This week we're looking at animal idioms. Surprisingly there's not as many of these as you might imagine (there's far more of the body part ones from last week!) This weeks idioms are: A frog in your throat: Have you got a cold? It sounds like you've got a frog in your throat. As mad as a box of frogs: Watch out for that one, he's as mad as a box of frogs. At a snails pace: Come on! Let's go! You always walk at a snails pace! Watch like a hawk: Careful, he's watching you like a hawk. The world is your oyster: Just remember, the world is your oyster. Hold your horses: Wait! Hold your horses! We're not in a hurry! Pet peeve: Being late is one of my pet peeves. Additional Vocabulary: erratically - doing something in an unpredictable, random or even dangerously irregular way predictably - doing something in a way that we can figure out what will happen next homing pigeon - these are birds who have been trained to find a particular location, they are often in races to see which birds get home fastest. Mad as a box of ferrets - idiom - used just like 'mad as a box of frogs' to mean someone or something is crazy Mad as a hatter - idiom - as above, same meaning and use. Slow coach - idiom - used to mean someone is always going slowly Bird of Prey/ hawk - large birds who hunt small animals or other birds, in the UK our biggest bird of prey is the Golden Eagle in Scotland, you can now commonly see Red Kites in Wales and Southern England after a very effective reintroduction program a few years ago. #emmaseslenglish #english #englishgrammar #englishidioms #englishidiomsandphrases

This week we're learning some English idioms that use body parts! There are SO many of these so do Google for more if you'd like. I mentioned Rob Words, here's his YouTube video trying to trace English back through time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeAx3QZ7eRs Episodes 179 and 180 of this podcast both talk about the different influences on English and why it's so complicated. There is an English Idioms playlist on my YouTube page if you'd like more. Today's idioms are: A list as long as my arm: I've got a list as long as my arm of ideas. Give the cold shoulder: It was going great, but suddenly she started giving me the cold shoulder. Don't hold your breath: Look, I know you want an answer but everyone's busy so don't hold your breath. To breathe down someone's neck: I know he want's it, he hasn't stopped breathing down my neck since Tuesday! At the top of your lungs: Hey! Calm down! There's no need to yell at the top of your lungs! Joined at the hip: Oh those two, they're in the honeymoon phase, always joined at the hip! Additional Vocabulary all the ins and outs - idiom - all of the little details going/blowing/running hot and cold - idiom - sometimes likes you sometimes hates you so it's difficult to know how they really feel Ghosting - a modern term referring to when someone is talking and everything seems fine and then suddenly disappears, mostly used for acquaintances or people you met online Finite - something that is limited Honeymoon phase - idiom - refers to the very happy time after someone gets married or starts a new relationship when their partner can do no wrong Lovey-dovey - English phrase describing people who seem very much in love. #emmaseslenglish #englishidioms #englishidiomsandphrases #englishvocabulary

This week we're going on a little road trip. We're going into the Lake District National Park in the North West of England. We're specifically going for a walk around a lake called Buttermere.

I show you a picture of the road we're on in the video, this was taken from Google Maps. So if you'd like you can head to Google Maps and use the man to drive down this road exactly and see where we were. You can search on Google Maps for 'Buttermere Lake, Cumbria, UK'.

Alternatively you can put in the Longitude, Latitude of 54.566024, -3.299059. The road name is B5289, once you put the little orange man down on the road you can just click through in a South Easterly direction until you get to Buttermere and you'll be following our route.

Places I mentioned today were Crummock Water, Rannerdale Valley and Buttermere (actually 'mere' is an English word for lake so it literally means Butter Lake).

Vocabulary

Glacier - Big blocks of ice that cut through valleys and mountains, some still exist in New Zealand and South America, but they would have covered the UK during an ice age.

Ordinance Survey Map - this is a kind of map you can buy in the UK (they also have a website) which is very detailed and necessary if you want to walk in the mountains and not get lost.

Aficionado - someone who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about something (probably stole this from the French)

Connoisseur - an expert judge about the taste of things (definitely stole this from the French!)

Scone - a favourite British snack. Sort of a little cake, often with dried fruit like sultanas in. Can be served with cream or jam or both or butter and jam.

Push Chair - also buggy, pram - all words to describe the chair on wheels for children.

Mobility Situation - just referring to someone who might have limited mobility, need help walking or perhaps be in a wheelchair.

Dwindling - to reduce in size or amount

Several months ago I got scammed. It took hours out of my time, both in the original phone call and in cleaning up the mess. And a lot of stress. This is the story of that experience.

I hope that in telling you this story you will remember some things that will help you avoid a similar experience. Please do not underestimate how crafty these people are and how much they want your hard earned cash!

Vocabulary

thrown into a panic - idiom - to get panicked, to suddenly get worried about something

Plausible - something that is very believable and seems sensible and logical and absolutely possible.

Legit - shortened version of 'legitimate' common slang version, meaning something seems honest and true and the real thing.

to set off warning bells - idiom - to make you start to feel worried or concerned that something is wrong

late in the game - used to describe something that is happening at the end of an experience or something that seems to have been left for longer than we would expect

got my back up - idiom - something that made you upset or angry

groomed - 2 definitions: the first, just cleaning or brushing an animal to look good. The second, the purpose of preparing or training someone for a particular purpose or activity. More recently this second definition has a very negative connotation and refers to the process of a sinister person making an innocent person believe the sinister person is good and coercing the innocent person into actions they would otherwise not do. We can see this term often used in conversations about abuse, including domestic, sexual and child abuse. In this scenario I was using it to describe how the scammers prepared my brain, making me feel simultaneously stressed and cared for, so that I would not question them when they finally asked for my private information.

the last leg - idiom - similar to 'late in the game', 'the last leg' refers to the final part or step of something

Galling - to feel upset, annoyed and resentful

to add insult to injury - idiom - used to describe when something bad has already happened and then something worse happens. Especially used when someone has done something bad to you.

