Your English Five a Day #38.2

E327: 🎙️ Welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast! I'm your host, Anna, and you're tuning in to Week 38, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. This podcast is your daily companion to enhance your listening skills, expand your vocabulary, and boost your confidence in using the English language.

🔍 The first word on the list is the noun "procession", followed by the verb "peer".  Then, we take a look at the idiom "take someone for a fool" and the verb "cement".
Last but not least, we finish with another verb, "swirl".

💍 Don't forget to tune in to the pronunciation practice segment, and a quick quiz to review the words. In today's story time, we join Marcus, as he plans to propose to his girlfriend Amelia with his grandmother's ring, but discovers a surprising twist. Will this revelation affect their love story?

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Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 38, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. This is your daily resource to help you to improve your listening skills, expand your vocabulary, and generally feel more confident using the English language. So let's start today's episode with the noun, procession, procession. We spell this P R O C E S S I O N. Procession. Procession. A procession is a group of people or vehicles moving in a line. And this is especially in a formal or ceremonial way. Now, the things that spring to mind are parades. If you have a parade or a carnival, then you will have a procession of floats and dancers and people in fancy dress. And then if you also have the very sad occasion of a funeral, there will often be a funeral procession either on the way to the service, people following the coffin along the streets until they reach the place where the session will be held, or after the service, or both, there may be a procession to the final resting place. So, a procession. Here's another example,"We went to a festival procession in the local village at the weekend, the costumes were amazing, and the dancers really put on a show." Next on the list is the verb peer, peer. We spell this P E E R. Peer. Peer. To peer is to look closely and carefully at something, typically to assess its value or quality. Here's an example sentence,"The jeweller peered at the diamond through a magnifying glass to determine its authenticity." When I was younger and first stepping out onto stage, I found it quite disconcerting having all the people in the audience just sitting there peering at me. I felt like I was being judged because they were staring at me, looking at every item of clothing I had on, looking at my hair, listening to the sound of my voice and watching my body language. I really felt like I was being judged. Every single inch of me being judged and it made me feel very uncomfortable. And I remember at that time thinking, goodness, I want to have a career where I present and perform in front of people on a regular basis, but this makes me so uncomfortable. How do I get over this? And eventually, I did. Next on the list is an idiom, and the idiom is take someone for a fool. Take someone for a fool. Take, T A K E. Someone for a fool, F O O L. To take someone for a fool is to trick or deceive someone or try to make them look foolish and silly. Here's an example sentence,"Laura promised the money would be there by this morning, but she was just taking me for a fool. Now I owe the car dealer£6,000!" Have you ever been taken for a fool? Has anyone ever deceived you to make you look silly? Next on the list is the verb cement, to cement something. So cement, we spell this, C E M E N T. Cement. Cement. To cement something means to make something secure or lasting, or to strengthen something or fix it firmly. Here's an example sentence,"The victory cemented Jason's position as a leader in the party. His votes totally outweighed those of his competitors." And last on the list is the verb swirl, swirl. We spell this S W I R L, swirl. To swirl is to move in a circular or spiral motion, often with a whirling or twisting effect. So at the moment, the wind is blowing quite hard. When I was on the high street earlier today, I saw a plastic bag that someone had discarded and the plastic bag was swirling around in the air, just moving round in a circular motion, hoping that someone will grab it and put it firmly in the bin. Here's another example,"I love watching the leaves swirl around the ground in the breeze. There's something really calming about it." So that's our five. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the noun procession, which is that group of people or vehicles moving in a line, usually for some sort of ceremony or something formal. We had the verb to peer, which is to take a close look at something, usually to assess it. Then we had the idiom, take someone for a fool, which is to trick or deceive someone, making them seem foolish. We had the verb cement, to make something secure or lasting, or to strengthen or fix something firmly. Then we had the verb swirl, which is to move in a circular or spiral motion. So let's do this for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat. After me. Procession. Procession. Peer. Peer. Take someone for a fool. Take someone for a fool. Cement. Cement. Swirl. Swirl. Very good. Okay. Tell me, what is the verb that means to make something secure and lasting? Cement, to cement something. Absolutely. And what's the idiom that means to trick or deceive someone? To take someone for a fool. Yes. What's the verb that means to look closely at something? To peer. Very good. And what noun would we use to describe a line of vehicles that will drive down the road in a ceremonial way? A procession. Yes. And finally, what's the verb that means to move in a circular motion? To swirl. Excellent. Listen out for this target vocabulary in today's storytime. Marcus and Amelia had been together for three years. They had created a happy home for themselves. So Marcus decided it was time to cement their relationship by getting married. When he announced his plans to his parents, his mum went into her bedroom and came back with a small black box. He opened it. Inside was a sparkling ring."This was your grandmother's engagement ring. It's a diamond. I want you to have it." Marcus got up and hugged his mum, grateful for her support and for passing on this piece of family history. Marcus noticed that the ring needed a good clean. The next day, he took it to a jeweller. He explained it was his grandmother's diamond ring, and that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend with it. The jeweller peered at the stone. After what felt like hours, he looked up with an apologetic expression."It needs a good clean, alright. And there's another problem. This isn't a diamond. It's a well-crafted cubic zirconia.""You're kidding me.""Do you still want me to clean it?" asked the jeweller. Marcus nodded as angry thoughts swirled around in his brain. A dishonest jeweller had taken his grandfather for a fool by selling him an impressive fake. The ring had fooled the whole family. Although he wanted to impress Amelia with a diamond ring, he knew she wouldn't mind. What mattered was the proposal, not how fancy the ring was. He was right. She said yes without hesitation. And she laughed when she heard the story of the fake diamond. A few months later, the wedding procession made its way down the aisle. Amelia's stunning white dress swirled around her ankles while her fake diamond sparkled in the sunlight. Even if the diamond is fake, our love is for real, he thought, as he watched her walk towards him. Thank you so much for listening. I do hope you enjoyed today. Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.