Advanced English Conversation Lesson #4: Sick 🤮 (learn real English w/ subtitles)

Are we ready?

I think so.

It's kind of angled more towards you.

But that's okay.

Do you want to put me down a little?

No, no. That's perfect.

Because I'm taller than you.

You're not.

I'm tall.

Look.

But, you're so much shorter than I am.

I'm going to put this in the blooper.

Hello, everybody.

This is Jack from ToFluency.com and we are back with another conversation.

And, today, we are going to talk about...

Flu season.

Flu season.

Now, if you don't know who this is, this is my wife, Kate.

Hello.

And, she is from America.

I am from the U.K.

We have these conversations in British and American English.

So, we're going to talk about the Flu season, getting sick and also staying healthy.

Yes.

How shall we start?

Well, I think probably a good introduction would be to say that we didn't really think

about getting sick 2 years ago.

Right.

Three years ago.

Yeah.

We have a three year old who is in school and we are just getting sick constantly.

Yeah.

It's what we think about all the time.

Why?

Why is that?

Well, okay.

It mainly started when Thomas started daycare.

When our son started daycare.

But, also you started teaching at that time in a middle school.

So, you brought the germs home.

Thomas brought the germs home and we were just exposed to all these germs.

And, we, I've just been getting sick a lot over the past 2 or 3 years.

Yes.

And, later on in this conversation, we're going to try and talk about ways to stay healthy

or look at ways that we might be able to stay healthy.

You don't know what those ways are right now.

But, there are a couple of phrases here that I want to introduce.

Okay.

When, what does it mean to be coming down with something or to be fighting something

off?

Because I say this a lot.

I'll say, "Oh, I'm fighting something off at the moment."

Yeah, that's that time where you've been exposed to whatever germ it is, whatever virus

and you feel really tired, really worn down and either you're fighting it off,

which means that your immune system is going to keep you from getting sick or you're coming

down with it.

Which means that the next day you might wake up with a sore throat or a stuffy nose.

Yes.

So, it's, its not a situation where you say "I'm sick."

Yeah.

Or, I feel sick.

You, it's when it's just starting to happen.

You know, I'm fighting something off at the moment so I feel tired.

And, usually we know when it's happening because we just want to go and lie down

and we just we just want to get away from everything, you know.

Except each other.

Well, no.

You want to just be on your own in bed and just, you know, fight it off, basically.

Yeah.

You want your mom to come with a cup of tea and

some chicken soup.

Yeah, that's right, Yeah and chicken soup is one of those things

that people have when they are feeling sick.

We had it the other day.

We did.

So, we are constantly fighting things off.

And, we don't always get sick, sick.

But, we always seem to be in this situation where either Thomas is sick, Emma's sick.

Or, we're feeling under the weather . We're feeling like we're fighting it off.

Yeah.

So, what kind of symptoms do you have when you're fighting something off?

Except for being tired.

Except for being tired.

I don't know.

I think, for me, that's probably the biggest one.

Sometimes, I get thirsty.

Yeah.

Sometimes, I find even though I'm so tired, sometimes I find it hard to get to sleep.

That's a good one.

Yeah, it's harder to get to sleep at night.

My gums sometime, sometimes hurt when I'm fighting something off.

They've been hurting this week and it's some kind of inflammation.

Okay.

And, sometimes, my hands break out as well when I'm fighting something off too.

But, usually it's just that feeling of low energy and feeling like you can't do anything.

Go on, yes.

And, you don't have any, you don't have any motivation, do you?

I know.

It's yeah.

Although, usually right before I get sick and this might just be me, but I want to do

a lot.

But, at the same time it just seems totally overwhelming and I can't get anything done.

And then, I get stressed out.

Yeah.

No, I do as well.

And, we're not going to talk too much about serious illness in this lesson.

But...

Except for one very special serious illness.

Yeah, tell everyone about that.

Which is dear to our heart.

I think that you probably have to fill in the blanks.

Typhoid.

Yes.

Yeah.

Typhoid.

And, I've mentioned this in a couple of lessons before.

But, we met while I was traveling and while you were traveling as well in Ecuador.

And, I got typhoid just after you went back to America.

