PODCAST FOR IELTS LISTENING

✓ Sample Listening Practice

✓ British Accent
✓ Glossary
✓ Audio Script

IMPROVE YOUR
LISTENING SKILL
For IELTS Exam
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INSTRUCTOR

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 IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILL FOR IELTS

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

pandemic
disease that affects many people around the world

take hold
become stronger and is difficult to stop

wimpy
feeble or not very strong

sheer
great or significant

kicks in
starts to happen

genome
the full amount of genetic information of something

Transcript 🎧 Track 1
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Georgina
And I’m Georgina.

Neil
In this programme we’re talking about something the
whole world knows about – coronavirus.

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Georgina
Sadly, Covid-19 has been responsible for more than two
million deaths globally.

Neil
What’s believed to have started in the city of Wuhan in
China went on to become a pandemic – a disease that
affects many people around the world.

Georgina
Unsurprisingly, we’ve discussed this a lot on 6 Minute
English but over a year on since the first outbreak, it’s
good to take stock – or look back over the situation and
see what we have learnt - and find out how our knowledge
has changed.

Neil
Before we do that, Georgina, let’s test your knowledge
with a question. In 1918/1919 another major virus known
as Spanish flu, swept across the world. Do you know
approximately, how many people were infected by it?
Was it…

a) 5 million
b) 50 million, or
c) 500 million?

Georgina
Well, I know it was bad, so I’m going for the awful
number of 500 million.

Neil
OK, I’ll reveal the right answer later on. Now, back to the
current coronavirus pandemic. It was only at the end of
December 2019 when reports of a new flu-like infection

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first came out of China. Within weeks, millions of people

were in lockdown as the virus took hold around the
world.

Georgina
Took hold means it became stronger and was difficult to
stop. We all had to change the way we lived to stop it
spreading. But while we played our part by washing our
hands, wearing masks and staying at home, some people
were busy working for a solution to fight this deadly virus.

Neil
You’re talking about the scientists, Georgina. Their
response was immediate and it’s something the BBC
World Service programme Science in Action has been
reflecting on.

Georgina
At the beginning of the outbreak, Jenny Rohn, a virologist
from University College London, spoke to the programme
about her concerns if the virus turned out to be like flu.
Here’s what she said…

Jenny Rohn, virologist, University College London

Seasonal flu is a huge killer and you’ve probably seen the
numbers, it makes the Wuhan virus look a bit wimpy,
that’s simply because of the sheer number of people that
flu infects every year. And if the Wuhan virus started
spreading like that and going all over the world, you would
see a lot of people dead. This is why people are worried.

Neil
So we know flu is a virus that can spread easily and can
affect many many people. This is why, at the time,
comparing it with the new coronavirus made Covid look

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‘wimpy’ – that’s a word to describe something or

someone that’s feeble - not very strong.

Georgina
Yes, Jenny called the great or significant numbers of
people affected by flu as sheer numbers. The fear at the
time was if coronavirus spread like flu, it would kill many
people.

Neil
Well, we all know what happened next – it did spread. But,
working behind the scenes, scientists developed tests we
could use to see if we were infected.

Georgina
But the main challenge was to develop a vaccine that
could stop us becoming infected altogether. This involved
people around the world working together to share
information.

Neil
This work started straight away and Dr Peter Dazak,
Zoologist and President of EcoHealth Alliance, told the
Science in Action programme that this initial response in
China helped with the development of a vaccine…

Dr Peter Dazak, Zoologist and President of EcoHealth

Alliance
Despite what everyone says, you know, they had a
system to find unusual pneumonia cases. We now think
that that system kicked in, maybe not on the first actual
case of Covid, but certainly within a couple of months of
the first case, it seems. So that’s quite quick. And then
from that point, to actually getting a full genome, genetic
sequence of the virus, was very quick – and getting that

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published and publically available – and then rapidly

developing diagnostic tests and vaccines now – that’s
really worked well.

Neil
So China had a scientific system which kicked in – or
started happening – quite quickly. Within a few months of
the first coronavirus outbreak, experts began to work out
the full genome of the virus – that’s the full amount of
genetic information of something.

Georgina
This genetic information was made publically available
and helped towards the development of various vaccines
that we see now – which is hopefully our way out of this
pandemic.

Neil
Let’s hope so, Georgina. The science is amazing and is
explained in more detail in the BBC’s Science in Action
programme. But now let’s get back to our quiz question.
Earlier I asked you how many people were infected by
Spanish flu back in 1918/1919?

Georgina
I guessed 500 million. Was I right?

Neil
You were, Georgina. An incredible 500 million people
around the world were infected by the Spanish flu virus
and over 50 million people died worldwide.

Georgina
Well, the death toll from coronavirus hasn’t been that
bad, but is still a significant number.

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Neil
OK, well we’ve just time to recap some of the vocabulary
we’ve discussed today. Starting with pandemic – a
disease that affects many people around the world.

Georgina
When something took hold, it means it became stronger
and was difficult to stop.

Neil
The word wimpy describes something or someone
that’s feeble or not very strong.

Georgina
Something that is sheer is great or significant – so sheer
numbers means a great amount of something.

Neil
When something kicks in it starts to happen.

Georgina
And a genome is the full amount of genetic information
of something.

Neil
Well, we’re out of time but there’s lots more 6 Minute
English programmes to enjoy on our website at
bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgina
And if you like topical discussions and want to learn how
to use the vocabulary found in headlines, why not try out
our News Review podcast? You’ll find programmes
specifically about Covid-19 and lots of other interesting
topics. Remember we also have an app that you can

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download for free from the app stores. And of course, we

are on most social media platforms.

