Your English Five a Day #22.3

E224: 🎙️ Welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast with me, your host, Anna. Dive into Week 22, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day, where we enrich your vocabulary with five new words every weekday.

💧 Today, let's start with the adjective "shallow", specifically when talking about water. Next up is the verb "lurk", which is then followed by another verb, "reiterate". Moving on to the adjective "blind to" something, and the last item on today's list is the adverb "rather".

⚠️ After a quick recap and some pronunciation practice, we move on to today's story, where the dangers of the great outdoors at night come to light. From lurking risks in shallow waters to the temptation of playing with fire, parental vigilance is essential to keep our children safe.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you are listening to Week 22, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series where we aim to increase your active vocabulary by introducing five pieces every day of the working week from Monday to Friday. So, stick with me and let's expand your vocabulary. We're going to start with an adjective and it is shallow. Shallow. Shallow is spelt S H A L L O W. Shallow. Shallow means not deep. So, there's not much distance from the top to the bottom. We often will refer to bodies of water as being either shallow or deep. There might be a shallow end and a deep end. In most swimming pools, there is a shallow end where you can enter the water and still stand on the bottom and breathe freely, where the children will often play, and then there is a deep end where you cannot stand on the bottom and still have your head out of the water. We can also describe people as being shallow, but today we're going to focus on depth of water. So, here's an example sentence,"Make sure you watch your toddler in the park today, even shallow puddles can be dangerous." Have you ever had it where you think a puddle is shallow and you go to step in it, but it's much deeper than you actually first thought, and you end up with a very soggy sock? Nothing worse. And I often see memes going around when we have heavy rain here in the UK and flooding, of course, there are some roads that dip and those dips fill up with water. And some drivers who are not so familiar with the roads think,"Oh, it's okay. It's just a little bit of surface water. It's shallow enough to drive through." And so they drive into it unknowing, and then suddenly they are submerged and they are climbing onto the bonnet of their car, wondering what on Earth they were thinking. And their car just floats along. Oh dear. Yes, that happens all too often. Alright, moving on. Our next word is a verb and it is a verb lurk. Lurk. We spell this L U R K. Lurk. If you lurk, then you are sneaking around. You are moving in a very quiet way, like you're trying to be secretive, to not be detected usually because you're up to no good. You're doing something you shouldn't be doing. So, you are lurking. Here's an example sentence,"I'm sure I just saw someone lurking around behind the bushes. Can you go out and check? There's been a lot of burglaries recently and it might be the thief!" That brings back some very uncomfortable memories. I had a couple of occasions where I was slightly paranoid when pregnant with my second child and looking out of the window at night time while I was in the bathroom, I thought I saw somebody lurking in the garden, and I called the police, and the police arrived. It's the only time I've ever phoned 999. Actually, no, it's not the only time. I realise now. I must have phoned 999 about four times since having my children. But yes, it's the only time I phoned for the police to come and help me. The police came with their tasers and their dogs. It was like a big drama outside the front of my house because I insisted there was a man in my garden lurking behind the bins. And it turned out that it was the reflection of my son's ball, which I thought was the head of the man. It was so embarrassing. Anyway, to lurk. Hopefully, you've never found anyone lurking in your garden. That would be terrifying. Let's move on to the next verb. Another one. It is reiterate. Reiterate. We spell this R E I T E R A T E. Reiterate. Reiterate. To reiterate something is to repeat it. Again and again. Usually, because you're trying to make sure the person listening understands that it's important what you just said. So, you want to know that they heard it, that they understood it and that they know it's important. So, let me just reiterate. For example, if you've been listening to this series for quite a while, you probably know that we offer Plus Membership so, you can get transcripts and Bonus Episodes to support the podcast. But let me reiterate, if you become a Plus Member for a very small price every month, you can get Bonus Episodes, transcripts, and vocabulary lists. So, that was me reiterating something that I've already said before because I really want you to know about it. Here's another example,"Can I please reiterate that we will not tolerate any form of violence towards the security staff, offenders will be removed from the premises." Next, we have an adjective and it is blind, or blind to. To be blind to something. We spell this B L I N D. Blind. Like you have no sight. But if you are blind to something, it means that you don't want to see something. You don't want to acknowledge something, even though it's quite obvious. It's like you just are ignoring something. You're blind to it. You can't see it. Maybe someone is a horrible person. Maybe they are really obnoxious, unkind, cruel. Nobody likes them, but you love them. And because you love them, it's like you don't see their bad behaviour. You don't see their rudeness and their cruelty. You are blind to it. Here's an example,"James is blind to the fact that his daughter smokes. He claims that he doesn't even smell it on her clothes!" Okay, next on the list is an adverb and it is rather. Rather. We spell this R A T H E R. Rather. Rather. Rather here means a bit. So, to a slight degree