I should make a little English lesson for you

about being sick and the things that you can say

when you're sick, the things that you can do

when you're sick.

And of course, the four places that you can go

when you're just not feeling well.

(cheerful folk music)

Well, hey, welcome to this video

where I'm going to help you learn to talk about being sick

and I'm gonna show you a few places

you can go when you're not feeling well.

But before we get started, don't forget to click

that red Subscribe button over there

and give me a thumbs up

if this video is helping you learn

just a little bit more English.

So in English, there's a lot of different ways

to say that you are sick.

The simplest thing to say is "I am sick," or "I'm sick."

You could also say, "I feel sick."

You could say, "I don't feel very good,"

or "I don't feel well."

You could also say, "I'm not feeling very well."

So as you can see, there are many ways in English

to say that you are sick.

So we just looked at a few ways

that you can describe being sick.

Now, let's talk about what you should do if you are sick.

If you are someone who has a job,

maybe if you worked at one of these businesses,

you would need to call in sick.

In English, when you take a sick day,

you need to call in sick to ask your boss

if you can take a sick day.

Notice I used two phrases there in English.

You need to call in sick.

So you need to get out your phone,

let me get my phone out here,

and you need to call in sick.

You need to call your boss and let them know

that you need to take a sick day.

If you are a student, you wouldn't normally call in sick.

You would simply let the school know

that you aren't coming in that day.

Or if you are a kid, your parents would let the school know.

When our kids are sick, usually Jenn or I email the school

or call the school to let them know

that one of our kids is sick.

So we reviewed how to describe being sick

and we talked about how to call in sick.

Now, let's talk about four places that you can go

when you are sick,

especially if you aren't feeling very well

and need some medicine.

Behind me you will see the first place

you could go if you were sick.

Behind me is a drugstore or pharmacy.

We call this a drugstore or pharmacy in Canada.

I know that in other parts of the world

it might be called a chemist.

But in Canada, we would call this a drugstore or a pharmacy.

I know it says Drug Mart on it,

I guess that's another name for it.

You would go to a pharmacy to buy painkillers

or cold medicine or throat lozenges.

So painkillers are things like Advil

which has ibuprofen in it, aspirin,

or Tylenol which has acetaminophen in it.

So the first place you might go if you're feeling sick,

you might go to a pharmacy or to a drugstore.

So the second place that you would go

if you are feeling sick is to a medical center

to see a doctor.

Maybe you have a cold or flu that just won't go away.

It's been a few days and you aren't feeling better.

Or maybe you have weird aches and pains in your body

that don't go away, even when you take painkillers.

Well, you would phone the medical center.

You would call the medical center on your phone,

do you like my phone?

And you would book an appointment with a doctor.

And then at a certain time they would say,

"Your appointment is tomorrow at 8:00 a.m."

At that time you would go to the medical center

for your appointment with the doctor

and hopefully, he can figure out what is wrong with you.

If he can figure out what's wrong with you,

he might write you a prescription

that you can then take back to the drugstore

and they will give you the medicine

that the doctor has prescribed.

So a prescription is when the doctor writes down

what medicine you need.

And then you go to a drugstore or pharmacy

to get that medicine.

So the third place that you can go if you are feeling sick

is to a walk-in clinic.

A walk-in clinic is a little different

than a medical center.

A medical center usually has regular hours

and is closed on the weekends.

But a walk-in clinic is usually open at night

and is also open on Saturdays and Sundays.

So if you are feeling sick

and you feel like you need to see a doctor

but you can't get an appointment at the medical center,

you can always go to a walk-in clinic.

Now, you might have to wait a little longer to see a doctor,

but it is very convenient to be able to go and see a doctor

at night or on the weekend.

So the fourth place that you would go

if you were feeling sick, actually,

only if you're feeling extremely sick,

would be the emergency room

or the ER at your local hospital.

You would come to the emergency room

if you had a dangerously high fever

or if you had severe pain or you had injured yourself.

So the fourth place that you would go

if you were feeling sick would be the emergency room,

but only in situations where it is actually an emergency.

When your fever's super-high

or when you've injured yourself

or you have just this really debilitating pain

that won't go away.

I had kidney stones once and I came to the emergency room

because the pain was just incredibly bad.

If you are ever in a town or a city

and need to find a hospital,

just follow the blue signs with the white H on it

and use the arrows to figure out

how to get to the nearest hospital.

So there is actually a fifth thing

that you can do if you are sick.

If you are really sick, if you are at home

and you don't think you can get to a hospital

and you are so sick that you are in pain

and you can't drive, you could call an ambulance.

In Canada, when you call an ambulance you dial 911.

I know the number is different in other countries

but I guess that is a fifth way that you could get help.

If you are sick you could call an ambulance.

Well, hey, thanks so much for watching this English lesson

about the things that you can say,

the things that you can do, and the places that you can go

when you are feeling sick.

I'm Bob the Canadian and you are learning English

with me here on YouTube.

Please hit that red Subscribe button if you are new here

and give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English.

And while you're here, why don't you stick around

and watch another video.

(cheerful folk music)