Your English Five a Day #34.4

E306: 🎙️ Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna, and you're listening to Week 34, Day 4 of Your English Five a Day. Join me every weekday as we dive deep into five new vocabulary words, boosting your active vocabulary and enhancing your listening skills.

🏭 Today's list is slightly noun-heavy! The first noun we're looking at is "warehouse." Our next two nouns are "odd jobs" and "autonomy". After that, we dive into the noun "safety net". And finally, we finish off with the verb "withstand".

👷🏽‍♂️ Don't forget about the useful pronunciation practice section as well as the recap to test your memory. Then, in today's story segment,  we meet Miles, who took a tough night job in a warehouse and faced many challenges to save money. Dreaming of freedom, he persevered, fuelled by his colleagues' support. After a year, he made a bold move that changed his life and gave him more autonomy.

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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're listening to Week 34, Day 4 of Your English Five a Day. I am literally on a mission to expand your English vocabulary and improve your listening skills. Are you all with me? I hope so. This is the simplest way to improve your English while going about your day. So, make sure you tune in every day from Monday to Friday. Let's start today's episode. We are going to be noun heavy today. The first noun we're looking at is the noun warehouse. Warehouse. How do we spell it? Ware, W A R E. House, H O U S E. Warehouse. It's one word, but I separated it there into the syllables/ˈweə-haʊs/ Warehouse. A warehouse is a large building for storing goods that are going to be sold. A warehouse. I used to work in a warehouse. I've done many jobs in my life working in a warehouse wasn't that much fun, I have to say. It was quite dark as there weren't many windows. And it was drafty because it was such a large space. And it was cold. I mean, we're in the UK, so it's cold most of the time anyway. And it was very dusty. And I found that my hands didn't like the dust. I have, I think, a dust mite allergy similar to my son. And so when my hands get dusty, my skin becomes very dry and it cracks and it's not very pleasant. So working in a warehouse wasn't for me. After a few years, I moved on. Here's another example sentence, using warehouse,"A huge fire destroyed the warehouse and most of the goods inside it." Alright, moving on. Our next noun is odd jobs. Odd jobs. Odd jobs. This is two words. First word, odd, O D D. Second word, jobs, J O B S. Jobs. Notice the S is sounded like a Z. Odd jobs. We also don't release the D sound when we put these two words together. We say odd jobs. So we bring the tip of the tongue up to the roof of the mouth, as if we're going to say D, but we don't release the tongue to release the sound: odd jobs, odd jobs. Odd jobs describes small jobs of different types, usually ones where you have to repair things or clean things. So you might ask me,"Anna, what are you doing this weekend? Anything nice?" And I'd say,"Not really, just going to stay at home and finish some odd jobs.""Oh really? What odd jobs are you doing?""Well, we have to paint the hallway because we had a leak and there's some water damage on the wall so we're going to paint the hallway. I also need to repot one of my plants and we might replace one of the doors because one of our doors is a bit of a mess and the wood's all warped. So just a few little things a few DIY jobs around the house. Oh, and I need to hand wash my dress for the wedding in a few weeks. So a few odd jobs." Here's another example sentence,"He did a lot of odd jobs when he was a student to make a bit of extra money." Now in that example, odd jobs was referring to small part time jobs or maybe temporary jobs that you do in terms of work to make money. So this can be used to both describe things that you might do in and around the home or jobs that you would do to make money. So when I was a child, I think I've mentioned this before, I used to go around the neighbourhood knocking on doors."Hello? Um, is there any, uh, is there anything you need me to do? Any odd jobs that you'd like me to take care of?" And usually, they'd shut the door on my face, but other times they'd say,"Oh yes, do you do ironing?""Uh, yes, I can do ironing." Or they might say,"Oh, could you do some weeding in the garden, please?""Yes, I can do that." And so I did these odd, one off jobs in order to make some extra pocket money. Alright, moving on. Our next noun is Autonomy. Autonomy. Autonomy. Autonomy. We spell it A U T O N O M Y. Autonomy. Autonomy. Autonomy describes the ability to make your own decisions about what to do, rather than being influenced by someone else or told what to do. So, I often try my hardest to give my children some level of autonomy. I let them make some of their own decisions around things that, you know, mean a lot to them, but aren't very important. So I let them pick what clothes they want to wear on the average day. If we're going to a big event, like a wedding, or if we're going somewhere where I know it's going to be particularly cold or particularly warm, then I will help them to make a decision, but otherwise I let them have autonomy. They can make their own decisions. Here's another example,"What she likes best about her job is the autonomy it provides." Now do you have autonomy in your job? Are you able to make your own decisions? Or are your decisions made for you? Do you have any say? Do you have any influence over what happens? Next on the list is another noun and it is safety net, two words, safety net, safety net. We spell it S A F E T Y, safety. Net, N E T. Safety net. A safety net is something that provides security against bad luck or difficulty. I guess this is kind of an idiom really. So if we talk about a safety net metaphorically then we are talking about something that is there to protect you. For example, if you have