That's right.

And, I think I've told everyone about the story about how I went to bed on Wednesday

at 7:30 and I woke up like Friday afternoon.

Wow.

I woke up a couple of times to go to the bathroom or to have a drink of water.

But, this was a terrible thing to get.

But, it meant that we kept our relationship going.

Yeah.

Well, you also, you'd gotten the vaccine for this?

Yes.

So, it wasn't that you went to a country without the vaccines.

You had gotten the vaccine.

It's just not a hundred percent effective.

So, you got so sick.

Yeah.

And, when you told me what the doctors at the hospital thought that it was I was just

shocked because I didn't think that this was, you

know, it's a disease that you read about a hundred years ago.

I didn't think that it was a common disease anymore.

Yeah.

So...

And, I've told everyone the story and I showed a picture

Did you?

About how, well, about the time when you didn't recognize me.

Yes.

Because I had lost so much weight.

Yeah, you lost about 50 pounds.

What's that in stones or kilograms?

In kilograms about 20 kilograms, I think.

Wow.

Yeah, it was about that, I feel.

And, I'll link to the picture in the description.

And, by the way, read the description because we have a bunch

of phrases from this video and I'll leave all the examples below.

But yeah, that, it took me a long time to recover from that.

Yes.

And, I feel like as we get older, it takes us longer to get over these colds, to get

over the sickness that we have.

Right.

Yeah.

But, at that time, when you were so sick it just kept us in touch because you would've

been traveling all the way around South America and,

you know, on a bus and we'd had this special connection.

Yeah.

And, this like romantic connection.

But, who knows if it would've lasted if you hadn't been stuck in Ecuador,

where you could just e-mail me constantly and call me and I could call back.

And, I felt like I was in this really special and kind of stressful position.

Yeah.

Because, you didn't tell your family.

Well...

Your parents.

Well, my, my dad had an accident at that time and he was in the hospital.

So, yeah.

It was a strange time.

Yes.

So, they didn't even know.

So, it was only me and your sister.

Right.

Out of everybody that knew and loved you.

That knew that you were so, so, so ill.

Yeah.

In a foreign country.

In a foreign country, yeah.

And so...

Also, my auntie knew as well.

Okay.

Yeah.

But, on a more light-hearted thing about this.

Yeah.

Do you remember what I ate and drank during that time?

Do you remember?

You ate, you ate cheddar crackers.

Mini cheddars.

Mini cheddars.

And, you said something really funny.

Did I?

You said, "Well, you should get the normal sized ones."

Yeah. because you were, because you were so, you know, you were losing so much weight.

But, I couldn't eat anything else.

It was the only thing I felt I could eat at that time.

Mini cheddars and Gatorade.

Yes.

And, Gatorade, for those you don't know, it's a sports drink.

And, in the U.K., do you know what they call this?

No.

Lucozade.

That does not have the same ring to it.

Gatorade.

Lucozade.

Well, because you're used to Gatorade.

It just doesn't roll of the tongue the same way.

Well...

In my opinion.

Yeah, it took me a while to get used to Gatorade as well.

Yeah.

But, that's about, that's another thing that's supposed to be really good for you,

when you're sick, right?

Because the water has or the sports drinks have electrolytes in them.

Yes.

To replenish that in your body.

Yeah, and you need to and I was probably craving that for that reason.

I don't think Gatorade is the best drink to have for electrolytes.

You know, I think coconut water...

Really? ...is the best.

But, you know, it's what I could find at that time and I wasn't too concerned about...

No.

You know, added sugars or added chemicals in there.

At that time, I just wanted... ...something to replenish myself.

Let's talk about about staying healthy.

Yes.

Which is, which has become a passion for us.

Because we're living with this 3-year old.

And, 3-year olds are just like walking germs.

Yup.

They have terrible hygiene.

They do.

All of them.

So, they, well, the big thing they do is they wipe their nose with their hand.

Yes.

And then, they, their hands go on everything.

And, they never think about washing their hands.

You have to remind them to wash their hands.

But, what did you get recently for Thomas to try and help him stay healthy?

I got him special vitamins that I think the main things that they have

in them which are good things to kind of boost your

immune system and make you stay healthier

is Zinc, Yup.