Neil
Thanks for listening and goodbye.

Georgina
Goodbye.

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

tsunami
large wave caused by an earthquake that flows inland
causing death and destruction

handicrafts
skilfully handmade traditional objects like jewellery,
textiles and pottery

vulnerable
unprotected, weak, open to harm

food security
the ability of a country to produce or obtain enough food
to feed its population

heartbreaking
causing a strong feeling of sadness

get back on your feet

be okay again after having problems or difficulties in life

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Transcript 🎧 Track 2
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I'm Sam.

Rob
And I'm Rob.

Sam
What do Britain, Greenland, Australia, Hawaii, and Cuba
all have in common, Rob?

Rob
Are you planning your summer holidays, Sam? Or is it
that they're all islands?

Sam
Right, Rob, they are all islands, but that's about all they
have in common. There's as much variety in the world's
islands as in the people who live there!

Rob
In tourist holiday magazines, Pacific islands like Fiji,
Tonga and Tahiti look like paradise, with tropical
rainforests, white, sandy beaches and turquoise blue sea.
But in reality, life is far from paradise for these island
communities. In 2022, the island of Tonga suffered
a tsunami - a huge wave caused by an earthquake that
flowed inland, killing people and causing largescale
damage. The destruction was terrible and added to the
continuing crisis of rising sea levels threatening the
island's survival.

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Sam
In this programme we'll be hearing some Pacific islander
voices and, as usual, learning some new vocabulary too.
But first I have a question for you, Rob. We already named
some islands, large and small, but how much of the
world's population, do you think, lives on an island?

a) 11 percent
b) 15 percent
c) 20 percent

Rob
Ooh, that's a tricky question! It can't be that many, so I'll
guess a) 11 percent.

Sam

OK, Rob. I'll reveal the correct answer at the end of the
programme. The South Pacific is home to thousands of
low-lying islands dotted across miles of Pacific Ocean.
With rising sea levels, it's predicted that many of these
islands will simply disappear in coming years.

Rob
And if that wasn't bad enough, the effects of climate
change are making life difficult for these island
communities right now. The tsunami that hit Tonga left
the main island, Tonga Tarpu, in ruins. One of those
leading the clean-up was, Ofa Ma'asi Kaisamy, manager
of the Pacific Climate Change Centre. She told BBC
World Service programme Business Daily the extent of
the problem.

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Ofa Ma'asi Kaisamy

The projected impacts of climate change on agriculture

and fisheries will undermine food production systems in
the Pacific. Our Pacific people are also dependent on
crops, livestock, agriculture, fisheries, handicrafts for
food security and income, and these sectors are also
highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Sam
The economy of many islands like Tonga depends on
tourism, farming or fishing, and on handicrafts - skilfully
making traditional objects like jewellery, textiles or pottery
by hand. These are usually sold to tourists, but
when tsunamis keep the tourists away, local jobs
become vulnerable - unprotected and open to damage.

Rob
This affects not only handicrafts, but Tonga's ability to
produce enough food to feed its population, something
known as food security.

Sam
As the effects of climate change hit the local economy,
young people are leaving Tonga to find work elsewhere.
Tonga Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship is a
project working with local organisations to help young
people start businesses and find jobs. Here's project
director, Lusia Latu-Jones, speaking with BBC World
Service's Business Daily.

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Lusia Latu-Jones

It can be emotional, very emotional and heartbreaking to

see what's happening in our island… but it's even harder
when you see young people coming through… just
looking, looking for chance to help their families, for them
to get on their feet again. So the question we ask
ourselves as an organisation is how can we address
these challenges to better support our people so that they
can get back on their feet, feed their families.

Rob
We can hear the emotion in Lusia's voice when she
describes the situation facing young Tongans
as heartbreaking - causing strong feelings of sadness.

Sam

She says her role is to help people get back on their

feet, an idiom which means be able to function again
after having difficulties in life.

Rob

The many problems Tongans face are made worse by

perhaps the biggest problem of all - the fact that poverty,
hunger and the loss of their traditional culture is being
caused by the carbon emissions of larger countries
halfway around the world. If we all learned to adapt our
lifestyle, just as Pacific islanders have done, it may not yet
be too late to change the fate of their island paradise.

Sam
And the fate of the millions living on other islands too,

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which reminds me of my question, Rob! Eleven percent of

us are islanders, which works out as over 730 million
people.

Rob
OK, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme
starting with tsunami - a very large wave that flows
inland causing death and destruction.

Sam
Many islanders produce handicrafts - handmade
traditional objects like jewellery, textiles and pottery.

Rob
Someone who is vulnerable is weak or unprotected.

Sam
The phrase food security refers to a country's ability to
produce enough food to feed its population.

Rob
When something is heartbreaking, it makes you feel
very sad.

Sam
And finally, to get back on your feet means to be okay
again after having difficulties in life.

Rob
Once again our six minutes are up! Goodbye for now.

Sam
Bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

metaphor
way of describing a person or thing by comparing it to
something else, often found in poetry and literature

It's raining cats and dogs!

(idiom) It is raining heavily!

chunk
a large part of something

rote
learnt by memory in order to be repeated rather than
properly understood

automated
done by machines instead of humans

flummox confuse someone so much that they don't

know what to do

Transcript 🎧 Track 3
Rob
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I'm Rob.

