Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 36, day 4 of Your English Five A Day, the second season.
In time, start to feel more like yourself when communicating in English.
A nice steady pace wins the race.
Okay, let's begin today's episode as we always do with a snapshot of what's to come.
The complex layout of Venice's narrow alleyways completely stumped the tourists, causing them to walk in circles for hours instead of doing proper sightseeing.
Eventually, they discovered a charming cafe tucked away behind a church, where the friendly owner explained that they were actually in the beating heart of the old city.
Despite being lost, they realised this hidden neighbourhood was far more liveable and authentic than the crowded tourist area they were trying to find.
Alright, so let's dive into our vocabulary, starting with the noun sightseeing.
Sightseeing.
All one word.
We spell it S-I-G-H-T-S-E-E-I-N-G.
Sightseeing.
Sightseeing.
Sightseeing is the act of visiting famous or interesting places for fun.
Sightseeing.
I'm sure you've done a bit of sightseeing.
What stands out to you in your memory as being the best sightseeing experience you've ever had?
I've done lots of sightseeing.
I've spent years travelling and enjoying many of the most famous sites.
One that comes to mind is Petra, visiting Petra in Jordan.
And Pompeii, that was another very, very interesting day.
Rome, of course, the Colosseum, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
So many, so many amazing sights and places to visit.
I do enjoy a little sightseeing.
So you might say, we spent the day sightseeing in Rome.
Next on our list, we have the phrase walk in circles.
To walk in circles.
Walk, W-A-L-K, in circles, C-I-R-C-L-E-S.
There's another variation of this, which is to go round in circles, to go round in circles.
But here we're using the version that uses walk, to walk in circles.
To walk in circles means to move around without making progress or without direction.
For example, We got lost and walked in circles for an hour.
It doesn't mean that you literally walked in a perfect circle.
It might be more like a rectangle.
It might be a triangle.
The shape doesn't matter.
It just means that you don't get anywhere.
Maybe you do stumble across the same places that you've already been.
Hang on a minute.
Weren't we here an hour ago?
Whoa, hang on.
We were here an hour ago.
Are we walking around in circles?
We are.
We're walking in circles.
Let's get the map out and figure this out.
Have you ever found yourself walking in circles?
Next, we have the adjective phrase tucked away.
Tucked away.
We spell this tucked, T-U-C-K-E-D, away, A-W-A-Y.
If something is tucked away, then it's hidden or it's in a quiet, secret place.
We often talk about houses or small, beautiful areas being tucked away.
Maybe a shop or a restaurant or a cafe could be tucked away.
If it's tucked away, then it's just not in plain sight.
It's not obvious where it is.
You don't stumble across it easily.
Usually to find a place that's tucked away, you need to know that it's there.
Someone needs to tell you, if you go down that lane there, it looks like there's nothing down there.
But if you go all the way to the end, you'll find a beautiful little cafe that's tucked away at the end there.
And all the locals know about it.
I highly recommend you go there for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.
So it's a hidden or a secret place.
For example, a little garden was tucked away behind the library.
And they usually are the best places, those places, aren't they?
OK, next we have the adjective liveable.
Liveable.
We spell this L-I-V-E-A-B-L-E.
Liveable.
If something is liveable, then it's comfortable and suitable for living in.
It's liveable.
Here's an example sentence.
They made the old house liveable again.
We've been looking at houses recently because we hope to move house at some point soon.
And we've been looking at some really old houses that haven't been looked after.
And some of them, you walk in and think oh, this needs a lot of work, but maybe if we just clean it up a little bit, then we could survive.
We could make it comfortable to live in for the short term while we save up some money to do the renovation.
It is livable.
It is livable, just.
Okay, last on today's list is a noun phrase, beating heart.
Beating heart.
Beating, B-E-A-T-I-N-G, heart, H-E-A-R-T.
Now, this phrase means the most important or the most lively part of a place or thing.
So you could say that the centre, the market square or a shopping centre in the middle of a town is the beating heart of that town.
Or within a building, wherever the most activity occurs.
You could say that that is the beating heart of that building.
For example, as a student at university, for us the most important area was the common room, the area where all the students came in between their lessons at the start of the day, at the end of the day.
It's where our lockers were.
It's where we hung out.
It's where we would eat our snacks and have our tea and our coffee.
For us, the common room was the beating heart of our university.
So here's an example sentence.
The market is the beating heart of the town.
OK, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun sightseeing.
Sightseeing.
This is visiting famous or interesting places for fun.
