Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 39, day 2 of Your English Five-a-Day, the second season.
We're doing it step by step, little by little, inch by inch.
We are expanding our vocabulary.
We're improving our listening skills and gaining confidence every time we get together.
And I'm thoroughly enjoying helping you to feel more like yourself when communicating in English.
Your voice is your power.
And you should never underestimate how powerful your voice can be if only you allow it to be heard.
Yes, you heard me.
Your voice, your English voice is a burning, powerful fire in the pit of your stomach.
And I am here with a handful of dry wood waiting to throw fuel onto your fire.
So let's begin. as we always do, with a snapshot of what's to come.
Listen closely.
As Mia walked out of the store, something beeped, not that she noticed.
The security guard looked exasperated, while the intrusive noise raised a few eyebrows among the busy shoppers, who were quick to jump to the conclusion that Mia was a shoplifter.
Mia in a world of her own, hadn't even noticed she had forgotten to remove the security tag from her new jacket.
Eek.
We've all been there, haven't we?
Well, let's dive into that vocabulary now, starting with the verb beep.
Beep.
Nice and easy.
B-E-E-P.
Beep.
To beep is to make a short, high sound, often from a car horn, machine or phone.
Beep.
Beep.
The microwave beeped to say the food was ready.
Do you have any devices in your house that beep?
I'm sure you have many.
My washing machine, my old washing machine, would beep when it had completed its cycle.
My new washing machine actually plays a little tune.
And it's lovely, but also slightly annoying.
Let's move on to the adjective exasperated.
Exasperated.
We spell this E-X-A-S-P-E-R-A-T-E-D.
Exasperated.
If you feel exasperated, then you feel annoyed, irritated or frustrated, often because something keeps going wrong.
It's not just happened once, but it's happened again and again and again.
I often feel exasperated when I look at the mess of my house.
I'm always clearing clutter away.
I'm always tidying up the toys.
I'm always folding the blankets and fluffing the pillows and putting everything back in its place.
And I turn around and the space behind me that I literally just tidied moments before will look as if I'd never been there at all.
An absolute tip.
And so, yes, I know what it is to feel exasperated.
Can you relate to that feeling?
Here's one final example sentence.
She looked exasperated after repeating the same instructions three times.
Moving on to an idiom now.
In a world of your own.
In a world of your own.
This is a very common idiom.
Six words.
In a world, W-O-R-L-D, of your, Y-O-U-R, own, O-W-N.
Now, in a world of your, of becomes weak, own. of, your own.
Now here we will actually pronounce the R when we join your and own together.
It becomes your own, your own in a world of your own, in a world of your own, in a world of your own.
Now, this very common idiom means to be not paying attention to what's happening around you, often because you're lost in thought or imagination.
You must have done it at some point or another, walking down the street or sitting in a cafe.
I recently did it standing on a bus.
I was taking the bus to the town in order to take a train into central London.
And I saw somebody was getting on with a wheelchair.
So I moved out of the way, but I was in a world of my own.
So I didn't even think to look at the faces of the people boarding the bus.
And I stood there for a few minutes, shoulder to shoulder with the person pushing the wheelchair.
When I finally looked up at the faces of those around me, I realized I knew the girl I was shoulder to shoulder with.
And I gave her a little tap because she was also in a world of her own.
I gave her a little tap.
I said, hey, it's you.
Hi.
Nice to see you.
How are you doing?
We were both in a world of our own, lost in our own thoughts, ignoring the world around us, not paying attention.
Here's another example of the idiom in use.
He forgot because he was in a world of his own.
What did he forget?
Hmm, we'll never know.
Alright, next we have another idiom and it is raise a few eyebrows.
To raise a few eyebrows.
Four words.
Raise, R-A-I-S-E, a, few, F-E-W, eyebrows, E-Y-E, B-R-O-W-S.
To raise a few eyebrows, this idiom means to cause shock or surprise, disapproval or doubt.
So if you do something that someone else does not approve of, or that a group of people rather, are shocked by or surprised by, then you are raising a few eyebrows.
Here's an example sentence.
The teacher raised a few eyebrows with his unconventional teaching methods.
Have you ever done anything to raise a few eyebrows?
OK, last but not least is the noun security tag.
Security tag.
Two words...
Security, S-E-C-U-R-I-T-Y.
Tag, T-A-G.
A security tag is a device attached to an item in a shop to stop people from stealing it.
So the security tag will set off the alarms as you walk out of the store, if the tag is still attached.
Now these days in UK supermarkets, We have security tags on things like meat.
So if you went to buy a steak from a regular supermarket, it has a tag on it.