been saving for a rainy day, you've got a little pot of money that you've been saving for many years, and then suddenly you find yourself in a bad financial situation then you will feel less concerned because you have this safety net. You have this pot of money to look after you until you can get your finances back in order. A safety net could also be a very physical and real thing. For example, if you are working in the circus and you're trying to walk the tightrope and you're practising, there will often be a safety net underneath you, a huge net that will catch you if you fall. So it protects you from risk. Here's another example,"In this country, there's no safety net if you lose your job." Last on today's list is a verb and it is withstand, withstand. We spell this W I T H S T A N D, withstand. Withstand is a little bit of a mouthful. Withstand. To withstand something is to be strong enough. It means that you're not going to be changed by something. You can oppose a person or oppose a thing successfully, you can withstand it. When I hear this word, I literally imagine a man walking in gale-force winds. So the wind is blowing so strong that everything is being blown around and lifted off the ground. But there is a man standing, leaning into the wind, managing to walk forwards despite the wind blowing him. He's able to withstand the wind. Some people have very tough hands and they are able in the kitchen to withstand very hot surfaces. So, for example, there are some people who can lift a hot plate or a hot pan and hold it for a few seconds without feeling the burn, without feeling the heat, and they are able to move these pots or plates successfully whereas, I have very sensitive skin. I can feel the temperature change very quickly. So if I pick up a hot plate, I usually, like, throw it out of my hands instantly. I'll drop it on the floor and it will usually smash and I'll be like,"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was so hot." So I cannot withstand the heat. And actually, when talking about the weather, I cannot withstand the hot temperatures. When we have a heatwave here in the UK, and I'm talking about 32 degrees, and I am done. 32 degrees, I am cooked, because I cannot withstand the hot weather. Okay. So, here's another example,"Buildings in Japan are designed to withstand earthquakes." Alright, let's recap today's focus words. We started with the noun warehouse, which is a building that is meant for storing goods. Then we had the noun odd jobs, meaning the small little jobs that you might do to repair or clean things, or perhaps little one-off jobs that you get paid for. Odd jobs. Then we had the noun autonomy, which is the ability to make your own decisions, not be influenced or told what to do by other people. Then we had the noun safety net, something that protects you from risk. Then we had the verb withstand, to be strong enough to go against something or to stick to your guns, to hold firm and not be changed by something. Alright, now let's do this for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Warehouse. Warehouse. Odd jobs. Odd jobs. Autonomy. Autonomy. Safety net. Safety net. Withstand. Withstand. Very good. So, what is the noun that we use to describe something that provides security against bad luck or difficulty? Something that protects us against risk? A safety net. Absolutely. And if I want to give you the ability to make your own decisions, what do I want to give you? Autonomy. Yes, absolutely. And if I am strong enough to not be changed by something, what verb can I use to describe what I am doing? Holding strong. I am withstanding. To withstand something. And what noun would I use to describe doing lots of different types of jobs. I kind of gave it away there. Odd jobs. Odd jobs. And finally, what noun do we use to describe the large building that stores things? It's a warehouse. Nice and easy. Fantastic. Alright, listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Miles had recently taken a job in a warehouse. It wasn't exactly his dream job, But then again, none of the odd jobs that he had done over the years were dream jobs. He did them because he didn't have a choice fruit picker, cashier, office cleaner, gardener, dishwasher, janitor. There were too many to list. But he wasn't sure how he would withstand working nights in the warehouse. He worked from 10 pm to 6 am preparing orders for a big online store. Every night he had to lift heavy things and walk up and down the huge building. The job paid well though, unlike many of his previous jobs. And working nights paid even more. He figured that if he could survive for a year, he could create a safety net for himself. His plan was to save some money so he wouldn't have to work for a while. Perhaps I could go travelling, maybe move out of my apartment and live in a van, he thought. Dreaming of his future kept Miles going during those endless nights in the warehouse. Sometimes, he wondered how he would survive until 6am. But he met colleagues he got on well with. They shared stories of their lives. Chatting with them helped Miles to keep going. He met plenty of smart, capable people who, for various reasons, had ended up doing odd jobs, like working in the warehouse. Some had studied for many years. Others had lost better-paying jobs. They were all trying to survive as best they could. Although it was hard, Miles followed his plan. After a year, he left the job and used his savings to buy a van and travel for a while. He was so tired from the warehouse job that he needed a break. He looked forward to the autonomy of living on the road. Before he left, his colleagues organised a big party for him. He would never forget their kindness or how their friendship and support helped him to achieve his dream. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. Thank you so much for lending me your ears. I look forward to tickling your eardrums once again tomorrow. Until then, take very good care and goodbye.