Sam
And I'm Sam. Rob, I'm writing a letter to a friend in Spain
and I need some help. Do you know the Spanish for, 'it's
raining'?

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Rob
Don't worry, I have this new app… I just hold up my
phone, scan the word I want translated, uh, 'esta
lloviendo', is the Spanish for, 'it's raining'.

Sam
Amazing! In this programme we're discussing language
technologies - computers that can translate between
languages. Modern software like Google Translate has
transformed how we learn foreign languages, bringing us
closer to a world where language is no longer a barrier
to communication. But how well do these computers
know what we really mean to say?

Rob
Later we'll find out exactly what machines can and can't
translate, and, as usual, we'll be learning some new
vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you,
Sam. The translation app I used just now is very recent,
but there's a long history of computer mistranslations -
times when computers got it badly wrong. In 1987, the
American airline, Braniff, ran television adverts
promoting the all-leather seats installed on their flights to
Mexico. But how was its "fly in leather" advertising
slogan mistranslated into Spanish?

a) fly in lava
b) fly on a cow
c) fly naked

Sam
Hmm, I have a feeling it might be, c) fly naked.

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Rob
Ok, Sam. I'll reveal the correct answer later in the
programme. Computer software used to rely on rules-
based translation, applying the grammar rules of one
language to another. That worked fine for simple words
and phrases, but what happens when a translator comes
across more complex language, for
example metaphors - expressions used to describe one
thing by comparing it to another.

Sam
Lane Greene is a language journalist and the author of
the book, Talk on the Wild Side. Here he explains to
BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth, how apps like
Google Translate allow users to manually
translate metaphors:

Lane Greene
If I say, 'it's raining cats and dogs' and it literally
translates, 'esta lloviendo perros y gatos' in Spanish, that
won't make any sense, but I think somebody at Google
will have inputted the phrase, 'lueve a cántaros' which is
the phrase, 'it's raining pitchers', or 'it's raining jugs of
water', so that the whole chunk, 'raining cats and
dogs', is translated into the equivalent metaphor in
Spanish.

Rob
Lane wants to translate the phrase, it's raining cats
and dogs, something that people sometimes say when
it's raining heavily.

Sam
It wouldn't make sense to translate this phrase into

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another language literally, word by word. One solution is

to translate the whole idiom as a chunk, or a large part
of text or language.

Rob
This works for phrases and idioms that people regularly
use in the same way because they can be taught to a
computer. But what happens when someone like a poet
writes a completely new sentence which has never been
written before? Lane Greene thinks that even the
smartest software couldn't deal with that, as he told
Michael Rosen, poet and presenter of BBC Radio 4's,
Word of Mouth:

Michael Rosen
if a poet writes a new one then the machine is not going
to pick it up, and it's going to have a struggle, isn't it?
Sorry, I'm sticking up for poetry here and trying to claim
that it's untranslatable - can you hear what I'm doing?

Lane Greene

I hear you, and in a war against the machines, our

advantage is novelty and creativity. So you're right that
machines will be great at anything that is rote, anything
that's already been done a million times can
be automated. So you and I with our pre-frontal
cortexes can try to come up with phrases
that'll flummox the computer and so keep our jobs.

Sam
When we say machines "learn" a language, we really
mean they have been trained to identify patterns in
millions and millions of translations. Computers can only

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learn by rote - by memory in order to repeat information

rather than to properly understand it.

Rob
This kind of rote learning can be easily automated -
done by machines instead of humans. But it's completely
different from human learning requiring creative thinking
which would flummox - or confuse, even the most
sophisticated machine.

Sam
Bad news for translation software, but good news for
humans who use different languages in their jobs - like
us!

Rob
Yes, if only Braniff Airlines had relied on human
translators, they might have avoided an embarrassing
situation.

Sam
Ah, in your question you asked how Braniff's television
advertisement "fly in leather" was translated into
Spanish. I guessed it was mistranslated as "fly naked'.

Rob
Which was… the correct answer! Braniff translated its
"fly in leather" slogan as fly "en cuero," which sounds
like Spanish slang for "fly naked".

Sam
OK, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme
about language translations which are automated -
done by machines instead of humans.

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Rob
Often found in poetry, a metaphor is a way of describing
something by reference to something else.

Sam
When it's raining heavily you might use the idiom, it's
raining cats and dogs!

Rob
A chunk is a large part of something.

Sam
Rote learning involves memorising information which
you repeat but don't really understand.

Rob
And finally, if someone is flummoxed, they're so
confused that they don't know what to do!

Sam
Once again our six minutes are up! Join us again soon
for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6
Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Rob
Bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

jubilee
celebration of the anniversary of a special event, usually
associated with the Royal Family

reign
the period of time when a king or queen rules a country

coronation
ceremony at which someone is made king or queen

trifle
sweet, cold pudding made of a layer of fruit and cake, a
layer of custard, and a top layer of cream

a twist on
a variation of a traditional food recipe, using new and
exciting ingredients or different cooking methods

humble
modest, not proud

Transcript 🎧 Track 4
Sam
Hello.

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam.

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Neil
People in the UK are enjoying a four-day holiday as part
of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum
Jubilee.

Sam
A jubilee celebrates the anniversary of a special event,
and the word is mostly associated with the Royal Family.
In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum
Jubilee, commemorating 70 years since she became
Queen in 1952.

