Your English Five a Day #5.2

E105: Are you ready to supercharge your English vocabulary? Join me, Anna, as we explore five intriguing English words and phrases in another delightful episode of the Your English Five a Day series. This episode is a treasure trove of learning, with a focus on 'admission', 'admit', 'give in', 'narrow-minded', and the idiom 'in the zone'. You'll get to know the meanings, examples, and correct pronunciation of these words, a perfect way to make your English sound more fluent and natural. Hang on till the end as we weave these words into a captivating story of John and Laura, two divorcees stepping into the world of blind dating! So, tune in, and let's continue this exciting journey of mastering English together!

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Transcript

Anna 0:01

Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast. I'm your host, anna, and today is week five, day two, of the wonderful new series your English Fiver Day. I say wonderful, self-proclaimed wonderful series. I have been getting some really good feedback about this series. So whether you are heading off to work and this fits into your schedule perfectly or whether you just enjoy listening to a shorter episode as you go about your daily business, then I'm glad you are enjoying it. I'm glad to be with you. I did have a request that I include the spellings of the words that I'm introducing, and so I will bow to that request and and honor your request. So from now on, I will be spelling out the words. Let's get on with it. Today, our first word is a noun and it is admission admission spelt A-D-M-I-S-S-I-O-N, a-d-m-i-s-s-i-o-n. Admission. In this case, admission is the cost, charge or price of entering somewhere. It could also mean the permission to enter a place. I give you admission. If you are admitted into hospital, then you are given admission into hospital. You're given the permission to enter the premises and become a patient. But often when we go to an attraction or a museum, a park if it's a very special park then you may have to pay an admission fee. So the admission charge or the admission fee is how much you have to pay in order to enter. Here's an example sentence the students were refused entry to the club because they didn't have enough money to pay the admission fee. Next on our list is the verb admit Admit. It's spelt A-D-M-I-T A-D-M-I-T. Admit. To admit something is to accept that something is true. Often this is associated with accepting blame as well. So if a vase your favourite vase is now lying in pieces on the floor, just shattered, and you look around at several very guilty-looking faces and say who did it? Who broke my vase? Hopefully someone will admit it, someone will accept that they are to blame for this broken vase on the floor. But maybe no one will admit it. Maybe everyone will conceal what truly happened. Here's an example sentence. I must admit I didn't expect to like this sushi, but it's actually really tasty. Next on our list is a phrasal verb and it is give in, to give in. The spelling here is quite simple the first word, g-i-v-e, the second word, i-n, g-i-v-e, i-n. Give in. This means to finally agree with what someone wants, especially after you've refused for a period of time. So if you resist, resist, resist and then you stop resisting and you go with whatever's being forced upon you. Then you give in to it. This always reminds me of being a young girl and my dad would like to play fight and he do things like bend my arm up my back when we were play fighting or he would be tickling me. He'd have me in a hold and he'd be tickling me until you know I couldn't bear it anymore and I'd have to shout give in, give in. I give in, I give in, please stop. Or it have to shout mercy, mercy, have, mercy. Anyway. That's the story for another time. So give in reminds me of surrendering to my dad and asking him to stop, saying I will stop playing if you stop playing, okay. So here's an example sentence okay, I give in, I'll go on that blind date with Matt, but you have to be around, just in case I need an excuse to leave. Next on our list is the adjective narrow-minded. We spell this as N-A-R-R-O-W-M-I-N-D-E-D. Narrow-minded, narrow-minded. If you are narrow-minded, then you are not willing to accept others ideas or ways of behaving if it's different to your own. Here's an example sentence. Why are you always so narrow-minded if you just listened to what others have to say, you'd be much happier. Next on our list is the idiom in the zone Three words I-N-N-T-H-E-V-Z-O-N-E zone. This means to be happy and excited because you're doing something skillfully and easily. So it's that time when you are really relaxed and comfortable and getting on with something, something you enjoy doing, and you're in the zone. You're having a great time, you're enjoying the task that you're doing. Here's an example sentence it's hard to get going in the gym at first, but after 20 minutes I'm really in the zone. Alright, that was our five for today. Let's recap. We had admission, which is something that you pay to enter a place or it's the permission that you're given to enter a place. We have the verb to admit, which is to accept that something is true, or to own up to doing something wrong, to accept blame. We have the phrase of verb give in, which is to finally agree to what someone wants, especially after refusing to do it for a period of time. We had the adjective narrow-minded, which is unwillingness to accept other ideas or other ways of behaving. We had the idiom in the zone, which is to be really happy, comfortable and excited, just doing what you're doing in a skillful and easy way. Let's try now for pronunciation. So please repeat after me Admission, admit, give in narrow-minded in the zone. Okay, let's bring everything together in a little story. John and Laura, both recently divorced, decided to give love another chance by agreeing to a blind date. The date was the idea of a mutual friend who had insisted that they give it a go. The friend organized everything their choice of venue, a fancy nightclub with a £50 admission fee and a couple's only policy. It started well, with lots of positive small talk and a few giggles. John kindly offered to pay and everything seemed promising At first. John and Laura both got involved in a cocktail making tutorial put on by the bartender. It wasn't John's cup of tea, as he preferred beer to spirits, but he tried his best to take part with the activity as he could see that Laura was really in the zone. However, as the night went on, it became clear that their meeting wasn't going well. Despite their shared experience of divorce, they found it difficult to connect. Talking openly of their past failed marriages only highlighted their emotional baggage. Neither was willing to admit their true weaknesses and though they had both given in to their friend's request for a blind date, they weren't ready to seriously consider the possibility of a new relationship. The conversation turned tense, revealing narrow-minded views and a lack of compatibility. The once vibrant atmosphere of the club seemed distant as they struggled to find anything in common other than divorce. They left the nightclub feeling disappointed, realising that they were simply not ready to start a new romantic journey together. But it wasn't a complete waste of time. They both learned how to make an incredible mojito. Okay, that finishes today's episode. I do hope you found it useful. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.