Vitamin C, Yup.

...and Echinacea.

Echinacea.

Which is an herb, I guess.

Yeah, or a herb.

Oh, as you say in your country.

That's one thing I've not got used to is that pronunciation of herb.

Of herb, yeah.

Sounds so strange to me.

There's a lot of things that I use now in American English.

But yeah, herb.

Herb for me but herb for American English.

So, hopefully, these little, they're like little gummy bears, aren't they?

Yes.

They're like candy or sweets and hopefully they're going to help him stay

healthy because he's going to eat them.

He wants to eat them.

But, also they have the good stuff in them too.

Okay, we're back.

What I have done, I found a few ways or 3 tips that we can stay healthy.

Okay.

And, what I thought...

...we could do is try to apply these over the next week.

However, there's one that might not be possible.

We'll see.

The first one is eat more vegetables.

Okay.

I'm onboard.

Yeah.

So, Kate's onboard.

She wants to do this.

We haven't been eating as many vegetables as we usually do.

Yeah.

And, I think it's because it's winter.

And, in the summer we have a lot of salads, don't we?

Yes.

We put in cucumber, tomatoes...

Tomatoes.

We put in pepper sometimes.

And, we, we love salads but we don't feel like eating them in winter.

No.

So, we need to find ways to introduce more vegetables

into our weekly diet.

Are there, and you might not know this, but are there any vegetables that are supposed

to be more healthy than other vegetables or are they all equally good?

Okay, we're back.

You just asked a question about vegetables.

Yes.

if there are specific vegetables and luckily I've had some time to think.

By think you mean Google.

No, because you, you said one before.

Did I?

Which was...garlic.

Garlic, yes.

Garlic.

By the way, I love the flavor of garlic.

Me too.

Really?

Yeah.

But, it's just the...

You've changed.

It's just the effect afterwards.

Oh, that makes sense.

Because it can be quite smelly.

Overpowering.

Overpowering, definitely.

I've also learned that mushrooms and onions

are great immune boosters too.

And, I just imagine that most vegetables are going to help you because of the vitamins

and minerals.

Right?

Yup.

That go in there.

So, obviously, eating more vegetables means that you get more vitamins and minerals

which helps you stay healthy.

And, it can definitely help you avoid illness and avoid colds

and stuff like that.

Number 2, sleep more.

Ah, sleep more.

Sleep more.

How many hours do you average per night of sleep?

That is a good question.

Because, right now we have Emma and Emma is still waking up several times a night.

So, I probably get about 5 hours of sleep a night..

Five hours.

It's not a lot, is it?

No.

It's not, it not what I would ideally have.

I would like to have 10 hours of sleep at night.

Yes.

Oh wow.

Twice as much.

Yeah and we used to get a lot of sleep, didn't we?

When we didn't have children.

Yeah.

When we didn't have children.

Yeah, it was amazing to think back to even when we were living in Asheville.

Yeah.

About waking up at 10:00AM, 11:00AM.

Sometimes at noon.

Yes, sleeping in.

Sleeping in.

It's something that we don't do.

But, obviously, sleep helps you recover.

It helps you regenerate and it, it helps your health too.

That makes sense.

And, I remember reading once that if you don't get enough sleep

your blood sugar is elevated, insulin levels are higher

and, obviously, this isn't a good thing to have in general.

But, what have we just done recently to help us get to sleep?

Do you remember?

On our phones?

Is that what you're thinking of?

So, our phones, we have new phones, which is really exciting.

Yeah.

They have these special modes where the screen changes, can change colors.

So, I think it's, if it's a blue screen...

Yes.

So, normally the light is really blue which means it's got this very blue temperature

to the whole color on the screen.

But, we've put it on a mode so that it automatically goes to a warmer temperature

because a blue light has been proven to show, it just releases the hormones that suggest

like, "Okay, it's time to, time to get going."

Wake up.

Yeah, it's like looking at the sun.

And, when you're looking, when you have the sun in the morning

it helps you wake up.

Yes.

But then, that warmer light, apparently, it helps you relax more

and it doesn't interfere with your hormones.

