# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you don't know or can't remember an exact word - don't worry! There are lots of things you can do to communicate without saying the exact word. These are very useful strategies that even native speakers use.

General words

If you can't remember the word 'surgeon', you could say a more general word like 'doctor'.

Examples

If you don't know the word 'cutlery', you could give examples such as 'knife, fork and spoon'.

Relative clauses to give a description

(It's a person who ... / thing that ... / place where ... )

If you don't know the word 'briefcase', you could say 'It's a thing that people use to carry papers to work'.

Describe the purpose or function (It's used to + infinitive / for + -ing)

If you don't know the word 'scissors', you could say 'They are used to cut paper' or 'They are used for cutting paper'.

This strategy works well with objects that have a clear use or function.

Synonyms (words that mean the same)

If you don't know the word 'tiny', you could say 'very small'.

This strategy works well with nouns and adjectives.

Antonyms (opposite words)

If you don't know the word 'weak', you could say 'not strong'.

This strategy works well with adjectives.

Approximations (It's a kind of ... / It's a sort of ...)

If you don't know the word 'bungalow', you could say 'It's a kind of house' or 'It's a sort of house'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you don't know or can't remember an exact word - don't worry! There are lots of things you can do to communicate without saying the exact word. These are very useful strategies that even native speakers use. If you can't remember the word 'surgeon', you could say a more general word like 'doctor'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Transcript

Vocabulary

How much did you understand?

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used lots of words connected to money that might be new for you. You can see two examples here:

Do you really think that medal is worth more than twenty pounds?

There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Can you remember all of them? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words in context. This can really help with understanding.

Learning

Haggling at the market

In many countries, including the UK, you can get a better price for something if you haggle. Haggling is discussing or arguing over the price of something. In the UK, it's unlikely that you will haggle over the price of something in a supermarket but it's much more common to haggle in smaller shops and at the market. It's also common to haggle over the price of big things such as cars and houses. In the podcast, Rich and Jack practised a conversation in a market. Have a look at the sentences below and decide if they are good or bad pieces of advice for haggling.

Ask the seller if he or she can reduce the price a little.

Try some . You could talk about the weather, holidays or football.

Make a very low offer but not an offer that would insult the seller.

Be patient. Don't talk about price too soon. Learn more about what you are buying.

Talk about the bad quality of the product. If it's not very good it should be cheaper!

Be positive. Say why you really like the product.

Haggling is not an exact science. With different people and in different places different advice might work better.

1. Would any of the advice above be useful in your country?

2. What haggling advice would you share?

Language

Money

In this week's podcast, Rich and Jack used a lot of words and phrases about money. We've already looked at some of these words but now we're going to look at the ten words and phrases that Rich and Jack gave definitions for. They asked you to shout the answers out or write them down. Can you remember them? In this activity, take a look at the ten words and phrases again and see how many you can remember.

Task

Have you ever got a bargain?

In the podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about money and shopping at the market. Jack thought that his football medal was a bargain. He only paid £20 for it and he thinks that it is worth more. Let's think about the definition of a bargain one more time:

A bargain is something you buy for less than its true value.

We would like you to tell us about a time when you got a bargain. We want to know:

1. What did you buy?

2. Why was it cheaper than normal?

3. Did you have to haggle?

Have you ever been ripped off?

Rich thinks that the money Jack paid for his football medal was a rip-off. Rich thinks Jack paid too much. Let's think about the definition of a and to be ripped off again.

A rip-off is something that is not worth the money which you pay for it.

To be ripped off means for someone to cheat another person by asking them to pay too much money for something.

We would like you to tell us about something that you think is a rip-off or a time when someone got ripped off.

1. What is the thing that is a rip-off? or How did the person get ripped off?

2. Why is this thing so expensive? or Why did this person pay so much money?

3. Could you haggle? or Did this person ask for his or her money back?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
выучить английский язык

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the podcast, Rich and Jack used lots of words connected to money that might be new for you. You can see two examples here: Do you really think that medal is worth more than twenty pounds? There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Can you remember all of them?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Transcript

Vocabulary

How much did you understand?

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold?

I've got a few days off in a couple of weeks so we're thinking of going away.

I wish I could get some time off but I'm snowed under at work at the moment.

There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Do you know what they all mean? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words.

Travel

In this week's podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about phrasal verbs connected to travel. If you want more information about how to use phrasal verbs take a look at our link on the side of this page.

Here are some examples from the podcast:

We'd always get picked up and dropped off at the football stadium.

To pick up or to pick someone up means to collect someone in a car or other type of transport in order to take them to a place.

To drop off or to drop someone off means to take someone to a place in a car or other type of transport.

The taxi would pick us up in the morning and drop us off in the centre of town.

In this activity, look more closely at the phrasal verbs about travel we used in this podcast. Do you know what all 10 of them mean?

Is the phrasal verb transitive or intransitive?

Intransitive verbs have no direct object. Look at this example that Jack said in the podcast:

Every year we would set off very early in the morning.

The phrasal verb to set off means to start a journey. It is an intransitive phrasal verb. It doesn't have a direct object. You can't say I will set the car off in the morning for example.

Let's look again at the phrasal verbs pick up and drop off. In the podcast, Jack said:

The taxi would pick us up in the morning and drop us off in the centre of town.

Pick up and drop off are transitive verbs. They need a direct object. In the above sentences, the direct object is in red.

Is the phrasal verb separable or not?