Neil
People are doing all kinds of things to celebrate, from
large events at Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s
Cathedral, to smaller street parties in towns and cities up
and down the country, and abroad. In this programme, we
look at the Platinum Jubilee in an unusual way, by hearing
about a cake competition to make the official jubilee cake
- the Platinum Pudding. And, as usual, we’ll be learning
some related vocabulary as well.

Sam
This isn’t the first celebration of Queen
Elizabeth’s reign – the period of time when a monarch
rules a country. In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver
Jubilee, marking 25 years as queen, followed by her
Golden Jubilee in 2002, and her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Neil
But what’s so special about this year’s Platinum Jubilee is
that Queen Elizabeth II is the first British monarch ever to
spend 70 years on the throne. And I have a question
about it, Sam. Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest-ever

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reigning monarch, but who was the previous longest-

reigning before her? Was it:

a) Henry VIII?
b) Elizabeth I? or
c) Queen Victoria?

Sam
I know it’s c) Queen Victoria.

Neil
OK. I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme.
As the first monarch ever to have a platinum jubilee, many
celebrations are being planned for the Queen. These
include an official birthday parade, Trooping the Colour,
which ends with jet planes flying over Buckingham
Palace, and the Platinum Pageant - a live concert in front
of the palace, featuring music and dancing, puppets of the
Queen’s favourite pets - her corgi dogs - and a
performance by Ed Sheeran.

Sam
And that’s just in London. All across the UK street parties
are being held for people to eat and drink with friends and
neighbours. There’s a tradition of inventing a new food
dish to commemorate jubilees, going all the way back to
the Victoria sponge, a cake named after Queen Victoria.
This year a competition was held to find a new dish to
become the official pudding of the jubilee. Here’s BBC
reporter, Daniella Relph, to explain more.

Daniella Relph
First, there was the Victoria sponge,
then coronation chicken, now we have a Queen
Elizabeth II Platinum Pudding. The winning lemon Swiss

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roll and amaretti trifle is a twist on a traditional trifle,

with layers of Swiss roll, jelly, custard, mandarins,
amaretti biscuits and cream.

Neil
In 1953, a mix of chicken and curry cream sauce called,
coronation chicken, was invented to celebrate Queen
Elizabeth’s coronation – the ceremony at which she was
made queen.

Sam
This year, competition winner, Jemma Melvin, has
invented a lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle as the
official jubilee cake. Trifle is a sweet, cold pudding made
of three layers – a layer of fruit and cake, a layer of
custard, and a top layer of cream.

Neil
Jemma’s jubilee trifle is a twist on a traditional trifle.
When talking about food, people use the phrase a twist
on something to describe a new variation of a traditional
recipe, using different, exciting ingredients.

Sam
Jemma learned her winning recipe from her
grandmothers. She wants her trifle to be “the people’s
pudding”, something to be enjoyed by everyone. Here is
Jemma Melvin describing how she felt to discover her
trifle had been chosen as the official Platinum Pudding:

Jemma Melvin

I cannot believe it! Everything that I was up against was

just the most beautiful desserts and pudding with beautiful

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stories. (That) this quite humble trifle has won is a bit

surreal.

Sam
Jemma describes her trifle as humble – modest, and not
proud. Although the pudding contains ingredients like
amaretti biscuits and cream, which are good enough for a
queen, she wanted to base it on a humble trifle,
something everyone around the country can make.

Neil
Enjoying a bowl of Jemma’s Platinum Pudding sounds
like a great way for some to celebrate the Queen’s
seventy-year reign.

Sam
Which reminds me of your question, Neil. We know
Elizabeth II has reigned for 70 years, but who was the
second longest-serving monarch? I said it was c) Queen
Victoria.

Neil
I’m glad you were so sure, because you were correct,
Sam. Victoria was queen for almost 64 years which is a
long time, but not as long as Elizabeth.

Sam
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme about
the Queen’s jubilee – a celebration of the anniversary of
a special event, usually involving the Royal Family.

Neil
A king or queen’s reign means the period of time they
rule a country.

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Sam
A coronation is the ceremony at which someone is
made monarch – the king or queen.

Neil
Trifle is a popular pudding made of a layer of fruit and
cake, a layer of custard, and a top layer of cream.

Sam
If you say a food dish is a twist on something, you mean
it’s a variation of a traditional recipe, using new and
exciting ingredients.
Neil
And finally, someone who is humble is modest, and not
proud.
Sam
If you were inspired by this recipe, why not try making it.
But that’s all from us. Goodbye for now.
Neil
Goodbye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

nincompoop
(informal) a silly person

synaesthesia
medical condition affecting the brain where two or more
senses mix together

craving
strong feeling of wanting or desiring something

vivid
clear, powerful and detailed in your mind

dismissed
considered unimportant or uninteresting

overactive imagination
tendency to imagine things that are not true

Transcript 🎧 Track 5
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam. Many people have favourites – a favourite
colour, a favourite flavour, a favourite word. What’s
yours, Neil?

Neil
Hmm, my favourite colour is green, my favourite flavour
is sweet-and-sour, and, well, I don’t know if it’s my

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favourite, but there is a word I really like saying out loud

– ‘nincompoop’. It means a silly person.

Sam
For me, it’s the taste of coffee, and the smell of lavender,
or freshly baked bread.

Neil
Our favourite tastes, smells and colours are controlled by
our five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
For most of us they don’t mix. We see colours and taste
flavours, but we can’t taste sounds.

Sam
But that’s not how everyone’s brain works. Imagine being
able to ‘taste’ every word that you hear. In this
programme, we’ll meet two sisters from Glasgow in
Scotland who can do just that. And as usual, we’ll learn
some new vocabulary as well.

