Radio English

In today’s episode we’re discussing the Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Dame Sue Campbell, the Director of Women’s Football at the Football Association

We discuss some terms often used when talking about sport, such as 'to lag behind' and to 'have a competitive streak'. We also explain the verbs 'to collapse', 'to bombard' and 'to faint'.

In today’s episode we’re discussing the Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Michael Lewis, a non-fiction writer and journalist. We explain some words related to his career, such as what a ‘trader’ is, what it means if someone writes under a 'pseudonym' and what is meant if something ‘mushrooms’. We’ll also discuss some  of the useful phrasal verbs, such as 'set up', 'tune out' and to be 'torn between' two things. 

Links

The original Desert island Discs interview

The notes on my blog

Facebook group

Trailer of Moneyball (YouTube)

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Rupert Everett, an actor. We discuss what it means if someone has a ‘flash in the pan’ career and if they experience ‘lean’ periods. We also explain what it means if someone is described as ‘frosty’, ‘foxy’ and as having ‘a short fuse’.

Links

The original Desert island Discs interview

The notes on my blog

Facebook group

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Stephen Merchant, a writer, comedian and actor. He co-wrote the famous British sitcom ,‘The Office’, with Ricky Gervais. We discuss what a ‘sitcom’ and ‘mockumentary’ are and some of the phrases that are used in the interview, such as, ‘jack of all trades’ and when you would say that ‘butter wouldn’t melt in someone’s mouth’. We also talk about some vocab that is used to describe The Office like ‘dour’ and what it means when they say it is the comedy of ‘awkwardness’.

Links

The original Desert island Discs interview

The notes on my blog

Facebook group

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Heidi Thomas, a television screenwriter. Amongst many other words, we explain what some words related to the series, such as ‘a midwife’ and ‘umbilical cord’. We also talk about some of the useful phrases that are used like ‘out of the blue’, ‘free rein’ and what it means if something is ‘turned on it’s head’.

Links

The original Desert island Discs interview

The notes on my blog

Facebook group

In today’s episode we’re discussing the Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Russell Foster, Professor of circadian neuroscience. We’ll explain what ‘circadian’ actually means and other science related words like ‘microscope’ and ‘lab’. We’ll also talk about what it means if someone 'takes someone under their wing’ and what a ‘badge of honour’ is.

Read through a list of advanced words and phrases from the interview on my blog

Watch Russell Foster's Ted Talk, called 'Why do we sleep'.

Join the discussion in the Facebook Group

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In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Asif Kapadia, a successful British film maker. Along with many other useful words and phrases, we discuss the words ‘reels’ and ‘footage’ that relate to filmmaking. We explain what it means if someone ‘has an eye for something’ and what their ‘take’ is. 

Read through the notes for this episode on my blog

Links mentioned

The trailer for the film Amy

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Isabella Tree, a conservationist and writer. We explain words connected with nature, such as ‘scrub’ and ‘biodiversity’. We discuss the  language used in the interview when talking about doubt and unpleasant thoughts. like, ‘losing your nerve’, a ‘niggling feeling’ and a worry that ‘gnaws away’ at someone as well as the joy of having an ‘epiphany’ and what it means if you ‘turn something around’

Read through the notes for this episode on my blog

Links mentioned

Isabella's website

The Knepp estate website 

Novel called The Island

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Stephen Graham, a well known British actor that starred in the recent film The Irishman and the TV series The Line of Duty amongst many other roles. We explain terms related to acting, such as  a ‘skit’ is and what it means if something is ‘on set’. We also discuss slang words ‘to blag’ and ‘to go ballistic’ as well as many other useful words and phrases.

Read through the notes for this episode on my blog

Join the discussion in the Facebook Group

Watch the caterpillar video here!

If you have enjoyed today's episode and you have found it helpful, can you help me let others know about it too? Just leave a rating and review on itunes (and subscribe if you haven't already). That would be amazing! Thank you so much!

In today’s episode we’re discussing the radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Kimberley Motley, who is an American lawyer who works in Afghanistan. We explain what it means if something is ‘tainted’ and ‘tangible’ and the pharsal verbs ‘go off’ and ‘rock up’ amongst many other useful words and phrases.

Read through the notes for this episode on my blog

Join the discussion in the Facebook Group

If you have enjoyed today's episode and you have found it helpful, can you help me let others know about it too? Just leave a rating and review on itunes (and subscribe if you haven't already). That would be amazing! Thank you so much!