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Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to week 26, day one of Your English Five a Day, the second season.
By tuning in every day of the working week from Monday to Friday, you are slowly but surely increasing your active and passive vocabulary so that you can, over time, start to feel more confident and more like yourself when communicating in English.
If this is all you can do in a day for your English learning, then that's better than nothing.
So, keep it up and if you'd like access to the words that we're focusing on, not just from this episode, but from all the episodes, then feel free to dip in to our Vocabulary Vault, the free database that you can access via the link in the show notes.
Without further ado, let's jump into today's snapshot.
At the height of their fame, the band suddenly announced an indefinite hiatus, leaving fans shocked.
Years later, they reunited for a special concert at a sold -out venue in London.
Many had thought they'd never get back together after they split up.
OK, this sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?
Many bands tend to stop when they seem to be doing so well and everyone's shocked, cannot believe it.
But usually it's because there's something going on behind the scenes.
So let's look at the phrasal verb split up.
To split up. This is a very common phrasal verb.
We spell it S -P -L -I -T, split up, U -P.
To split up is to end a relationship or stop being together.
So if two people are dating, they're in a romantic relationship, they might split up if things aren't going well and they no longer like each other.
A marriage might end with them splitting up or a band may split up or a dance group may split up.
Here's an example. It was sad when our group of friends split up after school ended.
Have you ever experienced splitting up with somebody?
Was it easy? Was it a relief?
Or was it difficult?
difficult. Splitting up is often quite difficult, but let me know what your experience has been.
Next, we have the noun phrase, the height of their fame, the height of their fame.
Height, we spell H -E -I -G -H -T, height of their fame, F -A -M -E.
The height of their fame is the the time when someone is most famous.
Obviously, someone becomes more and more famous over time.
You might see a little of them and then you see more and more of them and they become more and more well -known until you can't seem to go a day without hearing that person's name or seeing that person's face.
They are at the height of their fame.
They couldn't be more famous, but then then ultimately that declines because no one stays forever immensely famous.
So here is an example sentence of the phrase height of their fame.
The singer was at the height of her fame in the 1990s.
Next, we have the verb reunite, reunite.
We spell this R -E -U -N -I -T -E, to reunite.
To reunite is to come together again after being apart.
Have you ever separated from someone and then reunited with them?
Here's an example. The lost dog was finally reunited with its owner.
Fantastic. Okay, next we have the noun phrase indefinite hiatus.
Indefinite hiatus. We spell this indefinite, I -N -D -E -F -I -N -I -T -E, indefinite.
Hiatus is spelled H -I -A -T -U -S, hiatus.
An indefinite hiatus is a break or pause in activity with no set end date.
So you don't know how long this pause will be.
It might continue forever.
An indefinite hiatus.
I have other YouTube channels where I don't teach English, but I do other things.
One of my favourites was a children's content channel.
It's a very popular channel and we thoroughly enjoyed making content for that channel.
But when COVID hit, we took an indefinite hiatus.
We paused production, and that was obviously many years ago now.
And I don't know if we'll ever start production again.
I never say never because I would like to do those types of videos once again in the future, but I can't imagine it happening anytime soon.
So we are taking an indefinite hiatus.
Here's another example.
Due to illness, she took an indefinite hiatus from work.
Okay, next and last, we have the noun venue.
Venue, a very common noun.
We spell this V -E -N -U -E, venue.
A venue is a place where an event happens.
Here's an example sentence.
We need to book a venue for the wedding.
Now, my sister got married Quite a few years ago now and she had a beautiful venue in Wales.
It was a beautiful stately home in gorgeous landscaped garden and we had a wonderful time.
But then most wedding venues are quite beautiful, aren't they?
Did you have a nice venue for your wedding if you're married?
Perhaps you booked a venue for a party that you had recently.
I must book a venue for my son's birthday party coming up in September.
Okay, so that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the phrasal verb split up, which is to end a relationship or stop being together.
To split up. We had the noun phrase, the height of their fame, which is the time when someone is most famous.
The height of their fame.
We had the verb reunite which is to come together again after being apart.
