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Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to week 23, day 4 of Your English Fibre Day, the second season.
With this series, we are expanding our vocabulary, improving our listening skills and feeling more like ourselves when when communicating in English.
All you have to do is tune in as often as you can ideally every day of the working week from Monday to Friday.
I will provide the podcast episode and even pull all of the vocabulary together in our database.
The Vocabulary Vault, which includes all the vocabulary from this episode and every episode of the entire series.
You can access this for free via the link in the show notes.
So sit back, relax and listen.
We'll begin as we always do with a snapshot of what's to come.
Despite her optimism, the couple's problems continued to grow until she decided to file for divorce.
There were emotional constraints that made communication difficult and their relationship began to unravel.
By the end, the hostility between them was impossible to ignore.
OK. Let's dive in with the noun optimism.
Optimism. We spell this O -P -T -I -M -I -S -M.
Optimism. Optimism.
Optimism is something we should all have. It's the belief that good good things will happen or that things will turn out well.
I try to have optimism even when things seem a little bleak, when times are hard, perhaps I'm not feeling well, things aren't going my way.
It can be a dark, dark, dark time but I try to find some level of optimism because optimism optimism helps in most situations.
Here's an example sentence.
His optimism helped everyone stay positive during difficult times.
Do you have quite a lot of optimism at the moment?
How do you feel about life and about your current situation?
Are you full of optimism on a daily basis?
And if not, do you know people around you who seem to have boundless optimism?
All right, next we have the verb phrase file for divorce.
To file for divorce.
File we spell F -I -L -E, for, F -O -R, divorce, D -I -V -O -R -C -E.
File for divorce is to officially begin the legal process of ending a marriage.
Obviously divorce can be difficult and painful.
It's a very stressful situation for many people.
It's freeing for others.
Have you ever had to file for divorce or do you know someone who's filed for divorce?
Here's your example sentence.
They filed for divorce last month and now are living separately.
Next, we have the noun constraints.
Constraints. We spell this C -O -N -S -T -R -A -I -N -T -S.
constraints. Constraints.
Constraints are the things that limit or control what you do.
So we often talk about time constraints because we're often limited or controlled by time.
For example, if you have to teach a lesson but you only have 30 minutes in which to teach the material, then you have to work within those time constraints.
You're limited to delivering the material within 30 minutes.
You might have financial constraints.
So maybe you're looking to move to a new city and you have to find an apartment to rent.
And when you're looking, you have to look within your budget.
You can't just pick whichever one looks nice and is the the most convenient in terms of location, you have to pick the one that is within your budget because there are financial constraints that limit your choice.
Here's one more example.
Time constraints meant we had to finish the project quickly.
Okay, moving on to the verb Unravel.
We spell this U -N -R -A -V -E -L.
Unravel. To unravel is to come apart or to become clearer or easier to understand over time.
So, I always think of this as similar to unrolling something.
So if you take a ball of wool, so you've got a bundle of wool and you've got the wool all wrapped up into a ball.
Well, if you hold on to the end of the wool, the loose end, and you throw the ball of wool onto the floor or drop it, it will quickly unravel.
So it's no longer a ball anymore.
It's just one very long string of wool.
So that ball of wool has unraveled.
It's come apart. It is now one long piece.
So we can talk about something that's complicated or all wrapped up and close together as coming apart, unraveling or becoming clearer and easier.
Their friendship began to unravel after the argument.
So in that context, we're talking about a friendship coming apart.
Two people no longer being close.
The friendship no longer functioning because they've had this terrible argument.
Their friendship has begun to unravel.
Okay. Next and last on today's list is the noun hostility.
Hostility. We spell this.
H -O -S -T -I -L -I -T -Y. Hostility.
Hostility means unfriendly or angry behaviour or feelings towards someone.
So, if you walk into a room and you are confronted with your partner's ex, ex, maybe you and your partner walk into a room and your partner's ex is right in front of you.
There might be an air of hostility.
She or he might meet you with hostility.
An unfriendly way of acting or an unfriendly feeling may be there.
There's a lot of hostility between my cats and my neighbour's cats, which is unfortunate because I was hoping they would be friends.
friends. They're both ginger males and I thought, oh, you know, they look the same.
They're both boys. They'll play in the garden together.
It'll be lovely. Well, initially, actually, when the neighbor's cat first saw we had a kitten in the house, he looked furious.
I remember spotting him sitting at the window, just staring in with a face of thunder.
He was so, so angry that we had a kitten in the house I think he believes that my house and my garden is his territory so he was furiously staring at our kitten but then after a few weeks he seemed quite interested and my kitten was very interested in him and they would play through the window and then when I let my kitten out once he was a year old I let my kitten out but then the hostility really kicked in and now i know when the neighbor's cat is in my garden just by looking at my cats because their fur is all puffed up they have their heckles up and they are quite wary of the garden they won't
run out like they normally do and play they're very wary standing at the door with their heckles up with her fur all puffed up.
