Hello, English learners. Welcome to EnglishPod.
My name is Marco. And I'm Erica. And today we're going to be bringing you a very useful lesson about being sick.
Yeah, we're going to learn how to tell your boss that you can't go to work because you're sick.
Exactly. This is really important because we all get sick and sometimes you just can't go to work.
Yes. Or maybe sometimes you just don't want to go to work.
Exactly. Maybe you're lying. But we're going to be teaching you how to do it anyways.
Before we start with our dialogue, let's take a look at Vocabulary Preview.
In this vocabulary preview, we have two words for you.
The first one is quite ill. Quite ill. Quite ill.
So quite ill. Very sick. Very sick. Quite is a synonym of very.
Exactly. Okay. Yeah. No difference at all.
I just think ill is more common in British English.
Exactly. All right, let's take a look at our second word, flu.
The flu. The flu. The flu. So the flu is a virus.
Yeah, it's a sickness. Okay, and it's very similar to a cold.
Yes, but just a lot worse. A lot worse. So it's stronger.
Yep, yep. It's also called influenza. Influenza, exactly.
So the flu. Okay, so let's listen to our dialogue.
What's going to happen here today? Well, we're going to listen as Julie calls her boss to tell him she's sick.
Alright, but is she really sick? I don't know.
Let's find out. Hello, Daniel speaking.
How may I help you? Hi, Daniel. Julie here.
Hi, Julie. How are you? Actually, I'm feeling quite ill today.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What's wrong?
I think I'm coming down with the flu. I have a headache, a sore throat. a runny nose, and I'm feeling slightly feverish.
I see, so you're calling in sick. Yes. I was hoping to take the day off to recover.
Okay, then. Try and get some rest. All right, so Julie didn't really seem to be sick, huh?
Yeah, I don't know. That cough was just a little too much.
It seemed like she was acting. Yeah. Alright, so let's take a look at some of this vocabulary in Language Takeaway.
Five words for you here. And these are all great words to describe a sickness, right?
All right. The first one, headache. Headache.
Headache. Head ache. So when you have a headache, you have a sore head, right?
Right. Your head hurts. So it's pretty simple.
Yep. You have a headache. It's the way you feel after being at the bar too late.
Yeah. When you drink too much, you get a headache.
Yeah. All right. Let's take a look at our next word.
Sore throat. So basically, we have two words here.
Let's look at the first one, sore. Hurting.
It hurts, right? And your throat is... Well, you know, it's the part right here where the back... You can't see me.
Well, it's the part at the back of your mouth that goes down to your stomach.
All right. That's your throat. Yeah. So you use your throat to swallow.
Mm-hmm. Okay. use the word sore with different body parts, right?
Yeah, like a sore back. A sore back, right?
Or maybe you were playing tennis all weekend, so you have a sore arm.
Or even a sore neck. Right. So the word sore.
Let's take a look at our third word. Runny nose.
Runny nose. Runny nose. Runny nose. This is a very strange word.
I know. But it doesn't mean that your nose is running, right?
No, but okay. No, but when you have a runny nose, there's lots of water coming out of your nose, right?
Right. So it's interesting, though, because when you run, you go fast, right?
So a lot of water is... Coming fast out of your nose.
Out of your nose. Runny nose. Okay, our fourth word today, slightly feverish.
Slightly feverish. So, again, slightly is... A little bit.
A little bit, right? A little bit and feverish.
Well, let's break this word down. We know fever, right?
So when your body is very, very hot because you're sick.
So feverish is the feeling of your body being very, very hot.
Okay, so you have a high temperature. It's not that you have a high temperature, but you feel like you have a high temperature.
So slightly feverish. And our last word is...
To recover, recover, recover, recover. So this means to get better.
Exactly. Can you only use it when you're sick?
So when you recover, you get better and you rest.
So maybe you can say, I was so busy this week.
I need to recover this weekend. Okay, so yeah, if you feel tired or you feel sick, you can recover.
Okay, let's listen to our dialogue again and we can listen to these words that we've just talked about hello Daniel speaking how may I help you hi Daniel Julie here.
Hi, Julie. How are you? Actually, I'm feeling quite ill today.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What's wrong?
I think I'm coming down with the flu. I have a headache, a sore throat...
A runny nose and I'm feeling slightly feverish.
I see. So you're calling in sick. Yes. I was hoping to take the day off to recover.
Okay then. Try and get some rest. In this dialogue, we listen to some really interesting phrases of how you can tell your boss that you are feeling sick, right?
Yeah, some great phrases. So let's look at these in fluency. builder fluency builder I'm coming down with.
Alright, so let's listen to some examples and then we'll come back and explain this interesting phrase.
Example 1. My throat really hurts I think I'm coming down with a cold Example 2
You have a runny nose. Are you coming down with the flu?
I don't feel well. I think I'm coming down with something.
Okay, so basically coming down with means... Starting to get...
I'm beginning to feel sick. Yes. Okay. So you can use it with, I'm coming down with the flu.
I'm coming down with a cold. Or I'm coming down with a cough.
Yeah. Or I'm coming down with something.
With something. You don't know what it is.
Exactly. Exactly. Okay, let's take a look at our second phrase, calling in sick.
Calling in sick. Okay, calling in sick. So this phrase is great.
You know, when you say I'm calling in sick, you're saying, hey, I'm not going to come to work today because I am sick.
Okay. So literally, it means that you call your office and you say you're not going to work.
Yes. But it's great because it's three words that show such a long idea.
Right, because otherwise you would have to say, I'm calling because I don't feel well so I'm not going to go to work.
Yes. But if you say I'm calling in sick, everyone knows.
Everyone understands. That you're not going to go to work.
Yep. Okay, now let's take a look at our last phrase.
Take the day off. Take the day off. Take the day off.
Now, this is a great phrase to take the day off is to not go to work on that day.
Yes. Now you can say take the week off.
Take the month off. Take the month off or take the year off.
If you are so lucky. All right. So take the day off means to not go to work on that day.
All right. Let's listen to our dialogue again now and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.
Hello, Daniel speaking. How may I help you?
Hi, Daniel. Julie here. Hi, Julie. How are you?
Actually, I'm feeling quite ill today. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
What's wrong? I think I'm coming down with the flu.
I have a headache, a sore throat. a runny nose and I'm feeling slightly feverish.
I see, so you're calling in sick. Yes. I was hoping to take the day off to recover.
Okay, then. Try and get some rest. Well, Marco, have you ever done what Julie did?
Did you ever call your boss to say you're sick when you're not really?
Yeah, of course. I mean, sometimes you just don't feel very well, but you're not really sick.
You just don't feel like going to work. Or sometimes you have something to do, right?
Yep. You know what we call those in Canada?
We call them personal days. Personal days.
Yeah. Yeah. So you say, oh, I'm going to take a personal day, meaning I'm going to call in sick, but then go shopping.
We used to do that a lot because, for example, soccer games are such a big deal.
Oh, yeah. And sometimes you would have a soccer match between, I don't know, Brazil and...
And it would be maybe at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.?
? everyone would call in sick on that day.
Yeah, so the boss at least could plan that he would have an empty office.
Yeah, or sometimes you would take half the day off.
So you would just go, you say, well, I'm not going to make it in the morning, but I'll come in the afternoon. would recover very quickly.
I'm feeling a little bit sick, but I'm going to be better in the afternoon.
All right. So, well, if you have any questions or comments, please come to our website.
And if you have any calling in sick stories, please let us know.
Yes, you can visit us at EnglishPod.com, and Marco and I are always there to answer your questions.
All right, folks, so we'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening. Goodbye.
