Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 32, day one of Your English Five A Day, the second season.
If you need to improve your English, if you want to feel more confident when speaking English, if you need to expand your vocabulary, then this is the podcast for you.
I release relatively short episodes every day of the working week from Monday to Friday, introducing and deep diving into five items of vocabulary in every episode.
We bring everything together in one story and revisit it again on Friday in one ginormous story.
And finally, I record everything for you so you don't have to write anything down.
It's all put into one huge database, the Vocabulary Vault, which you can access for free.
I constantly update it and that is available via the link in the show notes.
So now, let's begin, as we always do, with a snapshot.
Jamie was exhausted from his hiking trip when he unexpectedly managed to encounter a rare mountain eagle in the forest, getting the chance to see the magnificent bird up close as it perched on a nearby branch.
The demanding climb and excitement of the wildlife sighting completely did him in, leaving him breathless and needing to rest against a tree.
The eagle, which was notorious for avoiding humans, soon flew back to its natural habitat high in the rocky cliffs above.
Okay, let's deep dive. Goggles on, flippers at the ready.
Let's jump in with the verb encounter. encounter.
We spell this E-N-C-O-U-N-T-E-R. Encounter.
To encounter someone or something is to meet a person or experience something, often unexpectedly or by chance.
So you might encounter a problem. You might encounter a celebration.
You might encounter a strange young lady sitting on a bench, singing out loud and trying to serenade you as you walk past.
What unusual things have you encountered recently?
I unfortunately encountered a catastrophic issue with my laptop.
My only means of working remotely. It even allows me to work in the house of an evening or of a weekend when sometimes I unfortunately have to work.
And the problem I encountered was one day...
In the middle of my holiday, I pulled out my laptop and it suddenly stopped working.
It just died. I've never encountered such a problem before and I'm still not quite sure what to do about it.
Replacing a laptop is not an easy thing to do.
Financially, it's quite expensive. Have you encountered any technical issues with your devices?
And what did you do about it? Here's another example sentence.
We encountered a snake while hiking in the forest.
Last night, actually, I was driving very late after a squash match.
And I encountered a baby deer on the side of the road.
I couldn't believe it. I don't tend to see deer in this part of the world.
Not outside of the national parks. Anyway, let's move on to the expression, see something or someone up close.
To see something or someone up close. C-S-E-E, something or someone, up, U-P, close, C-L-O-S-E.
If you see something up close, then you see it... from a short distance or you observe it in detail, you're able to look at it really closely.
For example, I might tell you that I encountered a stag beetle.
I encountered a stag beetle this afternoon.
I've seen them on TV and I've seen one at a distance before.
But this time I managed to see one up close.
I was able to get really close and observe it in detail.
Last night, I managed to see a baby deer up close.
It was maybe half a metre from my car. What have you seen up close that you're excited about?
Here's another example. I've only seen that painting in books.
I'd love to see it up close one day. Ah, that reminds me of seeing the Mona Lisa up close.
I was shocked at how small the painting was.
All the prints I'd seen and the images in books I'd read when I was doing my art course at college made me believe that the painting was probably quite large.
But actually, in reality, the Mona Lisa is relatively small when you see it up close.
Next, we have the phrasal verb do someone in.
To do someone in. Do d-o-n. Someone in, I-N.
To do someone in or if something does you in, then it makes that person extremely tired.
Looking after kids. can do you in, but it can also indicate an injury as well.
So I might say, I had a dodgy ankle at the weekend and I decided to play squash anyway.
And then later I went for a run and that really did me in.
Now I can't even walk. My ankle is so swollen.
That last run really did me in. Here's another example.
That five-hour walk really did me in. I'm exhausted.
OK, next we have the noun phrase natural habitat.
Natural habitat. Natural, n-a-t-u-r-a-l.
Habitat, h-a-b-i-t-a-t. Natural habitat.
A natural habitat is the natural environment where a plant or animal normally lives or grows.
This phrase is often used within advertising or used when talking about people.
So you might say a woman in her natural habitat.
Or if you're talking about a man cave, which is a place where a man might escape to, a place that they can have to enjoy the things they enjoy, like a game station or tools for tinkering with the things they like to tinker with.
And that would be a man cave. And you might say, we help you design the best man cave in the world because let's face it, a man is not a man unless he's in his natural habitat or something like that.
What is your natural habitat? Here's another example.
The zoo tries to recreate the animals' natural habitats as closely as possible.
Next, we have the adjective phrase notorious for.
Notorious for. We spell this notorious, n-o-t-o-r-i-o-u-s.
Notorious for, f-o-r. To be notorious for something means that you're famous for doing something negative or bad.
For example, if you are a manager of a team and there's one team member who often hands in work beyond the deadline that was set.
So they are often late for deadlines, which is frustrating for the rest of the team. then you might have a word with them or talk about them and tell others that this team member is notorious for missing deadlines.
You might have to give them a warning and say, look, within our organisation, we all have to pull our weight.
We have to work together. We're a small team.