To reunite. We had the noun phrase indefinite hiatus which is a break or pause in activity with no set end date.
An indefinite hiatus.
And we have the noun venue, which is a place where an event happens.
A venue. Let's now do this for pronunciation purposes.
Please repeat after me.
Split up. Split up.
The height of their fame.
The height of their fame.
Reunite. Reunite. Indefinite hiatus.
Indefinite hiatus. Venue Venue Fantastic Okay, let me test your memory now When I break apart from somebody And I don't see them for a long time And we are finally coming back together together after being apart, what are we doing?
What's the verb here?
We are reuniting. Yes, fantastic.
And if I take a pause in my YouTube activity and I don't know when I'll start again, there's no end date to this pause.
What noun phrase would I use to describe this break that I'm taking.
An indefinite hiatus.
Fantastic. If my relationship ends, what phrasal verb could I use here?
Split up. Yes. I'm going to split up with my partner.
It's very sad. I don't think will reunite.
And finally, if I need to find a place to have a party, what noun would I use instead of place?
A venue. Yes, I need to book a venue for a party.
Wonderful. Let's now revisit the snapshot.
At the height of their fame, the band suddenly announced an indefinite hiatus, leaving fans shocked.
Years later, they reunited for a special concert at a sold -out venue in London.
Many had thought they'd never get back together after they split up.
OK, I'd like you to listen out for our target vocabulary once again as we head into Storytime.
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Marcus stood outside the old theatre, his hands shaking as he lit another cigarette.
Twenty years. Twenty years since Midnight Echo had split up in the most spectacular way possible.
On stage. In front of 50 ,000 fans.
With Danny throwing his guitar pick at Marcus's head.
You came then, a familiar voice said behind him.
Marcus turned. Zara looked older.
Her dark hair now streaked with silver, but her smile was the same.
The drummer who had kept their rhythm steady through everything.
Wasn't sure I would, Marcus admitted.
After what happened.
That was a long time ago, Zara's voice was gentle but firm.
We were young. We were stupid.
We were at the height of our fame and we couldn't handle it.
The venue looked smaller than Marcus remembered.
The Regal Theatre had hosted some of the biggest names in music, but tonight it felt intimate, almost cosy, perfect for what they were trying to do.
Is a year yet? Marcus didn't need to say the name.
Danny's been here for an hour.
He's nervous too, you know.
Marcus laughed bitterly.
Nervous? He was the one who called us sell -outs.
He was the one who said we'd lost our souls.
And you were the one who said he could find a new band if he didn't like our direction.
Zara reminded him. Look, we all said things we didn't mean.
The pressure was incredible back then.
They walked through the stage door together.
The familiar smell of old wooden dust brought back a flood of memories.
memories. Three teenagers from Manchester who had dreamed of making it big.
And they had. For five glorious years, Midnight Echo had been everywhere.
Their songs on every radio station, their faces on every magazine cover.
Then came the arguments.
The creative differences, the exhaustion from constant touring, the final devastating row that had torn them apart and put the band on an indefinite hiatus that everyone knew really meant forever.
Marcus! He looked up.
Danny stood by the drum kit, his famous blonde hair now receding, his face lined with age, but his eyes were the same intense blue that had made a million million fans scream.
Danny. For a moment, neither man moved.
20 years of hurt and anger hung between them like a wall.
Then Danny smiled, that crooked grin that had charmed the world.
Think you can still remember the songs?
Marcus felt something tight in his his chest begin to loosen.
Only one way to find out.
As they picked up their instruments, Zara counted them in with her drumsticks.
The first chord rang out and suddenly they were young again.
The music flowed between them like it had never stopped, like the years of silence had been just just a pause between songs.
Tonight, for their fans and for themselves, Midnight Echo would reunite.
Tonight, they would remember why they had fallen in love with music in the first place.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you enjoyed it.
Remember, Remember dunking daily even if it's just a teeny weeny little dunk is better than nothing at all and if you build that habit you'll see over time how your confidence grows and your vocabulary expands.
So please join me tomorrow for another episode of the English Like a Native podcast. Until then, take very good care and goodbye.
