Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 40, day 2 of Your English Fibre Day, the second season.
Just remember that i am your fluency guide.
I'm here providing you with the free resource so that you can build a habit of dunking daily into the English language which, in time, will help you to improve your listening skills, build your vocabulary and start to feel more confident and more like yourself when you express yourself in English.
© transcript Emily Beynon And I can assure you, I am not AI.
They truly thought that my podcast channel on YouTube was all AI.
And that is something that we have to be very aware of these days.
AI is everywhere and you end up doubting everything.
But I promise you And I hope that my voice and the way that I deliver my podcasts help you to realize that this is true, that this is real.
AI is fantastic, but it does have its limitations.
I find that listening to AI for long periods of time, it just becomes so boring and hollow.
And it's so clear that the audio isn't authentic.
So this is... really my voice.
And the podcast will always only have my true voice, never a replication.
OK, so with that in mind, let's now start today's episode with a snapshot of what's to come.
When the soldier returned home, the village held a small ceremony in homage to his bravery and children knelt to give him flowers.
His mother handed him a care package filled with his favourite snacks and he smiled with relief.
He was finally safe.
She was delighted to have him back and he couldn't stop smiling either.
OK, let's dive deep into that vocabulary now, starting with the noun homage.
Homage.
We spell this H-O-M-A-G-E.
Homage. homage.
We normally pay homage or give homage.
This means something that's done to show respect or honour.
Here's an example sentence.
The film was made as a homage to old silent movies.
Next, we have the noun care package.
Care package.
Two words, care, C-A-R-E, package, P-A-C-K-A-G-E.
Package.
Notice how I pronounce the end of that word.
Package.
Package.
It's itch, not age, as you would expect.
But itch.
Package.
And that's the same for any word ending with A-G-E.
It will be idge, not age.
OK, so a care package is a box of food, gifts or useful items sent to someone to show care.
Something that they can use to treat or look after themselves.
I remember something we did at primary school where we were sending boxes shoe boxes off to a country that had experienced drought or something similar.
And in the package we were encouraged to put nice little things like a toy, a bag of sweets or maybe some biscuits inside and a little notebook and a pencil or something that they could enjoy or use.
I packed in their soap and a flannel and I think I put in a little bottle of water.
Have you ever put together or received a care package?
Here's an example sentence.
Soldiers received care packages from their families.
Fabulous.
Next, we have the verb kneel.
Kneel.
We spell this K-N-E-E-L.
Kneel.
Yes, it has a silent K at the beginning.
To kneel is to go down on your knees.
Often to show respect or to reach for something, to kneel.
We might say kneel down.
Even though we don't need to use down, we sometimes add it on just for...
I don't know why.
We just do.
To kneel down or to kneel.
So, here is an example sentence.
He knelt to tie his shoe.
He knelt to tie his shoe.
So the past of to kneel is knelt.
Next we have the noun relief.
Relief.
Something we are all thankful for.
A little relief.
Relief.
Relief we spell R-E-L-I-E-F.
Relief is a good or calm feeling when something bad ends or doesn't happen.
So when you're worried about something or when you're struggling with something and it finally disappears or ends, then you feel relief.
Honestly, at the end of every day, when I finally managed to sit down on the couch with my cat on my lap and nobody is hassling me for anything that's the moment when I feel relief.
Here's another example.
It was a relief when the exam was over.
Last we have the adjective delighted, delighted.
We spell this D-E-L-I-G-H-T-E-D, delighted.
If something is described as delighted, then it's very happy or pleased.
Here's an example sentence.
They were delighted to see their old friends again.
I'm always delighted when I read the comments that have been left on my podcast YouTube channel.
So if you are not already following the YouTube channel, then I highly recommend it, because you not only hear the words that I'm saying, but you can read along on the screen the words that I'm saying.
So if you would like to come over to YouTube to enjoy this podcast at some point, I would be delighted.
And if you want to take a moment to leave a comment, I would be even more delighted.
Okay, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun homage, which is something done to show respect or honour.
Homage.
We had the noun care package.
That box of food, gifts or useful items sent to someone to show care.
A care package.
We had the verb kneel, which is to go down on your knees, often to show respect or to reach something.
To kneel.
We had the noun relief. which is a good or calm feeling when something bad ends or doesn't happen.
Relief.
And we have the adjective delighted, which is something that's very happy or pleased.
Delighted.
Okay, now it's your turn to raise your voice and say out loud these words after me.
Pay close attention to my pronunciation.
Homage.
Homage.
Care package. care package, kneel, kneel, relief, relief, delighted, Delighted.
Fantastic.
Okay, listen once again to the snapshot.
When the soldier returned home, the village held a small ceremony in homage to his bravery and children knelt to give him flowers.
His mother handed him a care package filled with his favourite snacks and he smiled with relief.
He was finally safe.
She was delighted to have him back and he couldn't stop smiling either.
Now we're going to head into my favourite part of the episode.
So I want you to listen out for our target vocabulary once more as we go into story time.
It had been raining for three days straight in Kyoto, and Ellie couldn't remember the last time she had seen the sun.
Her tiny student flat felt colder than usual and the mix of homesickness and culture shock sat like a stone in her chest.
She missed the little things.
Walking along the canal at home, her mum's warm laugh and the endless supply of custard creams in the cupboard, her favourite British biscuit.
That Thursday, after a long day of Japanese grammar drills and awkward group presentations, she trudged back to her flat through the drizzle.
The streets, though beautiful with their lanterns and tiled roofs, felt distant and unfamiliar.
She was tired of not understanding everything, tired of pretending she was fine.
When she reached her building, she noticed a small box sitting on the shelf by the letterboxes.
Her name was written on it in her mum's handwriting.
Her heart skipped.
Inside, the lift was out of order again, so she climbed the narrow staircase, the parcel held close.
She knelt on her tatami floor a special type of mat common in Japanese homes and carefully opened it.
It was a care package from home.
The smell of familiar things drifted up immediately.
Earl Grey tea, a pack of Jammy Dodgers another of her favourite British biscuit brands a bag of custard creams and even a tiny jar of Marmite wrapped in bubble wrap.
At the top was a note.
A homage to the UK for our homesick girl in Japan.
Ellie felt a sudden rush of emotion.
Her hands trembled as she read the rest of the letter.
Her mum had written about the rainy autumn back home, the cat sleeping in Ellie's room as if she were still there and Dad burning the toast again.
We're all so proud of you, it ended.
Keep going, love.
Relief filled her chest like a deep breath after being underwater.
She hadn't even realised how tightly she'd been holding everything in.
The photo tucked inside showed her family in the kitchen, holding up mugs of tea.
Even her brother had managed a smile.
Underneath it he'd scribbled.
You're probably drinking green tea right now, but here's a reminder of your favourite British brew.
Ellie laughed, tears in her eyes.
Delighted, she began setting out the contents of the package like precious treasures.
She made herself a cup of tea, opened the biscuits and sat by the window watching the rain.
Kyoto was still far from home but, for the first time in weeks, it didn't feel so far.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope that you've enjoyed it.
And of course, that you found it useful.
Be sure to tune in again tomorrow, and if you do need access to any of the vocabulary covered today or any other day of this Five A Day series, then you can access it for free via the Vocabulary Vault, a huge database of all the vocabulary we've ever covered.
Until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.