Sightseeing.
We had walk in circles, which is to move around without making progress or without direction.
To walk in circles.
We had the adjective phrase tucked away, which describes a place as being hidden or in a quiet, secret area.
Tucked away.
We had the adjective liveable, which means a place is comfortable and suitable for living in.
Liveable.
And we had the noun phrase beating heart, which describes a place that is the most important or lively part of that area.
The beating heart.
Fantastic.
OK, now I want to hear your voices.
I'd like you to raise your voice and repeat out loud as we do this for pronunciation purposes.
Repeat after me.
Sightseeing, sight-seeing walk in circles, walk in circles, tucked away, tucked away.
Liveable liveable, beating heart, beating heart.
Well done.
What adjective could I give to a place that's really suitable and comfortable to stay in for a long period of time or permanently?
It is livable.
And if I find a library that I didn't know existed because it's in a hidden area, what adjective phrase could I use to describe where it is tucked away?
It's tucked away.
That's why I never knew it was there.
It's just tucked away on a town.
I'd like to know where the most lively part of that town is.
I want to know where the what is, where the beating heart of the city is.
Yes, I want to know where the beating heart of the city is.
Otherwise, I might move around the town without making any progress.
I could just end up stumbling upon the same place again and again.
What phrase could I use to describe walking around without much direction or without making progress?
Walk in circles.
Yes, if I don't know where I'm going, I might end up walking in circles.
And if you go to look at some of the most interesting places and visit famous areas for fun, what is this that I'm doing?
What's this activity called?
Sightseeing.
Enjoying a bit of sightseeing.
All right.
Let's revisit our snapshot and see if it sounds a little clearer now.
The complex layout of Venice's narrow alleyways completely stumped the tourists, causing them to walk in circles for hours instead of doing proper sightseeing.
Eventually, they discovered a charming cafe tucked away behind a church, where the friendly owner explained that they were actually in the beating heart of the old city, despite being lost.
They realised this hidden neighbourhood was far more liveable and authentic than the crowded tourist areas they'd been trying to find before.
Fantastic.
OK, I want you to listen out for our target vocabulary once more as we head into story time.
Yasmin and Hassan had planned their holiday for months.
They wanted to see the great sights of the famous city, its cathedral, its old bridges and the huge square that everyone photographed.
On their first morning, they set out with a map in hand, ready for a full day of sightseeing.
At first, everything went well.
They admired the cathedral's high towers, listened to the music of a violin player in the square and joined the crowd taking pictures of the grand statues.
But soon, the narrow streets confused them.
They tried to find their way to the river, but each turning looked the same.
Are we lost?
Yasmin asked, laughing but also a little worried.
I think we've been walking in circles, Hassan admitted.
This is the third time I've seen that bakery.
Instead of panic, curiosity began to guide them.
They put the map back in Yasmin's bag and decided to keep walking.
Away from the busy centre, the noise of traffic grew softer.
The streets became narrower, lined with small houses painted in warm colours.
It was here they discovered the first surprise.
A tiny cafe tucked away in a quiet courtyard.
Its tables were covered with red cloths and the smell of fresh coffee filled the air.
An old man served them cups so strong and rich that they both smiled after the first sip.
They stayed longer than they planned, listening to the sound of sparrows and the laughter of local children.
Maybe getting lost isn't so bad, Yasmin said.
Hassan nodded.
This feels more real than the main square.
They continued their walk and found more hidden places.
A bookshop that seemed to exist only for the neighbourhood, where the owner showed them a shelf of old travel journals.
A small market where women sold handmade baskets and herbs.
A church so quiet that Yasmin felt her footsteps echo inside.
None of these places were in the guidebook, but all of them felt special.
As the afternoon sun lowered, they finally reached the river.
From the bridge they could see the centre again.
The busy streets, the tourists taking photographs, the sound of music rising.
That was the beating heart of the city, alive and bright.
But what they had found in the side streets was different.
A slower rhythm, a softer voice.
A life hidden behind the main stage.
Yasmin leaned on the bridge and looked at Hassan.
Do you know, she said, I could imagine living here.
It feels so liveable, not just for visitors, but for real life.
Hassan smiled.
Yes, the best parts of a city aren't always the ones on the map.
They stood together watching the lights come on one by one across the river, each lamp glowing like a star.
They had set out for sightseeing, but by getting lost, they had found something better.
The secret soul of the city.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you found it useful and entertaining.
Until tomorrow, take care of yourself and goodbye.