Neil
Julie McDowall and her younger sister, Jen McCready,
have synaesthesia, a neurological condition where two
or more senses mix together. When synesthetes, as
they’re called, hear a word, their sense of taste also
becomes activated. Words produce specific tastes on
their tongues. For example, when Jen hears the name of
her daughter, Sophia, she tastes pink marshmallows! And
the name ‘Leo’ tastes like noodles.

Sam
We’ll hear more from the unusual sisters later, but first I
have a question for you, Neil. We’ve just heard what
happens when Jen McCready hears the names ‘Sophia’,
and ‘Leo’, but what does she taste when she hears the

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name ‘Neil’?
a) eggs and bacon
b) spaghetti hoops
c) a jam sandwich?

Neil
Well, I don’t know what this says about me, Sam, but I’m
going to guess that it’s c) a jam sandwich.

Sam
OK. Don’t worry, Neil - I’ll reveal the answer later in the
programme. Synaesthesia isn’t only about people, like
Julie and Jen, who taste words - it can be a mixing of any
of our senses. A synesthete may hear colours or see
sounds. In fact, there could be as many as 150 different
types of synaesthesia.

Neil
For the Scottish sisters, having synaesthesia is a gift,
something Jen explained when she talked with BBC
World Service programme, The Food Chain:

Jennifer McCready

This is enjoyable, it’s never anything that causes … the

only thing I would say is it’s quite hard if you’re trying to
eat healthily because if you hear a word that maybe tastes
like tuna, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I need to get a tune baguette
now’… You know, it’s almost like being pregnant and
having a craving… words can be so vivid that you want
to eat that – that’s the only negative I would say about it.

Sam
For Jen, the only drawback to synaesthesia is that it can

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be hard to eat healthily because hearing certain words

produces a craving – a strong feeling of wanting a
particular food.

Neil
That could be because, for Jen, the sound of the word is
so vivid – clear, detailed, and powerful in her mind.

Sam
There’s still much doctors don’t know about why some
people experience sense mixing while most of us
experience each sense in isolation, but it’s clear that for
Julie and Jen, synaesthesia makes the world a more
interesting, colourful place.

Neil
Someone who can explain why so little is known about
synaesthesia is Guy Leschziner, consultant neurologist
at King's College London, and author of the book, ‘The
Man Who Tasted Words’. Here he is speaking to BBC
World Service’s, The Food Chain:

Guy Leschziner

One of the problems with synaesthesia is for many years

it’s been dismissed, and it’s been viewed as people with
an overactive imagination, something not real but
actually what research in recent years has taught us is
that actually it does have an underlying neurological and
genetic basis.

Sam
Guy says that in the past, synaesthesia was
often dismissed – considered unimportant or

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uninteresting. Synesthetes were labelled people

with overactive imaginations – a tendency to imagine
things that are not true.

Neil
But research is showing that the causes of synaesthesia
could run in the family. Julie and Jen’s brothers don’t
have synaesthesia, but Jen’s daughter does. And with an
estimated 4% of the world population having some form
of sense mixing, a world of new and exciting possibilities
is opening up to millions.

Sam
Exciting possibilities like tasting someone’s name…
Remember in my question I asked what synesthete, Jen
McCready, tastes when she hears the name ‘Neil’.

Neil
OK. Well, I guessed that ‘Neil’ tastes like a jam sandwich.
Was I right?

Sam
Well, Neil, no - you don’t taste like a jam sandwich. In fact,
when Jen hears the name ‘Neil’, she tastes spaghetti
hoops! Oh well, it could be worse – the name ‘Robert’
makes Jen taste rotten eggs! Sorry to any Roberts
listening.

Neil
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned in this
programme about synaesthesia – a neurological
condition where two or more senses mix together.

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Sam
A nincompoop is an informal way of saying a silly
person.

Neil
A craving for something is the strong desire to have it.

Sam
A vivid sensation is clear, strong and detailed in your
mind.

Neil
When something is dismissed, it’s considered
unimportant or uninteresting.

Sam
And finally, an overactive imagination is the tendency
to imagine things that are not true. Once again, our six
minutes are up! If you’ve enjoyed this look into the weird
and wonderful world of synaesthesia, we hope you’ll join
us again next time for more chat, interesting issues and
useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Neil
Goodbye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

navigate
use directions to go where you want to, often by using a
map

compass
instrument for finding directions that works using a
magnetic needle that moves and always points north

magnetic pole
point near the North Pole or South Pole where the
Earth’s magnetic field is concentrated

arbitrary
decided randomly, not according to any particular reason
or principle

light year
unit measuring the distance that light travels in one year
(around 6 trillion miles)

flip
turn over or move into a different position

Transcript 🎧 Track 6
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Rob
And I’m Rob.

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Sam
How good are you at finding your way from A to B, Rob?
Can you read a map?

Rob
Come on, Sam, this is the 21st century! Everyone uses
GPS and mobile phone apps to find their way around
these days.

Sam
True, but before mobile phones where invented arriving
at your destination wasn’t so easy. At sea, sailors used
the stars and Sun to navigate – to work out which
direction they wanted to travel. And navigating on land
was almost impossible without a compass – an
instrument for finding directions that uses a magnetic
needle which moves to always point north.

Rob
But, as we’ll be hearing in this programme, navigation at
sea is easy compared to finding your way in outer space.
After all, what’s up and what’s down for astronauts who
are floating in zero gravity? In space is there a true north,
like here on Earth? And how is everything complicated by
the fact that all the stars and planets are moving?

