Hi everybody, I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.
My mission is to help you to speak English fluently.
In this episode, we continue with the flaws in English.
We're going to learn four more words.
In part two, you'll practice grammar with a point-of-view lesson.
Remember, you can get the transcript and much more at SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.
Last week, I talked about flaws.
Unlike virtues, flaws are undesirable characteristics of someone's personality.
I talked about stinginess.
It's when you don't ever want to spend money.
Indifference, when you have no interest or empathy for something or someone.
Intransigence, when you are rigid in your positions and never make concessions.
And gossip, when you are indiscreet in talking about others.
Today, we are going to look at four more flaws.
Let's start.
Number one, greed.
In a previous episode, I talked about stinginess.
If you remember, it means trying not to spend money.
Well, we have another word that may have some relation.
I'm talking about the word greed.
A greedy person desires to possess and acquire wealth to keep it.
For sure, a stingy person can also be greedy, although not necessarily.
The idea is to accumulate wealth.
Let's look at an example.
Although their offer isn't very appealing.
I have to be careful not to be greedy and spoil everything.
Number two, envy.
Ah, envy.
It is the feeling of longing or resentment caused by another person's possessions, qualities or good fortune.
That is, an envious person feels bad when someone else has or gets something beneficial or desirable.
For example, Look at Tom and his new car.
How did he afford it?
I wish I had a car like that.
Maybe you're a little envious.
Me?
Envious?
No.
It's just that I am a better driver than he is.
Sometimes envy can stimulate greed.
3.
Unpunctuality Who hasn't been unpunctual at some time?
Being unpunctual or being late regularly can be quite annoying to others, as it is a waste of their time.
I love being punctual. and appreciated when others are more or less punctual.
However, I have a friend who is always 20 minutes late.
I guess she has no understanding of time management.
Okay, let's look at the following example.
Alice, this is the fourth day in a row that you have been unpunctual for work.
Number 4 Narcissism I once read that the most common type of photo is a selfie.
And no wonder.
It seems that many have an inflated sense of self.
And this leads them to have a deep need for excessive attention and admiration.
Especially young people tend to get depressed if they don't get enough likes on their videos or photos.
For example, a narcissist meets a girl in a bar.
And after talking for two hours about himself, he says to her Well, but let's not talk about me anymore.
Let's talk about you.
What do you think of me?
Okay, today you've learned some more vocabulary regarding flaws.
The list is huge, but we don't want to overdo it.
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Okay, now it's time for you to learn grammar in context with a point-of-view story.
I'll tell you a short story more than one time.
Every time, I'll change a grammar point.
I can change the tense or the person.
This way, you'll notice the changes in context.
Okay, let's start.
First, in the past tense.
Bill was one of the stingiest people in the whole world.
He always tried to spend as little as possible.
For example, he slept on a side because he thought this way it would wear out the sheets less.
One of the things he liked to do was going fishing.
His neighbor would lend him the boat and rod.
That way, He didn't have to buy anything.
One cold winter day, Bill went to a fishing lake.
At one point, he got up to get his rod ready and a coin fell out of his pocket.
He was so unlucky that the coin fell into the lake.
Bill said, figured that just one coin was not worth jumping into the cold water to fetch it.
So he pulled out a second coin and threw it into the lake and said to himself Now two coins are worth jumping into the water.
Now imagine it's Bill's friend telling what happened, also in the past tense.
Bill, you were one of the stingiest people in the whole world.
You always tried to spend as little as possible.
For example...
You slept on a side because you thought this way it would wear out the sheets less.
One of the things you liked to do was going fishing.
Your neighbor would lend you the boat and the rod.
That way you didn't have to buy anything.
One cold winter day, You went to a fishing lake.
At one point, you got up to get your rod ready and a coin fell out of your pocket.
You were so unlucky that the coin fell into the lake.
You thought that just one coin was not worth jumping into the cold water to fetch it.
So you pulled a second coin and threw it into the lake and said to yourself Now, two coins are worth jumping into the water.
Okay, that's the end of this little exercise.
Notice that the changes between grammar points are subtle but important.
My advice is not to try to memorize grammar rules.
It's better to see the changes in the proper context.
And with a story, it is much easier to remember all this.
It is one of the techniques that I use in my premium courses.
I recommend you to take a look at slash courses.
Okay, we have reached the end of this episode.
Remember to listen to it several times.
It will help you with your English.
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Tell them to go to SpeakEnglishPodcast.com and get my free mini-course.
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See you soon.
Bye-bye.
