Learn English with News: English Conversation & Vocabulary Training | Speaking English Lesson

I’m feeling the heat this summer – and I  will say it really helps to hit the pool or  

the beach. Today we’re going to study English  with a story about a lifeguard shortage in the US.  

You’ll learn some more advanced vocabulary  as well as phrasal verbs and idioms,  

and we’ll also break down some grammar.  Click here or in the video description  

to get my free cheat sheet, the sounds of  American English, an illustrated guide to  

all the sounds. It’s a great reference  tool and even I use it quite a bit.

This clip is from the morning  show Good Morning America,  

and I’ll link to the full news  story in the video description.

Now with a new warning as America heads  back to beaches and pools this summer,  

there’s a nation-wide lifeguard shortage.

“Nation-wide” simply means across the nation, the  whole nation. You may have also heard city-wide,  

school-wide, or company-wide.  The changes to the dress code are  

school-wide. That means every child, in every  grade, has to follow the new dress code.

Why the hyphen here? This means it’s a  compound adjective. Both words go together  

to describe the noun, which in this case  is ‘shortage’. It’s not a nation shortage,  

it’s not a wide shortage, it’s a nation-wide  shortage. Since the two go together to describe  

the noun, you want a hyphen and not a comma. Some  other phrases with hyphenated compound adjectives:

an ice-cold drink

deep-fried onion rings

A tight-knit community

Now with a new warning as America heads  back to beaches and pools this summer,  

there’s a nation-wide lifeguard shortage.

A shortage is something that there’s  not enough of. Right now in the US,  

there’s a big staffing shortage. A lot  of companies can’t fill open positions;  

there aren’t enough workers. At the beginning of  the pandemic, a lot of people bought a bunch of  

toilet paper, so that meant for everyone  else, there was a toilet paper shortage.

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Now with a new warning as America heads  back to beaches and pools this summer,  

there’s a nation-wide lifeguard shortage.

When talking about not having enough of something,  you might also hear the phrase to “run short  

on” – this means that the number has decreased  to very few and is almost zero. I’m running  

short on cash. I’m running short on time today; I don’t  have any free time. You might also see ‘run low  

on’. The store asked if I could pay with credit  card because they were running low on change.

Let’s continue.

There are 36 of these lifeguard stations  up and down beautiful Miami beach,  

manned by nearly twice as many  lifeguards during the day.

“Up and down.” You’ve probably heard  this as a reference to vertical space.  

Up and down the stairs. Up and down the  elevator. But we also use it to describe  

horizontal space. Up and down the beach. Along  the coast. Up and down the aisle. Usually,  

it describes a shape of land or space that  is long and narrow. Up and down the highway.

He says the beach’s lifeguard stands are  “manned” by lifeguards. If something is manned,  

that means there are humans present, usually it  means working there. In other words, staffed.  

Manned does not mean only men – women too. An  unmanned space mission would be when something is  

sent into space without a human crew. In this  case, the stations are manned by lifeguards.

Manned is the same thing as staffed, and earlier,  I said there is a staffing shortage. Staff has a  

couple different meanings, like in sheet music,  the staff is the structure that the notes are  

on, and it’s also a long stick used for walking,  or even as a weapon. But the most common meaning  

is how we’re using it here: the people employed  by an organization. The staff meeting is at 8. The  

faculty and staff have the week off. Faculty would  be professors at a college, and the staff would be  

the people who support the university in offices.  All the staff needs to be available the week of  

Christmas: the dishwashers, servers, managers,  line cooks, and so on. All the restaurant’s staff.

There are 36 of these lifeguard stations  

up and down beautiful Miami beach, manned by  nearly twice as many lifeguards during the day.

Thirty-six stands manned by  nearly twice as many lifeguards.  

Do the math. He means the beach has almost  72 lifeguards on duty. Nearly twice as many.  

Other ways to say ‘twice as many’: double;  twice the number of; or two times as many.