Sam
Some big questions there, Rob, but first I have a
question of my own. You asked how astronauts know
which way is up, so who better to ask than the first
person in space? But who was that? Was it:

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a) Neil Armstrong?
b) Yuri Gagarin? or
c) Valentina Tereshkova?

Rob
Well, Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon, but
I don’t think he was the first person in space. So I think
it’s b) Yuri Gagarin.

Sam
OK, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Now
let’s get back to Rob’s earlier question about whether
there’s such a thing as north in space. And to answer that
its first useful to know how north is found on Earth.

Rob
Listen as astrophysicist Ethan Siegal as he explains why
a compass always points north to BBC World Service
programme, CrowdScience.

Ethan Siegal

because Earth behaves like it has a giant bar magnet in

it, and your compass needle will point north towards
Earth’s magnetic pole. And we’ve arbitrarily defined
north as, that’s what we’re going to say ‘up’ is, like, the
North Pole – that’s as ‘up’ as you can go.

Sam
Planet Earth is like a giant magnet. Because the needle
of a compass is magnetised, it’s attracted to
the magnetic pole – the points near the North and South
Poles where the Earth’s magnetic field is concentrated.

Rob
This explains how we find north, but Ethan points out that

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the decision to call north ‘up’ and south ‘down’

is arbitrary – decided by random chance, not based on
any particular reason.

Sam
When we look at a world map, we think of north as ‘up’,
the USA in the northern hemisphere is above Brazil, in the
southern hemisphere. But from space, Earth can just as
easily be seen the other way up, with Australia, South
Africa and South America at the top. Both views are
equally true.

Rob
Wow, that’s a mind-blowing thought! But even though we
can argue which direction is up, it’s still true that we can
use a compass to navigate on Earth. However, this simply
isn’t true in space. Here’s astrophysicist Ethan Siegal
again to tell BBC World Service’s CrowdScience why:

Ethan Siegal

The problem with navigating in space is that the magnetic

field flips irregularly every few hundred, or few
thousand light years. There’s no central object like the
black hole at the centre of our galaxy – it doesn’t dominate
the whole galaxy, it doesn’t make a magnetic field that you
can feel out here 25, 27-thousand light years from the
centre. So, magnetism is not a good guide to navigating
in space.

Sam
A light year sounds like a measurement of time, but in
fact it measures the distance that light travels in one year
– which, given that light can travel 7.5 times around the

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Earth in one second, is a very, very long way - around 6

trillion miles, in fact.

Rob
Well, the problem is that every few hundred light years the
magnetic field flips - turns over or moves into a different
position. So, a compass, which depends on magnetism,
is no good for navigating in space.

Sam
So how do spacecraft know where they are, and which
way to go? The answer is both simple and very clever –
they use specialised heat sensors to detect the position
of the Sun and use that to guide their way.

Rob
So simple yet so ingenious! I’m sure it would have
impressed the first person in space, whoever they were.

Sam
Ah yes, in my question I asked who the first person in
space was.

Rob
And I said it was b) Yuri Gagarin. I’ve got to be right,
haven’t I?

Sam
It was right, of course! Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
became the first man in space in 1961, with Valentina
Tereshkova following in his footsteps to become the first
woman in space two years later.

Rob
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme on
how to navigate – or find your way - in space.

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Sam
On Earth you can use a compass – an instrument with a
magnetic needle that moves to point north, that is towards
to the magnetic pole – a point near the North or South
Poles where Earth’s magnetic field is strongest.

Rob
Saying that north is ‘up’ is arbitrary – done randomly,
not according to any particular reason or principle.

Sam
A light year is a unit measuring the distance that light
travels in one year - around 6 trillion miles.

Rob
And finally, to flip means to turn over or move into a
different position.

Sam
Once again, our time is up. Goodbye for now!

Rob
Bye bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

phobia
strong and irrational fear of something; a type of anxiety
disorder

simulation
pretend copy of something that looks real but is not real

habitual
the usual, typical way something works

drop your defences

relax and trust people by lowering the psychological
barriers you have built up to protect yourself

first-person
from the perspective of someone who actually
experiences an event in person

novel
completely new and original; not like anything that has
been experienced before

Transcript 🎧 Track 7
Rob
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Rob.

Sam
And I’m Sam. Here at 6 Minute English, we love to chat
about new technology. One of our favourite topics is VR
or virtual reality, and the ways it’s shaping life in the future.

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Rob
VR allows you to put on a headset and escape into a
completely different world. In this programme, we’ll be
hearing about some of the ways VR is tackling serious
problems like domestic violence, and helping people
overcome phobias – the strong and irrational fear of
something. And, of course, we’ll be learning some useful
related vocabulary along the way.

Sam
People who use VR often describe the experience as
intense. Putting on the headset makes you feel you’re
really there, in whatever new world you’ve chosen. And
it’s this intensity that inventors, scientists and therapists
are using to help people overcome their problems.

Rob
We’ll hear more soon, but first I have a question for you,
Sam. One of the phobias VR can help with is the fear of
heights – but what is the proper name for this
psychological disorder? Is the fear of heights called:

a) alektorophobia?
b) arachnophobia? or
c) acrophobia?

Sam
I’ll say a) alektorophobia.

Rob
OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer at the end of the
programme.