Intransitive verbs such as set off can never be separated but transitive verbs such as pick up and drop off can be separated. In the examples above, they were separated by the direct object . It is also possible to use these phrasal verbs without separating them:

I'll drop off those things at your house and then I'll drop Dani off at the station.

The most important thing to remember here is that pronouns (her, him, you, it etc.) always separate transitive verbs. Other direct objects such as Dani or those things can either go in the middle of a phrasal verb or after the phrasal verb.

I'll drop those things off at your house and then I'll drop off Dani at the station.

In the podcast, we looked at 10 phrasal verbs connected to travel. In this activity, look at the words and put them in the right place.

Task

Anecdote

Your task is to tell us about your own travel experience. This could be a place that you travelled to when you were a child, somewhere that you have been to lots of times or somewhere that you have been to more recently and maybe only been once. Answer the following questions:

1. Where is the place?

2. How did you get there?

3. Why did you go there?

4. Where did you stay?

5. What did you do in the place?

We want you to use as many of the phrasal verbs from this podcast as you can. Write the phrasal verbs in capital letters so everybody can see them more easily. Write your anecdote in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
выучить английский язык

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning Vocabulary - Phrasal verbs connected to travel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold? I've got a few days off in a couple of weeks so we're thinking of going away. I wish I could get some time off but I'm snowed under at work at the moment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Transcript

Vocabulary

How much did you understand?

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold?

I forgot to stretch when I was warming up. I'm just a bit stiff that's all.

You might be out of actionfor a few weeks. You should get it checked out.

There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Do you know what they all mean? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words.

Diet

In this week's podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about health and fitness. In the first roleplay they spoke about diet. Jack thought that Rich's lunch was a bit unhealthy and gave him a bit of advice on healthy eating. They focussed on three useful phrases we hear a lot when talking about diet.

Mushy peas? Disgusting! They're full of sugar and salt.

Full of is a useful phrase and phrase you often hear when talking about diet. The phrase means that to have a lot or as much as possible of something in something else. Cola is full of sugar, chocolate is full of fat, oranges are vitamin C are common phrases about diet and the stadium is fans is a phrase you might hear about football.

Fish oils are good for your brain.

Too much sugar is bad for your teeth.

Good/bad for is another phrase we hear a lot when talking about diet. We use these phrases to say something is good or bad for something else. You often hear milk is good for your bones or smoking is bad for your health.

I'd go for a jacket potato. That'll fill you up.

To fill someone up is a phrasal verb that describes a food that makes you feel full; it makes you feel like you don't want to eat anything else. It's also a common phrasal verb to use at the petrol station. You might need to say: Can you fill it up, please? when asking for petrol for your car.

Task

In the podcast, Jack and Rich gave you three tasks connected to this vocabulary.

1. Can you complete the sentences using the phrase full of?
2. What are these three items good or bad for?

green, leafy vegetables

fizzy drinks

wholemeal bread

3. Can you tell us a dish or food from your country that would fill you up? Write your answers in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Fitness

In the second roleplay, Rich and Jack spoke about fitness. Jack had just been for a run an Rich is thinking about joining taking up running for the first time. They focussed on three useful phrases we hear a lot when talking about fitness.

If you start running, take it easy at first and don't forget to stretch.

The phrase don't forget to is very useful when you want to remind someone to do something. Other common uses include: don't forget to do your homework, don't forget to lock the door and don't forget to turn off the lights.

I started going to the gym last week. I really need to get onto shape. You know, I need to lose a few kilos.

The phrase to get into shape is an idiom that means to do more exercise and become physically fit. Other phrases with a similar meaning that you might hear include: I need to get fit and trim, I need to lose a few kilos/pounds or I really need to slim down.

You need to warm up before you start running and you need to cool down when you finish.

Warm up and are both phrasal verbs and are both connected to fitness and exercise. These are the easy exercises that you do before an activity (warm up) and after an activity (cool down).

If you want to learn more about how to speak about diet and fitness, you will find lots of activities in lessons four and five of our activity week. If you haven't signed up for it yet, you can sign up here:

https://premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org/live/activity-week-health-and-fitness

Vocabulary

Football Phrase

Every week in the podcast, we have a new football phrase for you to guess. Last week's football phrase was to put the ball out of play. This phrase means:

To accidentally, or on purpose if a player is injured, kick the ball of the pitch.

Many of our listeners made a guess and well done to those of you who got it right! Congratulations to the following listeners:

Liubomyr from Ukraine

Kwesimanifest from Ghana

Violonka from Ukraine

Nikotin from Bulgaria

Lynnhtetmyo from Myanmar

Lakerwang from China

Toha_23 from Ukraine

Milos from Serbia

Try to guess this week's football phrase and we will mention you on this page next week! You can find the football phrase near the end of the podcast.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
выучить английский язык

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold? I forgot to stretch when I was warming up. I'm just a bit stiff that's all. You might be out of actionfor a few weeks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vocabulary exercises to help learn words to talk about health.

# data[].attributes.body
GESE Grades 4-6: Elementary stage

What’s in the exam?

At Elementary stage, GESE exams take the form of a topic discussion and an unscripted conversation with a Trinity examiner.

Topic discussion - on a prepared topic of the candidate’s choice

Conversation - about two subjects selected from a list by the examiner

Length: 10 minutes

# data[].attributes.body
1. Travel
2. Money
3. Fashion
4. Rules and Regulation
5. Health and Fitness
6. Learning a foreign language

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
© British Council The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).