Crafty - good at achieving goals by indirect or deceitful methods

I'm back doing episodes this week and we're starting this month with a series of stories. The first is just a little update on my decorating, since that's what's taken up SO much of my time this summer. A big thank you to my Uncle, who created my bedroom window seat and my Mum (who is very clever!) and made 3 cushion covers very very carefully out of not really enough material. It is delightful to now have somewhere to hang out and read. Vocabulary putting it off - to procrastinate or avoid doing something sanding - to use sand paper to scrub off excess paint, or lumps or flatten a surface damp - when your walls or buildings have water coming through haphazard - in a disorganised or messy, chaotic way #emmaseslenglish #english #englishconversation #englishstory

Do you get frustrated with the need to learn three different words to describe the same thing in English? Do we really need all of these varieties? What actually is the point, the benefit, of having 10 ways to describe rain? Or 100 ways to describe how you feel? In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from George Orwell's 1984. This book is a dystopia novel, so darkness is kind of the point! He's trying to show us what the worst case scenario might look like, so we can avoid it. Through this reading you can see one possible idea of what English (or potentially any language) would or could look like if we remove it's variety, if we take out all the antonyms and synonyms, what's left? And would it really matter? In this episode I mention two other episodes you can check out. Episode 180 International Influences On The English Language - Talks about the influences of Viking, Indian and African languages on English. https://youtu.be/YatbgD9Yfsw Episode 179 Why Is English Spelling So Hard?😱 - Looks at the historical roots of some of English's weird spelling. https://youtu.be/4MWFHnoVnt8 I also mentioned a recent video by linguist creator Rob Words called 'Tracing English back as far as possible'. This video uses maps and work by current and historical linguists to identify the potential mother of English and what similarities we can find between English and other languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeAx3QZ7eRs I hope you find this episode interesting and it helps you feel a little less frustrated with the diversity and variety in English. It's frustrating to learn, but that diversity is definitely also a strength. Think about how you might use English to express yourself differently to how you might express yourself in your own language. See you next time.

Vocabulary

Purloin - steal something

Linguistic - the study of languages

Sanskrit - an ancient (still used) language in India

Examine - to look at closely

Proto Indo European - The linguistic name of one of the proposed earliest languages

Incidentally - by the way, used to add more information

Dystopian - fictional story genre with end of the world types of stories

Authoritarian - a form of government that has absolute power over the people

Excerpt - a short piece of something, usually reading from a book

Audacity - bold or arrogant disregard for normal behaviour

Infuriating - to make you very angry

Relevant - connected to something or a context related to our conversation or topic

Definitive - complete and final

Cut down to the bone - idiom - something is reduced as far as it can be.

Obsolete - out of date, no longer in use

Wastage - the process of losing or destroying something

Synonym - words with the same meanings

Antonym - words with opposite meanings

Vague - unclear or undefined

Afterthought - something that we add later

Lack of enthusiasm - not having excitement for something

Thought Crime - this and words like 'New Speak' are vocabulary invented in the book. Thought Crime defines the idea that you can be guilty of a crime just for thinking differently to how the government wants you to think

Rigidly - without flexibility

Subsidiary - less important but related to something

Self-Discipline - to have self-control

Revolution - the act of rising up against an organisation or government and changing it

Literature - the poems, books and words that make up the stories we read, often used for 'great' or 'classical' works

Slogan - a group of words used to sell an idea

Abolished - to destroy completely, usually for organisations, ideas and laws

Orthodoxy - authorised theory, doctrine or practise

Far-right - often related to authoritarian ideas, often describes people who are against immigrants, choice and freedom

Mainstream - commonly in use by the general public

Woke - aware of important facts (especially around racism)

Eradicate - to get rid of completely

Radical - asking for complete change

Inflict - to cause pain or discomfort to someone else

Welcome back to the channel! In this episode I answer a learner question: how do I speak English well at a conference? In this episode we'll dive into why speaking English in stressful environments or situations is so challenging. Why is your English so impossible to use right when you need it? Is there anything to be done about it? If you can't practise your English in these situations, then what should you do? No worries, I have answers for all these questions. Sorry, I was a little excited to be back so I did go pretty fast and my British accent is in full force! Hope it's OK. Any additional questions, pop them in the comments! (We now have comments on Podcasts! Exciting!) See you next time. #emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast #englishspeaking #confidence #publicspeaking

Just a quick update for everyone, I know it's been a while. I haven't disappeared, but I have been busy. There will be new episodes uploaded here, but they will be rather random. If you'd like me to cover anything you're always welcome to let me know via email: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com I'm also opening up all the previous episodes on YouTube so you can access those whenever you want.

https://www.youtube.com/@emmaseslenglish The website has gone but all the vocabulary has been moved into the descriptions on the videos and I will continue doing that going forward. Hope to see you soon. Hope everything has been OK with you while I was gone.