I was a little bit skeptical at first but now I've really been noticing.

When I've been on my phone I can tell right away

when it goes to that warmer light and I just feel a little bit drowsier.

Yeah.

So, I think it's working I think it's working too.

Other ways that, other ways that we've introduced to help us sleep,

well, more for our son is the, the bath.

Yeah, is to take a relaxing bath before bed.

We have these lavender salts that we put into him.

Yeah.

We''re just like 'Please, please get sleepy.

Go to bed.'

Yeah.

And then, the other thing we do as well is we have bed time tea or sleepy time tea.

Yes.

And, I'm not sure what's in that.

Do you know what's in it?

I know that one of the ingredients is chamomile.

Chamomile, that's right.

Which is supposed to be very relaxing.

Yeah.

So, this tea can help you relax at night as well.

But, the biggest problem we have is that Emma wakes up.

And also, sometimes, going back to sickness, if Thomas is sick

he wakes up as well.

And then, usually when that happens I sleep in his room

to try and calm him down.

Yeah.

But, yes, sleep is a big issue.

And, I, but it's such an important thing.

It really is.

It's so important.

The final one is simple, 'wash your hands'.

Ah, wash your hands, yes.

And, use hand sanitizer.

So, there was some controversy recently about using hand sanitizer.

That, it wasn't supposed to be the healthiest thing.

Or is it anti-bacterial?

Ingredients.

And, anti-bacterial hand soap.

Yeah.

But, what's the idea about washing your hands?

How does that help?

I think just basically to get the germs off.

Yeah, well...

If you've been exposed to things, if you've been touching things...

Yeah.

where other people who have been sick have been touching them.

You wash it all off and then that way you don't get sick.

Because, the idea is that the germs, it's easier to get sick through the germs

on your hands rather than like something in the air.

So, if someone sneezes it, it doesn't affect you as much

as if you were like, you know, touching something and you got germs on your hands.

And, I was thinking about this.

I know, I know because we're so focused on staying healthy.

I'm washing my hands all the time which is actually making my hands dry out.

Have you noticed that your hands have been drier.

My hands, yeah, they are drier.

Yeah.

But, I also feel that's a symptom of coming down with something.

Yeah, it's a vicious cycle.

It just keeps going around.

And, when Thomas goes to school they always say

"Wash your hands as soon as you come in."

Yes.

But, you know, I don't know if that's, it's going to make a difference.

But, if someone's sick at preschool, those kids are just,

it's such a small space, they're all touching different things, you know.

It's very difficult to avoid isn't it?

Absolutely.

Yeah, definitely.

We've come to the time where Kate a questiion and you haven't prepared again.

I always am prepared.

Okay, then.

Here is my question to anybody who might be watching.

So, we mentioned some things that we liked to do to stay healthy.

Also, we haven't talked about this.

But, another thing that I want to try for us

is elderberry syrup.

We've tried that in the past.

It hasn't been great.

You know, I...

But, I want to try it again.

I, can I just say, I tried this with Thomas because we had some.

Yeah.

And, I said, "Just try this." and I put some drops in his mouth

and he just found it disgusting.

Oh, really?

Now, there's some-, I need to tell you about this.

There's some in the bottom of the refrigerator that's really sweet.

It has a lot of honey in it which is also supposed to be helpful to your

immune system and he loves that.

Honey and lemon.

I've been calling it candy juice.

Candy juice, okay.

I'll put this candy juice in his cereal next time.

See if he likes it.

But, yeah, we didn't even talk about honey and lemon.

I know.

Those are our favorite ones.

And, they're the ones that everyone talks about.

But, anyway, your question.

Okay.

So, without mentioning honey and lemon and elderberry syrup and washing hands,

what are your tips and tricks to stay healthy?

Or, if you do get sick, what is something that you think helps you recover faster?

Yeah, I love that.

Because maybe, you take something and it won't stop you from getting sick

but recovering faster is a great thing to have.

Is great, yes.

And, I mean I can't promise but it's pretty likely that anything, that

anyone suggests we are willing to try.

Hey, it's me again.

The conversation cut off because I ran out of memory on my memory card.

But, luckily, it did so at a really great place.

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