There are 36 of these lifeguard stations  up and down beautiful Miami beach,  

manned by nearly twice as many  lifeguards during the day.

This summer, swim at your own risk. That’s the  urgent message from several beaches and pools  

across the country that are left unguarded  because of a critical lack of lifeguards.

Urgent. What a great adjective! Let’s look at  some synonyms that could be used in this context:

vital; serious; pressing; crucial; important.  Urgent carries the idea that something is  

time-sensitive. You get an urgent phone call  from a family member. You should answer the call  

because something needs your attention right away.  Alternatively, you send an email request to a  

coworker, but write “not urgent” in the subject  line because the issue can wait a few days.

That’s the urgent message from several  beaches and pools across the country  

that are left unguarded because  of a critical lack of lifeguards.

Unguarded. Adding the prefix  -un to the beginning of a word  

is one of the most common ways to negate the  meaning of a word, the opposite. Usual--unusual.  

Interesting–uninteresting. Important–unimportant.  So, unguarded tells us that these areas are  

not protected by lifeguards. I also hear the  word “unguarded” used to describe whether someone  

shares something private or personal. When I first  started dating my husband, I was pretty guarded.  

It takes me a while to get comfortable with  people and start sharing more of myself,  

it takes time for me to become  more unguarded. To be unguarded  

means that you are candid; accessible;  direct, you share a lot about yourself.

And before we move on from this segment,  did you catch a synonym for “shortage” here?

That’s the urgent message from several  beaches and pools across the country  

that are left unguarded because  of a critical lack of lifeguards.

A lack of something is a shortage, absence,  or scarcity of something. There’s a lack of  

motivation among students at the end of  the semester. They don’t feel like doing  

anything–especially studying. He lacks  confidence. He doesn’t feel like he can do it.

The adjective here, critical, is really  interesting, it can be used in a lot of  

different ways. One meaning is when someone is  quick to judge or find fault in something. Parents  

who are too critical can make their children  anxious. Critical thinking is a skill I wish  

we’d teach more of in schools. That’s when you  learn how to judge the truth or merit of an idea,  

critical thinking. A different meaning,  which is the one used in this news story,  

indicates a threatening or grave outcome.  A critical shortage of lifeguards.  

There aren’t enough lifeguards, so swimmers face  potential danger. You might also hear the phrase  

‘critical acclaim’. This means critics have  praised the work. For example, a movie,  

play, or restaurant can have critical acclaim.  Critics are people who work for an organization,  

like a newspaper, who judge how  good something is. For example,  

a restaurant critic would work for a newspaper,  visit various restaurants throughout the city  

to rate them and write articles about  certain dishes, and so on. A critic.

There’s no substitute for safety. And the  lifeguards are a part of the safety chain.

If there’s no substitute for something, that  means there’s no backup, no replacement,  

no stand-in. Nothing else that works to the  same goal. Either we’re practicing safety  

or we’re not. I often hear this  usage of substitute as a motivator:

There’s no substitute for hardwork. This means  

there’s no other way to success. You  have to put in the time and hard work.

There’s no substitute for experience.

There’s no substitute for safety. And the  lifeguards are a part of the safety chain.

Safety chain. He’s using the image of a chain  metaphorically. Each link or piece of a chain  

holds onto the other. Lifeguards are part  of the chain–along with EMS workers, police,  

other medical professionals, and even the  general public. We all need to make smart  

decisions when it comes to swimming. You’ll  hear the word “chain” used in other ways too:

the food chain

the supply chain

They all reference several steps or  parts that make up the flow of a process.

There’s no substitute for safety. And the  lifeguards are a part of the safety chain.

Areas are not able to hire and  certify lifeguards fast enough–just  

as more Americans are flocking  to water-front destinations.

Hire and certify. Hire is  to be offered a job for pay.  