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Sam
Now, if like me, you’re not very good with heights, you’ll
be happy to know that a company called Oxford VR has
designed a system to help with precisely that problem. In
the safety of your own home, you put on a headset and
are guided through a series of tasks moving you higher
and higher off the ground. You start by taking an elevator
to the top floor of tall building and move on harder
challenges, like climbing a rope.

Rob
Daniel Freeman is a professor of clinical psychology at
Oxford University. Listen as he explains how the VR
experience works to BBC World Service programme,
People Fixing the World.

Daniel Freeman

Even though you’re consciously aware it’s a simulation,

it doesn’t stop all your habitual reactions to heights
happening, and that’s really important, and that’s why it’s
got such a potential to be therapeutic. The art of
successful therapy, and what you can do really, really well
in VR, is enable someone to drop those defences, and
in VR a person is more able to drop them because they
know there’s no real height there.

Sam
Although the VR experience seems real, the person using
it knows it’s only a simulation – a pretend copy of the real
thing. This gives them confidence to go higher, knowing
they can’t really get hurt.

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Rob
But although it’s simulated, the experience is real enough
to trick your mind into acting in its habitual way – the way
it usually, typically works. Although your brain knows you
have both feet on the ground, VR is so realistic that to
complete the tasks you have to drop your defences, a
phrase meaning to relax and trust people by lowering the
psychological barriers you have built to protect yourself.

Sam
Oxford VR’s ‘Fear of Heights’ experience uses VR to put
people into another world, but the next project we’ll hear
about takes things even further - putting people into
someone else’s body.

Rob
In Barcelona, a VR simulation is being used in prisons to
make men convicted of domestic violence aware of what
it feels like to be in the position of their victims. The
project, called ‘virtual embodiment’, is led by
neuroscientist, Mavi Sanchez-Vives, of Barcelona’s
Institute for Biomedical Research.

Mavi Sanchez-Vives

In a virtual world we can be someone different and have

a first-person embodied perspective from the point-of-
view, for example, of a different person, different gender,
different age. One can go through different situations and
have the experience from this totally novel perspective.

Sam
Many of the prisoners lack empathy for their victims.
‘Virtual embodiment’ works by giving these men the

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experience of abuse in the first-person – from the

perspective of someone who actually experiences an
event in person.

Rob
In VR, the men have the insults and abuse they gave to
others turned back on them. It’s a novel – a new and
original - experience for them, and not a pleasant one
either. But the VR therapy seems to be working, and Dr
Sanchez-Vives reports more and more of the prisoners
successfully reintegrating into their communities after
their release from prison.

Sam
The experience VR creates of seeing things from
someone else’s point-of-view can be therapeutic, even for
serious problems. And speaking of problems,
what was the answer to your question, Rob?

Rob
I asked Sam whether the correct name for the fear of
heights was alektorophobia, arachnophobia, or
acrophobia?

Sam
I guessed it was alektorophobia.

Rob
Which was the wrong answer. Alektorophobia is the fear
of chickens! The correct answer was c) acrophobia – a
fear of heights, and a good example of a phobia.

Sam
Let’s recap the rest of the vocabulary we’ve learned,

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starting with simulation – a pretend copy of something

that looks real but is not.

Rob
Habitual describes the usual, typical way something
works.

Sam
The phrase ‘drop your defences’ means to relax and
trust something by lowering your psychological barriers.

Rob
In the first-person means talking about something from
the perspective of the person who actually experienced
an event themselves.

Sam
And finally, the adjective novel means completely new
and original, unlike anything that has happened before.

Rob
Well, once again, our six minutes are really - and
virtually - over! Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

hot-desking
system where office workers do not have their own
personal desk but use any available desk on a day-by-
day basis

nine-to-five
work which begins at 9am and ends at 5pm - the normal
Monday to Friday office working hours

montage
a piece of work made up by putting together several
different items, often in interesting combinations

sense of familiarity
feeling of knowing something or someone so well that
you feel close, comfortable, and relaxed around them

worn out
so old or damaged from continual use that it cannot be
used any more

hard graft
(slang) hard work

Transcript 🎧 Track 8
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil. Have you seen my pen, Sam? It’s not on
my desk.

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Sam
No, I haven’t touched your pen, Neil.

Neil
and someone’s taken my coffee mug too! Agh, ever since
we started hot-desking, people in this office think they
can do whatever they like!

Sam
Neil doesn’t like the new rule about office hot-desking,
the system where workers don’t have their own personal
desk, but use any available desk, on a temporary basis.
Maybe he should look for another job and quit the nine-
to-five – a phrase describing jobs which start at 9am and
end at 5pm, the normal hours that people in offices work
from Monday to Friday.

Neil
Hmm, maybe I should quit. I loved working from home
during the pandemic – no early mornings, no crowded
trains… and no-one using my pens!

Sam
As the Covid pandemic slows down, more and more
people are returning to work in the office. In this
programme, we take a look at life in the modern office.
And of course, we’ll learn some useful vocabulary as
well.

Neil
But first I have a question for you, Sam. As you know, I’m
not an office lover. Besides disappearing pens, workers
have plenty of other complaints about office life, from co-
workers who never do the washing up, to fighting over
spaces in the car park. But according to a 2021 survey by

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the Metro newspaper, what did British workers vote the

worst thing about working in an office? Was it ...

a) printers not working?

b) people speaking too loudly? or
c) co-workers leaving empty milk cartons in the fridge?

Sam
Hmm, I see stealing pens isn’t on the list, so I’ll say a)
printers not working. That really makes me mad!