And unfortunately, you are notorious for missing deadlines.
Is this something that can change or do we need to let you go?
I don't know if that's how you'd actually approach the problem, but you could say that.
Here's another example. That road is notorious for accidents in winter.
Okay. That's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the verb encounter, which is to meet someone or something, often unexpectedly or by chance.
You encounter it. We had the expression to see something or someone up close, which is to look at them or it from a short distance and observe it in detail, to see it up close.
We had the phrase or verb do someone in, which is to make someone extremely tired or injured, to do them in.
We had the noun phrase natural habitat, which is the natural environment where an animal or a plant normally lives and grows.
Their natural habitat. And we had the adjective phrase notorious for, which is to be famous for something negative or bad.
Notorious for. Let's now do this for pronunciation purposes.
Please repeat after me. Encounter Encounter See something up close.
See something up close. Do someone in Do someone in Natural habitat Natural habitat Notorious for Notorious for Fantastic What's the noun phrase that talks about the place, the environment in which an animal or a plant normally lives and grows?
A natural habitat. Very good. And if an activity makes me extremely tired, what phrasal verb could I use?
I could say, this activity has done me in.
Yes, it's done me in. I need to go and sit down.
If I'm out and I unexpectedly see something, experience something, what verb could I use? encounter.
Yes, I encountered something while I was out walking.
And if I look at something from a very short distance and I'm able to observe it in detail, what expression could I use?
I could say, I saw it up close. Finally, If someone is famous for something negative or bad, what adjective phrase would you use?
They are notorious for whatever it is. Very good.
All right, it's time to revisit our snapshot.
Listen closely. Jamie was exhausted from his hiking trip when he unexpectedly managed to encounter a rare mountain eagle in the forest, getting the chance to see the magnificent bird up close as it perched on a nearby branch.
The demanding climb and excitement of the wildlife sighting completely did him in, leaving him breathless and needing to rest against a tree.
The eagle, which was notorious for avoiding humans, soon flew back to its natural habitat high in the rocky cliffs above.
Wonderful. Now I'd like you to listen out for our target vocabulary once more as we head into story time.
Rachida had been walking through the park for 20 minutes, trying to clear her head after a terrible day at work.
Her boss had been particularly difficult and the stress was doing her in.
She needed fresh air and some peace to recover.
The park was unusually quiet for a Thursday afternoon.
Most people were still at work or stuck in traffic.
Richida preferred it this way. Fewer crowds, less noise.
She could almost pretend she was in the countryside rather than in the heart of London.
As she rounded the corner near the duck pond, she nearly walked straight into someone coming the other way.
Sorry, she said automatically, stepping aside.
Then she looked up and froze. It was him!
Mickey Steele, the actor from her favourite TV series.
She had watched every episode of City Lights at least three times.
His character, Detective Harrison, was everything she found attractive.
Intelligent, mysterious, with that crooked smile that made her heart skip.
But this wasn't Detective Harrison standing in front of her.
This was Mickey Steele himself. And he looked annoyed at being recognised otherwise.
Rachida knew his reputation well. He was notorious for avoiding fans, refusing to sign autographs and generally being rude to anyone who approached him in public.
You're... she began, but he cut her off with a sharp look.
I'm trying to have a quiet walk, he said coldly.
I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a fuss.
Rachida felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
She had never encountered a celebrity before, especially not one so unfriendly.
But something about his tone irritated her.
She had been polite after all and wasn't making a fuss, she replied, finding her voice.
I was just walking too. Ricky seemed surprised by her response.
Most fans probably apologised and scurried away when he was rude to them, but Rachida had dealt with enough difficult people at work today.
"'Look,' he said, his voice slightly softer.
"'I come here because it's one of the few places where I can be alone.
"'This park is like my natural habitat, somewhere I can just be normal.'
Rachida studied his face. Up close, she could see how tired he looked.
There were dark circles under his eyes and his famous smile was nowhere to be seen.
Being a celebrity clearly wasn't as glamorous as it seemed.
I understand, she said quietly. We all need somewhere to escape.
For a moment they stood in awkward silence.
Then Mickey looked at her properly for the first time.
You're not going to ask for a selfie? he asked, genuinely curious.
Rachida shook her head. You just said you wanted to be left alone.
Something shifted in his expression. The defensive wall he had built seemed to crack slightly.
That's, uh, refreshing, he admitted. Most people don't listen.
Well, I'm not most people, Richida said with a small smile.
Mickey almost smiled back. Almost. No, he said quietly.
I don't think you are. As they parted...
Rachida wondered if she had just seen the real Mickey Steele.
Not the television character and not the rude celebrity, but the tired human being underneath it all.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
Have you ever bumped into a celebrity? A celebrity that you knew and admired?
And what was your experience? Did they live up to your expectations?
Or did the dream shatter before your eyes?
I've had a few experiences. Some where they've really lived up to my expectations.
Some where they completely broke my vision of who they were.
But I'd love to hear about your experience.
So please, if you're watching on YouTube, leave a comment and let me know.
Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.