The process of someone becoming employed by you.  If you hire someone, they become staff. Certified  

includes all the training, licensing,  and approval you need to do a specialized  

job or task. I’m pretty good at  excel, but I haven’t been certified.

Some jobs might require some certifications.

For example, to work at the daycare,  she needed to be certified in CPR.  

So, she took a class to become CPR certified:  watched videos, took tests, and demonstrated  

skills on a dummy and so on. She’ll need  to renew her certification every two years.

Areas are not able to hire and  certify lifeguards fast enough–just  

as more Americans are flocking  to water-front destinations.

Flocking. I love this use of “flock!” It’s  a verb or noun we typically associate with  

birds. A group of birds is a flock. And  “flocking” describes their movement as a group.  

My neighbor throws peanuts on the  street and the birds flock to it. So,  

if people are “flocking to  water-front destinations,”  

that means large numbers are going there. Everyone  wants it, kind of like hungry birds for peanuts.

Areas are not able to hire and  certify lifeguards fast enough–just  

as more Americans are flocking to water-front  destinations. No fun in the sun at this pool in  

Lackawanna State Park in Pennsylvania.  It closed due to staffing shortages.

There’s our noun again–shortages.  This time it’s “staffing shortages.”  

Not enough staff, not enough  workers to safely open.

No fun in the sun at this pool in  Lackawanna State Park in Pennsylvania.  

It closed due to staffing shortages.

In Ohio, notices like these on  Facebook turning away eager pool-goers.

What’s the Facebook notice doing?

In Ohio, notices like these on  Facebook turning away eager pool-goers.

Turning away. A phrasal verb. In this case,  

to turn away means to refuse to let anyone  enter. The notice turned people away.

In Ohio, notices like these on  Facebook turning away eager pool-goers.

Someone who is eager wants to do or have  something very much. Someone who is eager  

to learn really wants to learn. An eager  pool-goer really wants to go to the pool.

In Ohio, notices like these on  Facebook turning away eager pool-goers.

And in Austin, they’re struggling to stay  afloat. Just 250 lifeguards this summer  

compared to 750 in a typical year.

Struggling to stay afloat. He’s using a play  on words here. We think afloat, we think water,  

and think lifeguards, we think water. Afloat means  floating in water, not sinking. But actually, we  

can use ‘afloat’ with situations that have nothing  to do with water. It’s used a lot with businesses  

that aren’t doing well, that may have to close.  We would say ‘they’re struggling to stay afloat.”  

They’re struggling to make their business  model work. During the pandemic, a lot of  

restaurants and local shops couldn’t  stay afloat, they permanently closed.

Or we could use it with ourselves:  

I’m working 45 hours this week and have two exams;  I’m just struggling to stay afloat this week.

And in Austin, they’re struggling to stay  afloat. Just 250 lifeguards this summer  

compared to 750 in a typical year.

We just don’t have the time to get the lifeguards  trained and on payroll for this summer.

Payroll is a list of a company's employees  and the amount of money they are to be paid.  

We often use the preposition “on” with this noun.  The school has 150 teachers and staff on payroll.

We just don’t have the time to get the lifeguards  trained and on payroll for this summer.

We’re seeing dangerous rescues and even  fatal encounters in areas normally covered  

by lifeguards. Like along Lake Michigan,  where over the weekend a 14-year-old girl  

had to be airlifted to the hospital in critical  condition. It sounds like a wave struck them,  

and they ended up going into  some deeper water and getting  

into problems. There were no lifeguards on  duty. Instead, these towers stand empty.

Let’s look at the grammar here. The voiceover  said “a 14 year-old girl had to be airlifted to  

the hospital.” Then the person interviewed  said “It sounds like a wave struck them,  

and they ended up going into some  deeper water.” Them, they. ‘Them’  

traditionally has been used to refer to a group,  more than one person, but more and more it’s being  

used to refer to a single person if you don’t know  the gender. For example, take this conversation:

“I talked with someone at the insurance agency.”