or to a certain extent, basically just means a bit. A bit. So, here's an example,"Have you noticed Katie acting rather strange lately? I'm worried about her, I wonder if we should check that everything is okay at home." So, in that example Katie is acting rather strange. So, you could quite as easily say,"She's acting a bit strange, or even a little bit strange." But instead we use rather. So, that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the adjective shallow. When referring to a body of water, it means it's not very deep. There's not much distance between the top and the bottom. Then we have the verb lurk. To sneak around in a secretive way, usually because you're doing something you shouldn't be doing. Then we had the verb reiterate, so to repeat something you said before over and over again in order to make sure it's been heard. Then we had the adjective blind to, to be blind to something is to refuse to notice or acknowledge something. Then we finished with the adverb rather. Which basically means a bit, to a slight degree. So, let's now do this for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Shallow. Shallow. Lurk. Lurk. Reiterate. Reiterate. Blind to. Blind to. Rather. Rather. Very good. Let me now test your memory. If I want to tell you what the plans are for tomorrow, but I have already told you, but I'm going to tell you again because I want to make sure that you know exactly what's happening tomorrow. What am I doing? What verb could we use to say that I'm saying this again? I'm reiterating it. I'm reiterating it. However, you seem to refuse to notice the urgency in my voice and the seriousness in which I am taking this whole event that's happening tomorrow. Tomorrow we're actually going to our son's wedding. It's very important that we arrive on time, but you seem to refuse to notice that I care about tomorrow's event and I care about getting there on time. You refuse to notice it. What adjective could I use in place of refuse to notice it? You're blind to the fact that our son's wedding is very important to me and I want to get there on time. Even when I reiterate the importance and reiterate the details, you're blind to the fact that I want to get there on time. Now, on the way to the wedding the next day, we are driving along and suddenly we see a figure, a person, standing and moving around in a strange way behind the bushes next to the road. It's very odd. What verb could I use to suggest that this man is sneaking and moving in a strange and secretive way behind the bushes? He's lurking. He's lurking behind the bushes. And while distracted by this man lurking behind the bushes as we drive along the road on this rainy morning, we accidentally drive into a flooded area of the road. And this flooded area, luckily for us, is not too deep. There's not too much distance between the top of the water and the bottom of the water. What adjective could I use there to describe this body of water? Shallow. Shallow. It is a shallow flood on the road. Phew! But we do end up aquaplaning, which is skidding along the road because we have hit water at speed. So, we are a little bit scared when we feel the car start to slide across the road as it aquaplanes along a little bit. We are a little bit scared. What adverb could I use here instead of a little bit? Rather. We are rather scared as we hit this shallow water, but we hit it at speed and it makes us aquaplane along the road, all because we saw a man lurking in the bushes. Now, had we set off earlier, as I'd reiterated to my husband the night before, had he not been blind to the fact that it was important to leave at 8 am on the dot, then we wouldn't have seen the man lurking behind the bushes, and we wouldn't have hit the shallow water at speed, and we wouldn't have been rather scared as we aquaplaned along the road. But the story has a happy ending because we arrive at the wedding on time and we don't miss anything and everything is fine. So, let's bring everything together once more in another little story. There's something magical about the great outdoors at night. The stars twinkling above, the gentle rustling of leaves, and the peaceful sounds of nature. But as wonderful as it may seem, letting your young children play outside at night in woodland areas and near lakes can be incredibly dangerous. Many parents may think that a shallow lake is safe for their children to play in, but the truth is, even shallow waters can pose a risk. There are still dangers of drowning in these seemingly harmless waters, and children are often blind to the risks that they face when lurking around in the darkness, playing hide and seek with their friends. Another danger that young children may not be aware of is playing with fire. Children's curiosity can often lead them to experiment with fire, but in a woodland area, the risk of fire spreading is much greater. The dry leaves and vegetation in a woodland area can quickly catch fire and spread out of control, putting not only the children in danger, but also the surrounding wildlife. While parental supervision is important, it's not enough to ensure the safety of your children. A child's play can quickly turn into a dangerous situation, and as a parent, it's our responsibility to protect them from potential harm. So, to reiterate letting young children play outside at night in woodland areas and near lakes can be extremely dangerous. Shallow waters, the risk of drowning, playing with fire, and the potential for other unseen dangers make it a rather risky decision. The great outdoors can be a wonderful place for children to explore and learn, but it's important to do so in a safe and responsible manner. Let's keep our children safe and have fun in well-lit and supervised areas. Because when it comes to our children's safety, it's better to be safe than sorry. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. I really look forward to tickling your eardrums again tomorrow. So, make sure to tune in, whatever you're doing, travelling, working, eating breakfast, make sure to tune in again. I look forward to it. Until then, take care and goodbye.