Coffee Break English, season four, episode two.
Hi everyone and welcome back to Coffee Break English, season four.
I'm Josie. And I'm Mark.
And today we are traveling to South Africa.
That's right. I've never been to South Africa.
Have you Mark? I've been once, but it was a short trip and it was for work.
So I didn't get much time to travel around.
So I assume you didn't get to see The Big Five.
Not on that occasion.
So hopefully I can return.
Well we're going to learn more about The Big Five in today's text.
So it's over to Rhian.
Hey Josie. Hello Mark.
It's Rhian here reporting from South Africa with today's text about The Big Five.
Let's have a listen.
Africa's Big Five are on everyone's must see list of safari animals.
The Big Five are the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant and the Cape buffalo.
And they have a legendary status, particularly in South Africa.
While many countries use the faces of their leaders or historical figures on their money, notes and coins in South Africa show the animals of The Big Five.
These safari animals are an important part of the country's national identity, but humans haven't always respected them.
People used to hunt them for meat and other parts such as hide or ivory.
They were named the Big Five because they used to be the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot.
However, there are now stricter laws on hunting, so the term Big Five is now only used to identify these five incredible animals.
All of the Big Five animals have some level of conservation status.
They used to be many more rhinoceroses than they are today, and some species are now critically endangered.
Fortunately, this means that people are trying to repopulate rhinoceroses, and they are protected from hunters.
Hunting in general is less popular than it used to be, and many old hunting zones are now used as safari areas.
So the five amazing African animals that used to suffer because of hunting are now a celebrated part of their nation's identity.
The rhino's horn and the lion's heart -shaped mane are instantly recognizable symbols.
These wonders of nature attract millions of tourists each year, hoping to get lucky and see these legendary animals up close.
Thank you, Rian. So Mark, I know you said you didn't see any of these animals when you were in South Africa, but have you ever seen them in another place?
Well, I think I've seen a lion and a rhinoceros and an elephant, but I'm not sure that I've seen a leopard, and I've definitely not seen a cape buffalo.
Well, I've only seen a lion, so you've seen more than me.
Okay, let's go through the text again.
Yes, and let's listen out for the expression used to.
That is our language point for today.
Okay. Africa's big five are on everyone's must -see list of safari animals.
Yes, so everyone's must -see list.
What does must -see mean?
The must -see list is a list of, in this case, animals, which are considered to be essential to see.
That's right, something that you think is very important to visit or to do.
Exactly. The big five are the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant, and the cape buffalo, and they have a legendary status, particularly in South Africa.
Yeah, so these animals, they have a legendary status.
This just means they are very famous.
They have a very high status, a high position.
Okay, and what is status, Josie?
Yeah, so status means how important something or someone is in the world.
Okay. While many countries use the faces of their leaders or historical figures on their money, notes and coins in South Africa show the animals of the big five.
Yeah, so this is true.
Most countries on the money, you see important people.
For example, in the UK, we have Queen Elizabeth II on our money.
But notes and coins, so types of money, notes is the paper money, and coins is the metal money.
In South Africa, they have these animals on them.
That's right. These safari animals are an important part of the country's national identity, but humans haven't always respected them.
Yeah, so a country's national identity, this is how the country defines itself or presents itself to the world.
Okay. But let's get back to talking about the animals.
Yes, the text says humans haven't always respected the animals.
People used to hunt them for meat and other parts such as hide or ivory.
Yeah, so people used to hunt these animals.
First of all, what does hunt mean, Mark?
If you hunt an animal, you chase and you kill this wild animal for food or in some cases for sport.
Yes, so people used to hunt these animals.
This expression used to.
This means that they did this in the past, and they did it quite regularly.
It was a routine for them.
So I could say, for example, these days I don't go swimming very often.
But when I was a child, I used to go swimming every Friday.
That's right. So, usually we use used to to say that there has been a change from the past to the present.
So you used to go swimming when you were a child, but now you don't.
And people used to hunt these animals, but now they don't.
Okay. Now, there were some other interesting words in this sentence.
Yes. So when people hunted these animals, they hunted them for meat.
So to eat them and other parts like hide and ivory.
So hide is the skin of an animal, normally a big animal, like a cow or an elephant.
That's right. And ivory is a white hard substance material that makes the tusks, that's the horns of elephants.
They were named the big five because they used to be the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot.
Yeah. So here we have another example of used to.
They used to be the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot.
So in this case, used to be this describes a state in the past that was true in the past.
So for example, I can say I used to have short hair, but now I don't.
I have long hair. So there we can see this change from the past to the present.
Okay. However, there are no stricter laws on hunting.
So the term big five is now only used to identify these five incredible animals.
Yes. There are stricter laws.
There are more severe laws on hunting.
So the term big five is used to identify these animals now used to identify.
