Your English Five a Day #5.5

E108: Ever been caught in a high-pressure sales situation, not knowing how to navigate it? Prepare to master the art of negotiation and equip yourself with the power of language as we traverse the tricky waters of software sales in our latest Your English Five a Day episode. Join us on an adventure through the world of language and sales tactics, as we dissect five fascinating vocabulary words - "talkative", "install", "software", "gift of the gab", and "digitally". These words come to life in an intriguing tale about Sarah, a student determined to find affordable antivirus software for her computer. So, are you ready to add some new words to your lexicon and learn how to stand your ground? Tune in to our latest episode and embark on this educative journey with us.

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Transcript

Navigating High-Pressure Sales for Affordable Software

Speaker 1 0:01

Hello and welcome to the English Like a Native podcast. I am your host, anna, and this episode marks the end of week five for our series, your English Fiver Day. So this is week five, day five in the series where we deep dive into five new pieces of vocabulary every single day of the week. So let's kick off today's episode with our adjective talkative talkative. If you are described as being talkative, then it means that you talk a lot. I have often been described as quite talkative. I like to talk, I like to communicate. At school they use a slightly different word. They called me a chatterbox. Being a chatterbox, it means that you probably talk too much. You are talking when you should be working or focusing on what the teacher is saying, so talkative. Let me give you an example sentence. Amy is so talkative now. Wow, what a difference to last year when you couldn't get a word out of her. Now talkative is spelt T-A-L-K-A-T-I-V-E Talkative, talkative. Next on our list is the word install Install. This is a verb and in the context of computers, to install something is to put a program onto your computer so your computer can use it. So let's say you decide you want to start editing videos or you want to use a new webcam that you've bought for your computer. In most cases you will have to install a program so that you can use the video editing software, or so you can use the webcam to install, to put it in to make sure it works. Okay, so here's an example sentence. I've got so many viruses on my computer at the moment I really must install an antivirus. Software Install is spelt I-N-S-T-A-L-L Install. Next on our list is the noun software. Software is basically the instructions that controls what the computer does. Software is the computer program. So I use Final Cut Pro X for editing my videos. Software is the software. Final Cut is the software. Here's an example sentence If I buy the upgraded version of this laptop, does it come with all the necessary software? Okay, so software is spelt S-O-F-T-W-A-R-E. Software. Let's move on to our next phrase, which is an idiom, and it is gift of the gab, gift of the gab. If you have the gift of the gab, then it means you have the ability to speak easily and confidently in a way that makes people want to listen to you and believe you. It's a great skill to have the gift of the gab. Here's an example sentence You've definitely got the gift of the gab. You should be a car salesman rather than a mechanic. Gift of the gab is spelt G-I-F-T. Gift of O-F-The-T-H-E gab. G-a-b gab Gift of the gab. All right, moving on, we have the adverb digitally, digitally, digitally. I don't know why I'm laughing Digitally. Let me spell that for you now D-I-G-I-T digit and then A-L-L-Y digitally. Digitally this means in a way that uses or relates to digital signals or computer technology. So if it's a message sent digitally, then it's a message that's sent using computer technology, so it's not written on a piece of paper, it's sent via the internet, using a mobile phone or a computer or laptop, something like that Digital, digitally. Here's an example sentence I'm not digitally up to date with all the gadgets that are available. I can't even work my new alarm clock. Okay, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap. We had the adjective talkative to talk a lot. We had the verb install, to put a program onto your computer so you can use it. We had the noun software, which is the computer program, is the software. We had the fun idiom, which is gift of the gab, to be very skillful and confident with speaking. People want to listen to you and believe every word. And then we finished with the adverb digitally digitally when something is used or relates to computer technology and digital signals. Now I would like you to repeat after me listening for the pronunciation. Here we go Talkative, install, software, gift of the gab, digitally, fantastic. Let's bring everything together in a little story. As a student who spends most of her time researching and writing essays for her master's degree, sarah realized that she urgently needed antivirus software to protect her computer. However, her student budget couldn't afford the pricey brands available, so she called a recommended software company, hoping for an affordable solution. The customer representative on the other end was very talkative. He definitely had the gift of the gab. As Sarah explained her situation, the salesman began to use a persuasive tone of voice, highlighting the features of their high-end software. Despite her repeated requests for a more economical option, they persisted in promoting the expensive package. Finally, sarah interrupted the salesman's never-ending chat and once again explained her limited finances. Surprisingly, his tone changed and he told her about a lesser-known, reasonably priced software that he could digitally install for her. It wasn't as flashy as the costly ones, but it was good enough for what Sarah needed. In the end, sarah came away from the call realizing that, being self-confident and not letting someone persuade you to do something or buy something you don't need is essential when dealing with sales people. Thanks to Sarah's determination and the representative's change of heart, she ended up with the antivirus software she needed without straining her wallet, and that wraps up week five. Thank you so much for joining me. As always, I do hope you found it useful. Until next time, have a fantastic weekend, take very good care and goodbye.