Many electrical items have security tags or the items are even stored in security boxes.
Many clothes will have security tags on them, especially if they're worth over £10.
So it can be quite frustrating if you're trying to update your wardrobe and you're on a big shopping spree and you're checking out with 20 items and you have to wait as they remove the tags.
First, they have to find the tags and then remove the tags from every single item.
And you can guarantee that, even after all the kerfuffle of removing all those tags, you'll still set off the alarms as you walk out.
Oh, and then the security guard comes over and you have to show them your receipt and promise you're not trying to steal anything.
And then they empty the bags again and they try to find the thing.
And it's just a it's a faff.
It's such a kerfuffle.
OK, here's an example sentence.
If you try to leave with a security tag, it sets off the alarm alarm.
All right, that's our five.
So let's do a quick recap.
We started with the verb beep, and this is to make a short, high sound, often from a car horn, a machine or a phone to beep.
We had the adjective exasperated, which means annoyed, irritated or frustrated, often because something keeps going wrong.
You're exasperated.
Then we had the idiom in a world of your own, which is when you're not paying attention to what's happening around you.
You're lost in thought or imagination.
You're in a world of your own.
We had the idiom raise a few eyebrows, which is to cause shock, surprise, disapproval or doubt.
You raise a few eyebrows.
And finally, we had the noun security tag.
A device that's attached to an item in a shop to stop people from stealing it.
A security tag.
Fantastic.
OK, so now I'm going to do this for pronunciation purposes.
Please raise your beautiful voice and repeat out loud after me.
Beat. beep exasperated exasperated in a world of your own in a world of your own raise a few eyebrows raise a few eyebrows security tag Security tag.
Fantastic.
Okay, let's revisit our snapshot now.
As Mia walked out of the store, something beeped.
Not that she noticed.
The security guard looked exasperated, while the intrusive noise raised a few eyebrows among the busy shoppers, who were quick to jump to the conclusion that Mia was a shoplifter.
Mia in a world of her own, hadn't even noticed she had forgotten to remove the security tag from her new jacket.
Now, listen out for that target vocabulary once more as we head into Storytime.
Elliot always preferred the self-checkout machines at the supermarket.
They were quiet, predictable, and above all, they did not talk much.
No small talk about the weather, no polite questions about his day, just the steady rhythm of scanning, bagging and paying.
He liked the sound of the machine, the quick beep every time an item passed over the glass.
It was like a secret code, a private language between him and the machine.
Most evenings Elliot would slip into the supermarket after work, headphones in, completely in a world of his own.
He would glide down the aisles carefully, choosing the same things.
Pasta, milk, bread, apples.
Routine kept him safe and the machine respected routine.
But tonight was different.
He scanned the pasta.
Beep.
Perfect.
He scanned the bread.
Beep.
Easy.
He scanned the milk.
Silence.
Elliot frowned.
He tried again, dragging the carton slowly across the glass.
Still nothing.
The screen flickered and then displayed a strange message.
Unexpected item detected.
He felt his chest tighten.
That phrase always made him uneasy, as if the machine were accusing him of something.
He glanced around.
A woman at the next machine looked over.
He could sense he was raising a few eyebrows.
Heat rose to his face.
Come on, he muttered, pushing the carton again.
This time the machine beat loudly, followed by another warning.
Please wait for assistance.
Elliot's stomach sank.
He hated those words more than anything.
Assistance meant a person.
Assistance meant conversation.
A staff member in a red jacket walked briskly towards him.
Problem with the scan? she asked.
I think so, Elliot said, voice barely above a whisper.
He wished he could vanish into the floor.
The woman picked up the milk, turned it over and smiled.
Ah, it still has a security tag attached.
That's what confused the scanner.
She walked over to a small device and removed the tag with a sharp click.
Elliot could not believe such a tiny piece of plastic had caused so much trouble.
He felt almost exasperated at himself for not noticing earlier.
There you go, she said, cheerfully handing it back.
Elliot nodded quickly, avoiding her eyes and scanning the milk again.
Relief flooded him.
The machine was his friend once more, speaking in its steady rhythm.
But as he packed his bag, he noticed something strange.
On the screen, behind the total price, faint letters seemed to appear, as if typed by invisible hands.
We see you now.
Elliot froze.
The machine beeped again, though he had not touched it.
For the first time, he wondered if the machine he loved so much might not be entirely on his side.
Oh, okay.
That brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you enjoyed it and found it useful.
If you did, then please take a moment to leave a like if you're watching on YouTube and a rating or review if you're streaming anywhere else.
Until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.