This isn't the past, is it, Mark?
No, that's different because they are used is in its normal sense.
It's utilized. It's the term that we choose to identify these five animals.
That's right. Exactly.
When we say used to identify in the present now, we pronounce it like used to.
When we say used to in the past, the pronunciation is a little different.
They used to be the five most difficult animals.
People used to hunt them.
It's like used to. Right?
That's exactly right.
Okay. Let's take a short break and we'll find out more about the big five after that.
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Welcome back to Coffee Break English.
We're talking about the big five and about the expression used to.
Okay. All of the big five animals have some level of conservation status.
Yes, they have a level of conservation status.
Conservation means saving and protecting the environment.
There used to be many more rhinoceroses than there are today and some species are now critically endangered.
Yes, so here we have another example of used to, there used to be many more rhinoceroses.
So in the past there were lots of rhinoceroses, but today this is not the case.
Yes, now rhinoceroses are critically endangered.
Yes, they are critically, critically means seriously.
Critically endangered, endangered means that they are in danger, they are close to becoming extinct, they are close to not existing anymore.
Okay. Fortunately, this means that people are trying to repopulate rhinoceroses and they are protected from hunters.
Yeah, people are trying to repopulate rhinoceroses.
They're trying to introduce them into the places where they lived before, where they used to live.
Hunting in general is less popular than it used to be and many old hunting zones are now used as safari areas.
Yeah, so another example of used to, hunting is less popular than it used to be.
In the past it was popular and now it's less popular.
Okay, now Josie, there's also another example of the word used in the sentence.
Many old hunting zones are now used as safari areas.
Yes, that's right and this word used even though it's got e .d.
at the end, this is in the present because it's a passive form.
The old hunting zones are used, that's the passive with to be and the past participle but it's the present tense.
It's a little complicated.
Basically, people use them as safari areas.
Exactly. That's right, you've turned the sentence around and made it active there.
What about safari? We've not really spoken about safari.
No, we haven't. Even though this whole text is about safari animals, so many people use safari as a noun and as a noun, this is a trip, a journey to observe or to see animals in their natural habitat, so not in a zoo, for example.
In fact, the word safari comes from the Swahili word safari which means a journey.
Wow, I didn't know that.
There you go. Excellent.
Okay, let's continue the text then.
So, the five amazing African animals that used to suffer because of hunting are now a celebrated part of their nation's identity.
Yes, so these amazing African animals, they used to suffer.
First of all, what does suffer mean, Mark?
When you suffer, you feel pain in your body or your mind.
That's right. So if you have a headache, you can say, oh, I'm really suffering.
I've got a bad headache.
That's right. These animals used to suffer because of hunting.
That's right. So the animals they suffered in the past, they used to suffer, but now, maybe not so much because they are more protected.
Their rhino's horn and the lion's heart -shaped mane are instantly recognisable symbols.
Yes, so the rhino's horn, this one horn that a rhino has at the front of its head, and the heart -shaped mane of the lion.
So the lion's mane is its hair, basically, and it's shaped like a heart around its face.
These wonders of nature attract millions of tourists each year, hoping to get lucky and see these legendary animals up close.
Yes, so the text describes these animals as wonders of nature.
A wonder is something amazing or unbelievable.
And the tourists who visit the safari areas want to get lucky.
That means they want to have good luck because they will need luck to see the animals.
That's right. I suppose because this is the animal's natural habitat, it's not guaranteed that you're going to see them.
And especially not guaranteed that you'll see them up close.
That's right. Up close means very close to something.
OK, let's have a listen to the whole text once more and this time, listen out for the used to and used to examples in the text.
Africa's big five are on everyone's must -see list of safari animals.
The big five are the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant, and the cape buffalo, and they have a legendary status, particularly in South Africa.
While many countries use the faces of their leaders or historical figures on their money, notes and coins in South Africa show the animals of the big five.
These safari animals are an important part of the country's national identity, but humans haven't always respected them.
People used to hunt them for meat and other parts such as hide or ivory.
They were named the big five because they used to be the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot.
However, there are now stricter laws on hunting.
So the term big five is now only used to identify these five incredible animals.
All of the big five animals have some level of conservation status.
There used to be many more rhinoceros than there are today and some species are now critically endangered.
Fortunately, this means that people are trying to repopulate rhinoceros and they are protected from hunters.
Hunting in general is less popular than it used to be and many old hunting zones are now used as safari areas.
So the five amazing African animals that used to suffer because of hunting are now a celebrated part of their nation's identity.
The rhino's horn and the lion's heart -shaped mane are instantly recognisable symbols.
These wonders of nature attract millions of tourists each year, hoping to get lucky and see these legendary animals up close.
That's all for this episode of Coffee Break English.
We hope it was useful for you.
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