Your English Five a Day #25.2

E244: 🎙️ Welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast! I'm Anna, and you're tuning in to Week 25, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. Join me as we dive into five enriching pieces to enhance your vocabulary from Monday to Friday.

🌟 Today, let's kick off with the verb "to collapse", followed by the idiom "put to the test". Then we explore the verb "to nurture" and after that, let's delve into the adjective "jam-packed". Lastly, we'll discuss the adjective "eager".

👩‍🍼👶🏽🧒🏻After our usual pronunciation practice and quick recap, we head to Colchester, where we meet Claudia, a dedicated mother and childminder, as she navigates a jam-packed day full of nurturing and challenges.

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Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 25, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that aims to nourish your vocabulary, to help expand it by deep-diving into five pieces every day of the working week from Monday to Friday. So, let's start today's list with a verb. To collapse. To collapse. We spell this C O L L A P S E. Collapse. Collapse. Now to collapse is to fall down because you have no strength left or because you feel tired or exhausted. At the end of a long day you might collapse on your bed and fall fast asleep. Or, if you're really unwell, you might collapse at work. I once saw someone collapse on a balcony. It was very, very concerning. I thought she was going to actually fall through the rails because it wasn't a very secure balcony. It was quite open and she collapsed and had a diabetic fit. We didn't know it at the time, but we just saw her collapse and start to hang very precariously over the edge. I was working in a call centre at the time and we all looked up in horror seeing this poor lady dangling over the edge. That was very, very concerning. Also I was in Rome as a tour guide. And it was a lot of old dears, as we lovingly refer to them as. This old lady collapsed and broke her leg. It was very, very sad. It was a very warm day and I think she was just a little bit overwhelmed with the heat. But yes, a terrible end to her holiday. Nothing to do with me. It wasn't my fault. Anyway, collapse. Have you ever collapsed? I hope not. Maybe just with exhaustion if you've had a very busy day. But here's another example,"After a busy day at work and in the gym, I couldn't wait to get home and collapse on the sofa with a glass of wine and a take-away pizza!" Okay, so that's collapse. Let's move on to the next piece, which is an idiom and it is put to the test. Put to the test. Put, P U T. To the test, T E S T. Put to the test. If you are put to the test then it means you undergo a trial or you have an evaluation in order to determine your suitability or your capabilities for something. So for example, if you're promising that your course can help someone to achieve fluency, then I might want to put that to the test and I do that by trying it, giving it a go. I often encourage my viewers and my listeners to put me to the test, to come and try our Fluency Programme, I promise that I will help you to achieve fluency. And I invite you to put me to the test. Come and try it out. If you don't like it, fair enough. But at least give it a go. Okay, so, have you put something or someone to the test lately? Here's an example,"The new employees were put to the test during their first week of training to see if they were able to handle the demands of the job." Okay, so next on the list is a verb and it is to nurture. To nurture. We spell this N U R T U R E. Nurture. Notice there are two Rs in this particular word, but we don't pronounce them. Nurture. Nurture. To nurture is to care for or foster the growth and development of someone or something. So you provide the right environment for something to thrive. You nurture it. You know, we often nurture our children, or we might nurture our students, or we might nurture our plants and flowers that are in our garden, hoping that they will grow. We give them all the things they need. Here's another example,"Sandra nurtured the children in her care, she loved watching them thrive and have fun." Okay, next on the list is an adjective and it is jam-packed, jam-packed. This is a fun word. We spell it J A M. Hyphen. P A C K E D. Jam-packed. It sounds like something is full of jam, but what it means is that something is really full or crowded. So, if I say that the disco was great, but it was jam-packed. Not my cup of tea. I don't like it to be so busy. It was jam-packed, or I might say,"I couldn't believe how busy it was in town today. There must have been a sale on or something because it was jam-packed." It was actually jam-packed full of kids, lots of young teenagers. All in town, maybe there was some sort of concert or event on or something. Here's an example,"The concert was jam-packed with people, making it hard to move around, it took me 30 minutes to get to the toilets!" That sounds like my worst nightmare. I'm not a fan of dense crowds. Okay, the last piece on our list today is another adjective and it is eager. Eager. We spell this E A G E R. Listen to how I pronounce it./ˈiːɡə/. Eager. Eager. If you are eager. Then you are very keen or very interested or have a lot of enthusiasm. For example, my best students, the people I love to work with the most are those that are eager and I have many eager students, but the thing about eager students is they are often the ones that excel. Those who have a keen interest and a lot of enthusiasm for learning the language are the ones who achieve everything they set out to achieve and more. So, I encourage more eager students, please, I love working with you. Come, come to The English Like a Native website, come and join our Fluency Programme. We can really help you to achieve your goals if you are an eager student. Here's another example,"The students were eager to start their new project and worked diligently to complete it on time." Okay, so that's our five. