Hello and welcome back to Your English Five A Day. on the English Like a Native podcast.
This is your daily dunk into the English language so that, with ease, over time, you can improve your listening skills, increase your active vocabulary and your passive, and generally become more confident with the English language.
How do we do that?
Simply through stories.
My name is Anna and you are listening to week eight, day four of this season, which is season three, where Gabriel is spending time in Glasgow.
Now yesterday, Gabriel went to a packed live music venue with Isla, where they broke away from the crowd, bumped into Callum behind the bar and discovered that they might have hit it off rather well.
Today, Gabriel reflects on something many visitors notice about Glasgow the speed and rhythm of the local speech.
As always, supporting materials for this season are available at wwwjoinelancom.
Forward slash plus.
Let's begin with a snapshot.
As Gabriel writes about his time in Glasgow, he explains that local speech can be rapid fire, with words sometimes mumbled together or slurred when people speak quickly.
The thick accent can make it even harder to follow, and sometimes people seem to blurt out whole stories before he has even processed the first sentence.
All right, let's break down today's target vocabulary.
First, we have rapid fire.
If something is rapid fire, then it's very fast, like bullets being fired quickly, one after the other.
For example, she asked a series of rapid fire questions.
Next we have mumbled.
Mumbled.
If something is mumbled, then it's spoken unclearly, often quietly or with the mouth barely moving.
For example, the teenager mumbled his answers.
Next, we have slurred.
Slurred.
We spell this S-L-U-R-R-E-D.
Slurred.
If speech is slurred, then the words run together so they become difficult to hear clearly.
For example, you might say, he was so tired his speech became slurred.
Often our speech is slurred when we are affected by drugs or alcohol or we're extremely tired.
Next, we have the phrase thick accent.
A thick accent is a very strong regional accent that can be difficult for outsiders to understand.
For example, he spoke with a thick accent.
And last but not least, we have blurt out.
Blurt, we spell that B-L-U-R-T.
To blurt something out is to say something suddenly and without thinking.
Often it leads to some sort of negative reaction like, oh, I can't believe you just said that.
For example, she blurted out the answer.
Fantastic.
Now listen out for those target items as we head into story time.
The rain outside King Tut's Wawa Hut had got even heavier, so in the end going for a walk had been completely out of the question.
Isla was right when she said that they should stick around.
The groups on stage had got better, and so Gabriel had had a lot of fun.
It was quite intoxicating too, to be speaking a sort of secret language to Isla which no one else could understand.
In order to escape from the rain today, he was at Glasgow Central Library.
He admired the beautiful arched windows and the timeless elegance of the main reading room.
What a setting for him to work on his blog.
Thanks to his regular updates, Gabriel's friends and family had been able to read about his experiences and see his photos and videos.
Back in Gabriel's home city of Lyon.
His language partner Sophie, was one of the followers of his blog.
It was raining in Lyon as well, so she checked to see if Gabriel had written anything since he got to Glasgow.
Glaswegian speech is something else.
It's fast, sometimes rapid fire, and if you don't listen carefully, you might miss half of it.
Words get mumbled together or slurred when people are talking quickly and the accent is thick, really thick.
Sometimes I hear someone blur out whole stories before I've even had time to process the first word.
So far, I've been best able to understand a woman called Isla, who I met in a pub and who took me to a concert.
But maybe that's because we speak French together sometimes.
Sophie raised her eyebrows.
She paraphrased slowly.
It was lucky that Gabe wasn't there in front of her, as she might have blurted out something herself.
She looked through the list of emojis, wondering which one she should send as a comment.
All right, let's pause the story there and bring today's vocabulary back into focus.
I'll recap each one of our target items, repeating each one twice.
I'd like you to say each one out loud after me, and then I'll remind you of the definition.
So here we go.
First one, repeat after me.
Rapid fire.
Rapid fire.
This means something very fast, like bullets being fired quickly, one after the other.
Next, repeat.
We have mumbled.
Mumbled.
Good.
This means something is spoken unclearly, often quietly and without the mouth moving very much.
Next, repeat.
Slurred.
Slurred.
This is when words run together so they become difficult to hear clearly.
Next, repeat.
Thick accent.
Thick accent.
This describes a strong regional accent that can be difficult for outsiders to understand.
Next, we have blurt out.
Blurt out.
Very good.
This is to say something suddenly and without thinking.
Wonderful.
So while Sophie is reading Gabriel's blog back in Lyon and steam coming out of her ears, Gabriel is still exploring Glasgow, rain and all.
Tomorrow the rain finally eases and Gabriel heads to Glasgow Green for the World Pipe Band Championship, where the sound of drums and bagpipes fills the air and the energy of Scottish tradition is impossible to ignore.
That's all from me for today.
If you are enjoying this podcast, then consider recommending the English Like a Native podcast to your English learning friends.
Until tomorrow, take care and goodbye.
