Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 40, day 4 of...
Your English five a day.
The second season.
I do hope that you're well today and feeling happy.
And I'm so pleased that you chose to tune in and make me a part of your routine, whatever it is that you're doing today.
So let me try to fill your head with the words and sounds of English, starting with a snapshot of what's to come.
The pensioner, though getting on in years, crouched down beside the railings when he saw a frightened kitten stuck halfway, unable to slip through.
With gentle hands he freed it and held it close until it stopped shaking.
A few passers-by smiled, impressed that someone his age could still crouch down so easily.
BEEP
Alright, let's deep dive now.
And first, we're going to look at the noun pensioner.
Pensioner.
We spell this P-E-N-S-I-O-N-E-R.
Pensioner.
A pensioner is an older person who has stopped working and receives money from the government or a private pension.
A pensioner.
He became a pensioner after retiring at 65.
It's crazy, isn't it?
Because I don't think 65 sounds old.
Really?
And I know many 65-year-olds who are very sprightly, who are doing just as much physical activity as I do.
And so to say that a pensioner is an older person or an elderly person Feels a little inaccurate, but it is definitely what we think about.
And a pensioner is simply someone who is drawing their pension.
Are you a pensioner?
What do you think about pensioners, about the term pensioner?
Does it invoke ideas of old people sitting in a chair drinking tea?
Or do you think of...
Gladys down the gym pumping iron because she's no longer working and has lots of time to look after her body.
OK, moving on, we have the idiom get on in years.
To get on in years.
Four words.
Get.
G-E-T.
On, in, years.
Y-E-A-R-S.
To get on in years simply means to become old, to be ageing.
For example, I might say, My grandfather is getting on in years, but he still walks every day.
Next we have the phrase crouch down.
To crouch down.
Crouch, we spell C-R-O-U-C-H.
Down, D-O-W-N.
To crouch down is to lower your body close to the ground by bending your knees.
If you crouch down for too long, it can be quite uncomfortable when you stand up again.
It's like you get pins and needles in your feet.
Certainly how I feel when I crouch down for too long.
Here's an example sentence.
She crouched down to look under the bed.
Next we have the noun railings, railings.
We spell this R-A-I-L-I-N-G-S.
Railings, railings.
Railings is a fence made of bars, usually metal, and they are often found around a building or park.
Railings.
Railings.
Here's an example.
The ball flew over the railings into the street.
Oh no!
OK, last on our list today, we have the phrasal verb slip through.
Slip through.
Slip, S-L-I-P, through, T-H-R-O-U-G-H, slip through.
To slip through is to pass or escape through a narrow space or without being noticed.
For example, you might say he tried to slip through the crowd quietly.
OK, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun pensioner, describing an older person who has stopped working and now receives money from their government or private pension.
A pensioner.
We had the idiom get on in years, meaning to become old or to be ageing, to get on in years.
We had the phrase crouch down, which is to lower your body close to the ground by bending your knees.
You crouch down.
We had the noun railings, which is a fence made of bars, usually metal, that will surround a building or park.
Railings.
And we had the phrasal verb slip through, which is to pass or escape through a narrow space without being noticed.
To slip through.
OK, it's your turn.
Please raise your voice and repeat after me pensioner pensioner, get on in years, get on in years.
Crouch down, crouch down railings railings, slip through, slip through.
Very good.
Fantastic.
OK, we're going to revisit our snapshot.
Listen carefully.
The pensioner, though getting on in years, crouched down beside the railings when he saw a frightened kitten stuck halfway, unable to slip through.
With gentle hands, he freed it and held it close until it stopped shaking.
A few passers-by smiled, impressed that someone his age could still crouch down so easily.
Okay, let's now listen out for that target vocabulary once more as we head into my favourite part story time.
Every night.
Just after the streetlights flickered on, Arthur slipped through the back gate of his small terraced house.
At first glance he was just another pensioner getting on in years, perhaps taking a slow stroll to help with his stiff legs.
But Arthur had a secret.
Tucked beneath his arm was a large black bin bag.
In his coat pocket a pair of worn gardening gloves and a metal litter picker slightly bent at the end from years of use.
No one knew, not even his daughter, that Arthur had been cleaning up the streets of his neighbourhood for the past three years.
It started after he lost his wife, Margaret.
The house had grown too quiet, too still.
He needed something to do, something useful.
So one night, on a whim, he picked up a crisp packet outside his garden gate.
The next night it was a crushed can.
Before long, he was walking the same quiet streets every evening, tidying up what others had left behind.
Arthur crouched down beside the railings of the local primary school, reaching between the bars to fish out a plastic bottle half buried in the grass.
The railings were old and rusted, but they gave him cover as he worked.
He didn't want attention.
This was his quiet mission.
Oi, Grandad, what are you doing?
Arthur looked up, startled.
A boy in a hoodie was standing a few feet away, holding a takeaway box.
His friends snickered from the corner of the street.
Arthur smiled kindly.
Just doing a bit of cleaning, lad.
No harm in keeping the place nice, is there?
The boy raised an eyebrow, then dropped his box on the pavement.
You missed a spot!
Arthur waited until the boys walked away before crouching down again.
He picked up the box with a sigh.
Sometimes it felt like fighting a tide with a teaspoon.
But then he'd turn a corner and see a spotless pavement where rubbish used to be, and it felt worth it.
Later, as he walked past the park, a fox darted across the path and slipped through the hedge, vanishing into the shadows.
Arthur watched it disappear, then looked up at the moon.
There was something peaceful about the world at night, especially when it was a little cleaner.
He tightened the knot on his full bin bag and headed home.
Tomorrow, he'd go out again. quietly, carefully, like always, and no one would ever know.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you found it useful and of course, entertaining.
Tomorrow we will bring all of this week's vocabulary together in one big story, so make sure you tune in for that.
I'll see you there.
Until then, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.
