Hello and welcome to the english like a native podcast.
My name is anna and you're listening to week 35, day two of your english five a day, the second season.
I'm here as your faithful companion, helping you on your journey to expanding your English vocabulary, improving your listening skills and overall, helping you to feel more like yourself when you communicate in English.
So sit back, relax and enjoy today's episode.
We kick off, as always, with a snapshot of what's to come.
Marion knew that looking after five-year-old twins would be challenging, especially since they were incredibly rambunctious, always running about shouting and jumping on the furniture.
To keep them entertained, she planned several excursions to the park, the zoo and the local museum, where they could burn off their endless energy.
When they finally settled down in the evening, the curious children would gather around her as she read from their favourite storybook, asking dozens of questions about every character and illustration.
Alrighty, let's now jump into our vocabulary, starting with the adjective rambunctious.
What a beautiful word, rambunctious.
We spell this R-A-M-B-U-N-C-T-I-O-U-S, rambunctious. rambunctious.
Rambunctious.
Rambunctious means very noisy, full of energy and hard to control.
I think most children at some point are rambunctious.
Were you rambunctious as a child?
Were you full of energy and noisy and hard to control?
My nickname at primary school was Chatterbox.
Anna Chatterbox because I was always chattering away when I should have been listening.
I was a little bit rambunctious.
And I noticed that when I went to do my drama training or whenever I was in a room with a group of actors, you could just feel that kind of childlike energy.
Most actors have a childlike energy.
They're quite rambunctious, especially when they're together.
They feed off each other's energy.
Now, who in your life right now would you describe as being rambunctious?
Here's an example sentence.
The teacher found it difficult to calm the rambunctious class after lunch.
Next we have the noun excursions.
Excursions.
We spell this E-X-C-U-R-S-I-O-N-S.
Excursions.
Excursions.
Excursions are short trips or outings, usually for fun, learning or sightseeing.
So if you go on a cruise, for example, you might go on a seven day cruise.
And when you first get onto the cruise ship, you will be presented with many options of excursions that you can go on when you dock in different locations.
For example, when I worked aboard a cruise ship and we docked in Iceland, I took a day trip out to the Blue Lagoon.
So I went on an excursion to visit the Blue Lagoon, which was fantastic.
Often at school each year there is an excursion that you have to get permission from your parents to say you're allowed to go on this excursion.
They might need to contribute towards the cost of the excursion.
And it might be to go to the zoo or to go to a place of historical interest.
It might be to go to the theatre, an excursion.
Here's an example.
The school organized excursions to museums and historical sites.
Next, we have the verb phrase keep someone entertained.
To keep someone entertained.
To keep someone entertained.
Someone entertained.
To keep someone entertained is to make sure that someone doesn't get bored by giving them something fun or interesting to do.
For example...
During the summer holidays, I had to work very hard to keep my children entertained.
And I can tell you it was a hard job.
It was a hard job.
They are not easy to entertain.
So I had to work hard to keep them entertained to stop them from getting bored.
Here's an example sentence.
Games and music helped keep us entertained on the long train ride.
When you go on a long journey, whether that's commuting maybe you have a long commute or when you go on holiday, maybe at the start and at the end you have to travel a long way.
What do you do to keep yourself entertained?
Next, we have the noun storybook.
Storybook.
We spell it S-T-O-R-Y-B-O-O-K.
Storybook.
This is a book with stories, often for children, usually with colourful pictures.
A storybook.
So I might say to my children at night time, go and pick a storybook.
Of course, this can simply be shortened to book.
But if you're being specific, it's a book with stories in and colourful pictures, then you'll say a storybook.
For example, she read a storybook to her little brother before bed.
Next and last we have the adjective curious, curious.
We spell this c-u-r-i-o-u-s, curious, curious.
Curious.
If you are curious, then it means you're wanting to know or learn about something.
You're very interested in it.
For example, if I bring in a box and I put the box down very carefully and I say please don't move this box.
It's very special.
You might be curious about what's inside.
You might ask the question, oh, what's in the box, Anna?
And I might tease you and say, it's a surprise.
You will have to wait and see.
And that will make you even more curious.
Now, children are naturally curious.
So here's an example sentence.
The curious child asked lots of questions about the world.
Alright, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the adjective rambunctious, meaning very noisy, full of energy and hard to control.
Rambunctious.
We had the noun excursions, which are short trips or outings, usually for fun, learning or sightseeing.
Excursions.
We had the verb phrase keep someone entertained, which is to stop someone from getting bored by giving them something fun and interesting to do.
Keep someone entertained.
We had the noun storybook, which is a book with stories, usually for children, which also includes colourful pictures, a storybook.
And we had the adjective curious, which is wanting to know more, wanting to learn about something, to be interested, curious.
