Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 40, day.
One of Your English Five A Day, the second season.
Think of me as your fluency guide.
I'm here every day of the working week, from Monday to Friday, ready to tickle your eardrums and fill your brain with words and phrases from the English language.
Hopefully many of them will be new to you, but if they're not, it's always good to revisit and to listen to them in context.
So, without further ado, let's start, as always, with a snapshot of what's to come.
When the dog slipped out of its collar and was no longer on a lead, it suddenly became aggressive, barking and lunging at people in the park.
Its owner tried to reason with it but things took a turn when the dog chased a cyclist.
A passer-by had to confront and try to calm the dog before anyone got hurt.
Right, let's jump into that vocabulary, starting with the noun phrase on a lead.
On a lead, on a lead L-E-A-D.
We usually use this to describe when an animal, usually a dog, is controlled by a rope or chain that's held by its owner.
Now, in America, a lead is referred to as a leash, so you may hear the noun phrase on a leash.
But in the UK the word lead is most common to describe this tether, this rope or chain that keeps the dog under control.
And it's not just dogs.
Some other animals may be out on a lead.
I have a lead for my cats.
I haven't used it for a very long time.
It's something I used when they were first being introduced to the great outdoors.
I would put them on a lead and take them out on a lead so that I could keep them under control and stop them from wandering off too far.
Here's an example sentence.
Dogs must be kept on a lead in the park.
Next we have the adjective aggressive.
Aggressive.
We spell this A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.
Aggressive.
Aggressive.
If something or someone is described as aggressive, then it's behaving in an angry or forceful way that may hurt or frighten others.
So if you go out on a Saturday night in the middle of a city centre, near the pubs and the clubs, then you will likely see someone behaving in an aggressive way.
You might hear aggressive words.
You might see aggressive body language.
Hopefully you won't be on the receiving end of it, but you certainly would witness some aggressive behaviour.
Here's an example sentence.
He spoke in an aggressive tone that made everyone nervous.
OK, moving on.
We have the phrase take a turn.
Take a turn.
Take, we spell T-A-K-E, A turn.
T-U-R-N.
To take a turn.
If something usually a condition or a person takes a turn, then it means there's a change in condition or quality, especially something that changes quickly or suddenly.
For example, you might be having a nice conversation and then something is mentioned and suddenly the conversation takes a turn and it becomes very suddenly a nasty interaction, an angry exchange of words.
And both of you are left a little shell-shocked because you were having a nice conversation and then it just took a turn.
You might describe someone's health as taking a turn if they suddenly become unwell.
Here's an example sentence.
Anne's health took a turn after she was forced to retire early.
Next, we have the phrasal verb reason with.
To reason with.
Reason, R-E-A-S-O-N, with, W-I-T-H.
To reason with someone is to try to talk to that person calmly and persuade them to think differently.
For example, If my teenage daughter is late coming home, she's supposed to be back by 9pm after a party and she has not turned up.
And my husband is furious.
And we know where she is.
She's at her friend's house.
And he is so angry that he grabs the keys and heads towards the door and says I am going to pick her up and give her a piece of my mind.
Well, I might try to reason with my husband.
I will talk to him calmly and try to persuade him to give her a little bit of time, allow her to come home and then we can sit down and talk to her about rules and boundaries, but not to go and embarrass her by picking her up from her friend's house.
So I'll try my best to reason with my husband.
Here's another example sentence.
It's hard to reason with someone who won't listen.
Have you had to reason with somebody lately?
Did you succeed?
Last but not least, we have the verb confront, confront.
We spell this C-O-N-F-R-O-N-T, confront.
To confront someone is to face that person or to face that thing directly, often in a difficult or challenging situation.
So you may need to confront a member of staff who appears to be doing something wrong.
Maybe money has been going missing and you think you know the culprit.
You think you know who has been taking money from the company.
And now it's time to confront them, to talk to them directly, even though it's quite a difficult situation.
Here's an example sentence.
He decided to confront his boss about the unfair treatment.
Okay, so that's our five.
Let's do a quick recap now.
We started with the noun phrase on a lead, which is when an animal, usually a dog, is controlled by a rope or chain that's held by its owner.
They are on a lead.
We had the adjective aggressive, which is behaving in an angry or forceful way that may hurt or frighten others.
Aggressive.
We had the phrase take a turn, which describes something that changes in condition or quality, especially in a quick or sudden way.
To take a turn.
And we had the phrasal verb reason with.
When we try to talk to someone calmly and persuade them to think differently, we reason with them.
Finally, we had the verb confront, which is to face someone or something directly, often in a difficult or challenging situation.
To confront.
Now it's your turn.
I would like you to confront your fear of speaking.
I want you to raise your voice up.
It doesn't have to be aggressive, but I do want you to practise your pronunciation.
So please repeat after me.
On a lead.
On a lead.
Aggressive.
Aggressive. take a turn, take a turn reason with, reason with confront, confront Okay, fantastic.
Let's hear our snapshot once again.
When the dog slipped out of its collar and was no longer on a lead, it suddenly became aggressive, barking and lunging at people in the park.
Its owner tried to reason with it, but things took a turn when the dog chased a cyclist.
A passer-by had to confront and try to calm the dog before anyone got hurt.
Right, let's now head into our main story.
Please listen out for that target vocabulary once more.
It started as a quiet Saturday morning.
Anita walked through the park with her coffee, enjoying the fresh air and a rare moment of peace.
But things took a turn near the old cricket pitch.
A sharp bark cut through the silence, followed by a deep growl.
She turned just in time to see a large rottweiler, not on a lead, charging across the grass.
A terrified spaniel cowered behind its elderly owner, who waved her walking stick in vain.
Anita dropped her coffee and ran towards them, heart pounding.
Hey, get your dog under control.
She shouted at the man in the grey tracksuit who strolled behind the Rottweiler completely unbothered.
He's just playing, the man muttered, not speeding up.
Playing?
Anita echoed.
He's being aggressive.
Look at that poor woman.
The man shrugged and kept walking.
Anita rushed to stand between the dogs, raising her hands.
The rottweiler paused, heckles still raised, then turned back to its owner.
Crisis averted, for now.
Anita turned to the woman who was trembling.
Are you all right? she asked gently.
I think so, the woman said.
But that was terrifying.
It wasn't the first time Anita had seen this sort of behaviour in the park.
In fact, it was becoming more common.
People let their dogs run wild and refused to listen to reason.
It made her blood boil.
She caught up with the man and his dog near the benches.
Excuse me, she said, trying to reason with him.
You really should keep your dog on a lead.
He frightened that woman and her dog.
The man snorted.
If people can't handle dogs, they shouldn't come to the park.
That was it.
Anita had tried being polite.
Now she would confront him properly.
You're the one who can't handle a dog, she snapped.
This park is for everyone and your dog isn't safe off its lead.
What if a child had been nearby?
Other park goers were beginning to stop and watch.
The man shifted uncomfortably but still tried to laugh it off.
Anita wasn't finished.
There's an expression for people like you.
Irresponsible dog owners.
And we've had enough.
The man looked around, saw the disapproving faces and finally clipped the lead onto his dog's collar.
Anita walked away, her heart racing.
She didn't like confrontations, but someone had to speak up.
As she glanced back at the man retreating with his dog on a lead, she felt a small, hard-earned victory settle in her chest.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you enjoyed it, but most of all, I hope you found it useful.
If you did, then please take a second to leave a like if you're watching on YouTube, or a rating or review if you're streaming from any other platform.
That would be fantastic if you could.
Thank you so much.
And until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.