“What did they say?”

At first I said someone, someone, a  single person at the insurance agency.  

But in this conversation the person I’m talking  to has no idea who that person is. Knows nothing  

about that person, so using ‘they’ would be  very natural here. “They” for a single person,  

for one person can also be used if you want to  use a more general term or don’t want to make  

assumptions about someone, and also, some people  chose ‘they’ as their pronoun. In this case,  

the conservation officer may not have known  the details of the person who was airlifted,  

or he may have simply chosen  to use a more general term.

It sounds like a wave struck  them, and they ended up  

going into some deeper water  and getting into problems.

Earlier in that segment, we heard the  word ‘critical’ again. Remember it has  

a couple definitions: it can mean  the potential to become dangerous  

or disastrous, and it can mean judging  disapprovingly. Which one is it here?

Like along Lake Michigan, where  over the weekend a 14-year-old  

girl had to be airlifted to the  hospital in critical condition.

B. The girl was in a threatening or grave  condition. She had almost drowned. The  

conservation officer said a “wave struck  them.” “Struck” is the past tense of  

“strike.” A strong force that pushes against  something. Some synonyms for this could be:

it crashed over them

it knocked them down, it knocked them over

it pummeled them

it clobbered them

It sounds like a wave struck them,  

and they ended up going into some  deeper water and getting into problems.

There were no lifeguards on duty.  Instead, these towers stand empty.

On duty: On the job, on the  clock, at work, present at work.

When you have a job to do, particularly a  job where you’re responsible for taking care  

of other people or the security of something,  you can say, “I’m on duty.” Or, “I’m off duty.”  

Actually, my husband and I use this to talk  about which one of us is responsible for  

taking care of our kids. For example, “I’d  like to go for a walk. Will you be on-duty?”

Ok, let’s go to our final segment.

People that think they don’t need lifeguards–that  they’re probably overestimating their abilities.

Our drone, now showing you the vantage  point from one of those lifeguard stands.  

They have a better perspective because  they’re elevated. And in many places,  

they’re now using drones  in life-saving situations.

Overestimating their abilities. Estimate is  one of the academic words we studied in my  

“LEARN 105 ENGLISH VOCABULARY WORDS”  series. Click here for that playlist.

When you overestimate your abilities, you think  you can do more than you can. You have more  

confidence than actual skill. That can be very  dangerous when you’re swimming in the ocean.

He also uses the word “drone.” You probably  know this word as an unmanned aircraft or a  

flying robot, used to get aerial video footage as  well as other tasks. Notice: unmanned, that is,  

without a human present, in the aircraft. A human  might be operating it from a different location,  

but the drone itself is unmanned. The news crew  has a camera attached to a remote-controlled drone  

that they’re using to get these aerial shots.  But drone has a few other meanings too. A drone  

is also a stingless male bee. Maybe that’s  why they decided to name this thing a drone.

But it also means a tone, a sound,  a buzzing, kind of like a bee makes!  

The drone of the A/C is ruining my  audio track. Or you might hear someone  

talk about the drone of traffic in the  distance. Continuous, low, humming sound.  

Now, if someone who is speaking is using sort  of a flat, monotone, or talking for a long time about  

something very boring, you could say “He’s  droning on about his stamp collection again.”

Our drone, now showing you the vantage  point from one of those lifeguard stands.

Vantage point. This is a position from  which you can see or consider something.  

Similar to perspective, point of view, or angle.

In recent years, scientists have  gained a new vantage point on Mars.

Your vantage point is going to be  completely different after you live abroad.

Our drone, now showing you the vantage  point from one of those lifeguard stands.

Thanks for studying with me. If you  want to go beyond learning and move into  

training your American voice, check out my  online courses at RachelsEnglishAcademy.com.  

Keep your learning going now with this  video, and don’t forget to subscribe with  

notifications on on YouTube and Facebook. I  love being your English teacher. That’s it,  

and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.