Okay.
I'm curious to find out how many of those items you can remember, but let's do pronunciation first.
So please repeat after me.
Rambunctious.
Rambunctious.
Excursions.
Excursions.
Keep someone entertained.
Keep someone entertained.
Storybook Storybook Curious Curious Fantastic.
Okay, let me test you now.
What would we call short outings or trips that are for fun or learning or even sightseeing?
Excursions.
Very good.
And if you take a group of children on an excursion, one concern might be that the children will be very excited, which means they'll be full of energy and they're likely to be very noisy and hard to control.
What adjective could we use to describe the group of children?
Rambunctious.
Yes, it's a little bit nerve wracking to deal with a rambunctious group of children when you're on an excursion.
But it's also important that they don't get bored.
We want to make sure that they're not bored when they're learning.
We want to give them fun and interesting things to do so they enjoy their time at school.
What verb phrase could we use when talking about making sure that someone doesn't get bored?
Keep them entertained.
Yes, we want to keep the children entertained.
The rambunctious children will definitely have fun on an excursion.
It will keep them entertained.
Another way to keep children entertained and to maybe calm them down is to...
Give them something to read.
It has lots of pictures and it tells a story.
What would this item be?
That one's easy.
A storybook.
Yes, a storybook often will entertain a child for a few minutes.
And the one good thing about children is they do always want to know more.
They like to learn.
They are naturally quite interested in the world around them.
What adjective could you use to describe a child who's interested in the world?
Curious.
Yes, very good.
OK, let's now revisit our snapshot.
Marian knew that looking after five-year-old twins would be challenging, especially since they were incredibly rambunctious, always running about shouting and jumping on the furniture.
To keep them entertained, she planned several excursions to the park, the zoo and the local museum, where they could burn off their endless energy.
When they finally settled down in the evening, the curious children would gather around her as she read from their favourite storybook, asking dozens of questions about every character and illustration.
Alright, it's time to listen for our vocabulary once more as we head into storytime.
Margaret pressed her face against the cool kitchen window watching the chaos unfold in her back garden.
Eight-year-old Lola was chasing her younger brother Theo, around the apple tree, both of them shrieking with laughter, whilst covered head to toe in mud from yesterday's rain.
Meanwhile, five-year-old Sally sat cross-legged by the flowerbeds, apparently having a serious conversation with a confused-looking tabby cat.
Good Lord, Harold Margaret muttered to her husband who was hiding behind his newspaper at the breakfast table.
How did Sam and Diego manage this lot on their own?
Harold peered over his reading glasses.
They're only rambunctious because they're excited, love.
Give it a few days and they'll settle.
Margaret wasn't so sure.
It had only been two days since their daughter had dropped the children off for their month-long stay and already the house felt like it had been invaded by a small army.
The pristine sitting room now resembled a battlefield of toys, books and biscuit crumbs.
Even the cat had taken to hiding under the stairs.
A tremendous crash from the garden made them both jump.
Through the window, they watched Theo emerge from behind the garden shed, grinning sheepishly while clutching the remains of what had once been Harold's prized watering can.
Right, Harold said, folding his newspaper with military precision.
Time for some reconnaissance.
Margaret couldn't help but smile.
Her husband had been a headmaster for 30 years.
Surely three small children couldn't be more challenging than a school full of teenagers.
Twenty minutes later, Harold returned to the kitchen looking rather like he'd survived a hurricane before.
His usual immaculate hair was sticking up at odd angles and there was a suspicious green stain on his cardigan.
Well, Margaret asked, trying not to laugh.
They're energetic, he admitted, straightening his glasses.
But I've got a plan.
We need structured activities excursions, educational outings that will keep them entertained and tire them out.
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
Such as?
The Natural History Museum tomorrow.
Then the zoo.
Perhaps that adventure playground in Regent's Park.
Harold was warming to his new theme now, pacing around the kitchen.
We'll turn this into a proper summer education programme.
Just then, Lola burst through the back door, her face flushed with excitement.
Grandma, Grandpapa, can we make fairy cakes?
And can we read that storybook about the dragon again?
And Sally says the cat told her a secret.
Can cats really talk?
Margaret looked at Harold, who was staring at his granddaughter with a mixture of bewilderment and affection.
These curious, energetic little people were their family and, despite the chaos, she felt a warm glow spread across her chest.
Of course, darling, she said, reaching for her apron.
But first, let's get you all cleaned up.
You look like you've been wrestling with a hedge.
As Lola's laughter filled the kitchen, Margaret caught Harold's eye and winked.
This was going to be quite an adventure.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you found it useful and entertaining.
Remember, all the vocabulary that we cover in these episodes is written down and recorded for you in our database that you can access for free if you need to review anything.
Just use the link in the show notes.
Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.