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the verb collapse. Collapse, which is to fall down because you have no strength left. Then we had the idiom to put to the test. So, if you put something through the test, you evaluate it, you give it a trial to see if it's capable or suitable. We had the verb nurture, which is to care for something, to try and help it to grow and develop. Then we had the adjective jam-packed, which means extremely full or crowded. And we finished with the adjective eager, meaning that you have or you show a keen interest or enthusiasm for something. Alright, let's do this for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Collapse. Collapse. Put to the test. Put to the test. Nurture. Nurture. Jam-packed. Jam-packed. Eager. Eager. Fantastic. Now I'm going to give you a little test to check your memory. Many years ago I started work in a nursery. I was very keen to do my best because I loved working with children and this was something I wanted to do long term. What adjective could I use to describe myself? Being very keen and full of enthusiasm? I was eager. Yes, I was very eager to please. I really wanted to do a good job at the nursery. Now, when I walked into the room for the first time on my first day, it was absolutely full to the brim of two-year-olds all running around with sticky fingers and snotty noses. What adjective could I use instead of saying it was extremely full? It was jam-packed with two-year-olds. Absolutely. Now, this first day really was a trial for me. In both senses of the word, it was literally a trial. My first day was my trial to see if they liked me. But it was a trial for me to see if I felt like I was capable to do this particular job. So, it really was a trial in all senses of the word. Now, what idiom could I use to describe this trial to see if I was suitable and capable? Put to the test. Yes, I was put to the test on that first day with this room jam-packed full of sticky, snotty kids. It was really hard work, but at the end of the day, they loved me. I loved the job despite getting home and literally falling down face first on the sofa because I was exhausted. What verb could I use to describe this falling down? Collapse. Yes, I collapsed on the sofa at the end of that first day. Absolutely exhausted. I could barely get up to make myself dinner, but over the years, I loved working at the nursery. I particularly enjoyed being able to care for these children and creating an environment for them to grow and develop into lovely little human beings. What verb could I use to describe this caring and helping these children to grow and develop? I nurtured them. I nurtured them. And it was the most rewarding part of the job. So, let me recap that story. I started work in a nursery many years ago as an eager young woman, eager to work in the childcare industry. And I was really put to the test on that first day. It was my literal trial for the job, but also it was a trial for me to see if I really was able to be a nursery nurse. Now, when I opened the door, it was jam-packed full of two-year-olds that were very energetic, and at the end of the day I collapsed on the sofa because I was so exhausted. But I passed my test. I worked there for many years, and the most rewarding part of the job was getting to nurture these young minds and helping these children to grow into beautiful little human beings. Okay, I hope you enjoyed my off-the-cuff story. It's always a challenge for me to come up with something on the spot. I thought that was a good one today. I hope you agree. Well, now I'm going to give you a prepared story. So, sit back and listen as we revisit those words in storytime. It was another busy day for Claudia, a mother of three young children living in the friendly and family-orientated neighbourhood of Colchester. As she woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, she knew that the next 24 hours would be jam-packed with responsibilities and activities. Claudia's day started at 6 am when she had to get her three children, aged 3, 5 and 8, ready for school. As she prepared breakfast, packed lunches, and helped her kids get dressed, she was relieved to have her husband Jack home today. Together, they managed to get the kids to school on time before heading to their own jobs. Claudia worked as a childminder, taking care of other children in her home while her own kids were at school. It was a challenging job, but she loved it. She enjoyed spending time with the children and providing a safe environment for them. These children were nurtured, but the job didn't end there. After school, Claudia and Jack ran an afterschool club for children in the neighbourhood. They organised various activities and games to keep the kids engaged and entertained. Despite her busy schedule, Claudia also managed to teach piano to children twice a week at the local music centre. She had always been passionate about music, and she enjoyed passing on her knowledge to eager young learners. As the day went on, Claudia's energy and patience were put to the test. Between caring for her own children, looking after other kids, and teaching piano, she barely had a moment to herself. But she never complained. She knew that this was the life she had chosen, and she wouldn't have it any other way. As the day came to a close, Claudia tucked her children into bed and collapsed onto her own. Exhausted but fulfilled, she thought about the day she had just had. Despite the chaos and madness, she couldn't imagine her life without her three children, her job as a childminder, and her passion for music. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, ready to do it all over again the next day. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave a like, a rating or a review. It's very much appreciated. And until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.