Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning.
Okay, so this week's topic is food.
So let's start with the story.
Last month, I met my friend Mike.
Mike has been married to Sophie for 23 years.
Could you believe it?
23 years!
Well, as you can imagine, it's not easy to keep things interesting in a relationship after such a long time.
So Mike decided to spice things up and plan a surprise trip for Sophie on her 23rd anniversary.
He booked the flights, a hotel room for two, and spent hundreds of dollars on flowers and chocolate.
As soon as he told me, I knew it was a recipe for disaster.
Just as I'd expected, a few days later, Sophie found Mike's credit card bill, and that's when things turned sour.
Sophie was furious.
She confronted Mike.
She grailed him for hours trying to get an explanation, but he kept giving her vague answers.
He let her stew for a whole week.
She was extremely angry because he wouldn't give her any explanations.
But you know what?
I think it was worth it.
Sophie was the happiest woman in the world on the day she found out what Mike had planned for her.
Okay, so it's time to take a look at the words.
Let's begin with word number one, spice up.
Mike decided to spice things up.
So what do spices do to a dish?
Do they make it more or less interesting?
Well, obviously spices make a dish more interesting.
Why do you decide to spice a situation up?
Is it because it's okay or because you think it's boring?
Well obviously, if you think that a situation is boring, then you need to do something to spice it up, to make it more interesting.
So imagine that you think your life is boring.
I hope you don't think so, but imagine that you do.
What can you do to spice it up?
Well...
You want to make it more adventurous, right?
So maybe take up a new hobby or go skydiving, do something crazy like that.
Word number two, a recipe for disaster.
I knew it was a recipe for disaster.
A recipe for disaster is a situation that we think will have good or bad consequences.
Well, if it's a recipe for disaster, it's a situation that probably will have bad consequences.
And I'm going to give you two options.
Tell me which of the two is a recipe for disaster.
Driving without having slept enough or driving after sleeping?
Well, If you drive and you haven't slept enough, that is a recipe for disaster.
Why?
What bad consequences could it have?
What is the potential disaster?
Well, if you drive without having slept enough, that means that you're probably tired and sleepy and you could get into a car crash.
So that is a recipe for disaster.
Can you think of another recipe for disaster?
Well again, if I since we're talking about food if I have to think for myself, a recipe for disaster is for me to leave the house um, and go somewhere remote where there's no stores, and not bring any food.
That is a recipe for disaster.
Because if I get hungry and there's no food around, oh boy.
Well, you should see me.
That is a recipe for disaster.
Number three, turn sour.
That's when things turn sour.
How was the situation before things turned sour?
Good or bad?
Well, before things turned sour, things were good.
The situation was good.
What about after turning sour?
Well, that's when the situation turned sour and so it got bad.
Can you think of a situation in your life that turned sour?
Why?
What happened?
Let me think.
This is a hard one.
I think maybe the time when I skipped school.
So I was a teenager and I skipped school and my mom was a teacher, so she was pretty strict in general.
Obviously, I got caught eventually and And that's when things turn sour.
When my mom found out, she was really mad, like really mad.
Yeah.
So guys, do not skip school.
Word number four, grill someone.
She grilled him for hours trying to get an explanation.
Again, here, we're not talking about cooking anybody.
There's no cooking involved.
If you grill someone, do you talk to them or ask them questions?
Well, if you grill someone, you're asking them questions.
And are the questions casual or intense?
Well, the questions are really intense.
And why do you normally grill someone?
What is the reason?
Well, maybe you think they're keeping a secret or yeah, you want them to confess something.
And so you keep asking lots and lots of questions, very intense questions, to finally get the answer that you want.
And who would normally grill someone?
Is it the police or the waiter?
Well, hoping it's the police.
I don't think a waiter would ever grill you.
They would never come up to you being like, so how was the chicken?
Tell me about the chicken.
Did you eat it?
Why didn't you eat all of it?
You know, that wouldn't be a very polite waiter.
Have you ever grilled someone or have you ever been grilled?
I honestly, I don't think, I can't think.
Maybe when I was younger, like teachers grill me for something.
Maybe not.
But I was a fairly good kid.
So I don't think, no, I wouldn't say so.
I don't think.
And grilling someone, I just don't feel comfortable.
I normally just ask someone a question once.
I don't grill them.
And I just hope they're being honest.
Yeah.
And word number five, let someone stew.
He let her stew for a whole week.
So if you let someone stew, is the other person relaxed or worried?
The other person is worried, terribly worried.
And do you let someone stew accidentally or on purpose?
You do it on purpose.
You want this person to suffer, to be worried for some reason or another.
Did you ever let someone stew?
Why?
What happened?
I don't know if someone has ever let me stew because, well, sometimes you don't know.
Sometimes you just never find out.
I know that with some of my ex-boyfriends, I did it.
So maybe I was mad for something and then I told them.
But then to sort of like teach them a lesson.
I would maybe not really talk to them for a few hours or –.
You know, just sort of, I don't know, it's a little childish.
Don't let people stew.
Just tell them what's wrong.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