And that's because there's this tension and hostility between them and the neighbour's cat.
So here is one other sentence for you.
There was clear hostility between the two neighbours.
Now, in your life, is there any hostility between you and someone at work or someone near where you live or within a social group perhaps?
Okay, so that's our five.
Let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun optimism, which is the belief that good things will happen or that things will turn out well.
Optimism. We had the verb phrase file for divorce, which is to officially begin the legal process of ending a marriage, to file for divorce.
We had the noun constraints.
Constraints, which are those limits or the things that control what you do.
Constraints. We had the verb unravel, which is to come apart or to become clearer or easier to understand over a time, unravel.
And we have the noun hostility, unfriendly or angry behaviour or feelings towards someone, hostility.
Okay, let's do this now for pronunciation purposes.
Please Please repeat after me.
Optimism Optimism File for divorce File for divorce Constraints Constraints Unravel unravel, unravel, hostility, hostility.
Fantastic. Okay, what is the phrase I use if I want to to end a marriage and I begin that process legally.
File for divorce. Very good.
And if I'm limited or controlled by something, what is that thing called?
It's a constraint, yes, so we talk about constraints that limit us, like time or money.
And if something that has always been quite tight suddenly starts to come apart, what verb would I use?
Unravel. Yes, it begins to unravel.
But even if things are unravelling before me, me.
I remain strong in my belief that good things will happen, that everything will turn out OK in the end.
What noun do I have?
Optimism. I have lots of optimism despite everything unravelling as I file for divorce.
And if I'm filing for divorce, there's going to be quite unfriendly behaviour and angry feelings towards me from my husband, who will soon be my ex -husband.
What noun could I use for this unfriendly and angry behaviour and feelings?
Hostility. Yes, there's lots of hostility coming from my husband, who is soon to be my ex. husband as I file for divorce because our marriage has unraveled and now despite the financial constraints I'm filing for divorce and I have lots of optimism that things will turn out well in the end.
Fantastic. Okay, let's revisit the snapshot one more time.
Despite her optimism, the couple's problems continued to grow until she decided to file for divorce.
There were emotional constraints that made communication difficult and their relationship began to unravel.
By the end, the hostility between them was impossible to ignore.
OK, now I'd like you to listen out for the target vocabulary as we move into story time.
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The process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket.
Visit progressive .com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.
Potential savings will Luisa stared at the divorce papers on the kitchen table, her hands trembling slightly.
The white documents seemed to glow under the harsh fluorescent light.
Each typed word a small dagger in her heart.
After 15 years of marriage, it had come to this.
I never thought we'd actually file for divorce, she whispered to herself, remembering how they used to joke about old couples who split up after decades together.
Back then, their optimism had been boundless.
They believed love could conquer anything.
Money troubles, family disagreements, even the slow drift that sometimes happens between two people.
Gavin walked into the kitchen, his footsteps heavy on the tiled floor.
He avoided her eyes, focusing instead on the coffee machine as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.
The lawyer said we need to sign them by Friday, he said quietly, his voice carrying none of the warmth she remembered from their early days.
Louisa nodded, though he wasn't looking at her.
The constraints of their situation felt suffocating.
They couldn't afford to keep the house if they separated.
Neither could manage the mortgage alone, and with two teenagers who needed stability, every decision felt impossible.
When did we become strangers?
Louisa asked, finally breaking the silence that had filled their home for months.
Gavin's shoulders tensed.
The hostility that had crept into their relationship over the past year wasn't loud or dramatic.
It was quiet and persistent, like water slowly wearing away stone.
They no longer fought about big things.
Instead, they snapped at each other over forgotten groceries, unwashed dishes and who forgot to pick up the dry cleaning.
meaning. I don't know, he replied, still not turning around.
It just happened gradually.
I kept thinking we'd find our way back to each other, but his voice trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging in the air like an unfinished prayer.
Louisa watched her husband, soon -to -be ex -husband, and tried to remember when they had last laughed together.
When had had they stopped sharing their dreams?
When had they begun sleeping on opposite sides of their king -sized bed, backs turned to each other like opposing armies?
Their marriage had begun to unravel so slowly that neither had noticed at first. Small disappointments had piled up like like autumn leaves.
Conversations had grown shorter.
Touch had become rare, then non -existent.
The children don't know yet, Louisa said, touching the papers with one finger.
We'll tell them together, Gavin replied, finally facing her.
For a moment she saw a flicker of the man she had fallen in love with 20 years ago.
Whatever happens between us, we're still their parents.
Louisa nodded, grateful for this small mercy.
Perhaps they had failed as husband and wife, but they could still succeed as a family, even if that family looked different than they had planned.
The papers lay between them, waiting to transform their lives forever.
forever. And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope that you found it useful.
Remember, you can access all the vocabulary in the Vocabulary Vault.
I'll leave a link in the show notes.
And until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.
