Emma's ESL English

This week we're reading another Engoo Article: Level up your language skills by thinking in English.

This week we have a bit of a silly episode focused on the pronunciation of the 'f' sound.

Episode 87 covers more pronunciation.

You can find the YouTube video here:

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 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.

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

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

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?

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!

Just a quick update for everyone, I know it's been a while. I haven't disappeared, but I have been busy.

https://www.youtube.com/@emmaseslenglish