Neil
OK, Sam. I’ll reveal the correct answer later in the
programme. Nowadays most modern offices are open-
plan, large spaces without internal walls dividing them up.
The idea is to create a sense of togetherness, but many
employees prefer having their own space, and use all
types of objects to mark out their own personal territory.
These could be anything from family photos and holiday
souvenirs, to home-made cakes and biscuits placed at the
end of a desk to allow people grab a biscuit and start a
conversation.

Sam
Researcher, Harriet Shortt, travelled around Britain
interviewing office workers about the types of objects they
use to decorate and mark out their workspace. Here she
is telling BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed,
about one young woman who stuck photos and postcards
onto strips of cardboard:

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Harriet Shortt

She had created this sort of montage on this strip of

paper and would roll it up daily – she had a little plant as
well – and she would take it to whatever desk she was
working at and would pin it up to a set of low-level desk
divider… and so there’s that sense of, however
temporarily they might be in a particular space in the
office, they still … there’s still evidence in this research
that people want to feel comfort, and settled and have
some sense of familiarity.

Neil
The woman Harriet interviewed used photos and
postcards to create a montage – a piece of work made
by putting together several different items, often in
interesting combinations. Her photo montage reminded
her of the people and places she loved outside of work.

Sam
For Harriet this shows that people want workspaces to
have a sense of familiarity – the feeling of knowing
something so well that you feel comfortable and relaxed.

Neil
Harriet also interviewed hairdressers working in beauty
salons about the marks and stains found in their
workplace. Here she tells BBC Radio 4’s, Thinking
Allowed, about a strangely shaped mark on the floor of
one hair salon:

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Harriet Shortt

A sort of half-moon scuff mark that goes right round the

back of the chair – so literally, she’s worn out the floor.
It’s exactly where a hairdresser would tread for many,
many hours of the day. And she took the photograph, and
she showed it to me, and she said, ‘This is me. You want
to know about identity. It represents hard graft’.

Sam
Harriet interviewed a hairdresser whose salon floor had
been worn out – damaged by continual use, after being
walked on again and again as the woman cut people’s
hair. For her, the worn-out floor symbolised hard graft,
or hard work.

Neil
Whatever your job, we all spend most of each day at work,
so it’s important to have a workplace that’s safe,
comfortable and familiar… where people don’t steal your
pen!

Sam
Oh, Neil – you sound like the office workers in that
newspaper survey.

Neil
Yes, let’s return to my question which was: according to a
2021 Metro newspaper survey, what is British workers’
number one complaint about working in an office.

Sam
I guessed it was the printers not working. Was I right?

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Neil
You were wrong, I’m afraid! In fact, the top complaint
was people speaking too loudly – another of my pet
hates!

Sam
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme on
the office nine-to-five – work which happens during
normal Monday to Friday office hours.

Neil
Hot-desking is where office workers do not have their
own permanent desk but use a different desk each day.

Sam
A montage is made by putting together different items in
interesting combinations.

Neil
A sense of familiarity is a feeling of knowing something
so well that you feel comfortable and relaxed around it.

Sam
When something is worn out from overuse, it’s so old or
damaged.

Neil
And finally, hard graft is a slang phrase meaning hard
work.

Sam
Once more our six minutes are up! We hope you’ll join us
again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary
here at 6 Minute English. But that’s goodbye for now!

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Neil
Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

pamper
give someone special treatment, make them very
comfortable by giving them whatever they want

spoil (a child)
allow a child to do and have whatever they want –
considered to have a bad effect on the child’s character

take advantage (of somebody)

treat someone unfairly for your own benefit

humiliate
make someone feel ashamed or stupid

acquitted
declared to be not guilty of committing a crime

toughie
(slang) a person who is tough and determined

Transcript 🎧 Track 9
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

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Sam
In this 6 Minute English we’re celebrating the life of one of
modern South Africa’s founding fathers – the icon and
Nobel laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Archbishop
Tutu was one the leaders of the non-violent movement to
end the system of racial segregation known as apartheid.
Apartheid was enforced against the black population of
South Africa by the white minority government from 1948
until 1991.

Neil
It’s impossible to imagine South Africa's difficult journey
to freedom without Archbishop Desmond Tutu. While
other anti-apartheid leaders, like his close friend Nelson
Mandela, were imprisoned or even killed, Archbishop
Tutu was there at every step of the struggle - the
rebellious priest speaking out against the injustices of
apartheid. Archbishop Tutu was a hero of the 20th
century.
Sam
He died in December 2021 and was laid to rest in Cape
Town in a state funeral on New Year’s Day. In this
programme, we’ll hear about some important moments
from his life and, as usual, learn some related vocabulary
as well. But first I have a question for you, Neil. Nelson
Mandela was sometimes affectionately called by his
clan’s name, Madiba, but do you know what
nickname Archbishop Desmond Tutu was given? Was it:

a) The Des?
b) The Bish? or
c) The Arch?

Neil
I don’t know, but I’ll guess his nickname was c) the Arch.

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Sam
OK, Neil. We’ll find out if that’s the correct answer at the
end of the programme. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in
1931 in the town of Klerksdorp in northern South Africa.
In this 2014 interview with BBC World Service
programme, Outlook, he looks back on some of his
earliest childhood memories:

Desmond Tutu

I had a very happy childhood. I am a boy child between

two girls. My sisters sometimes thought that our mother
rather spoiled me, pampered me. My mother was not
educated much but she had an incredible loving for
people and was very generous. Part of my own
unhappiness was precisely that anyone could want
to take advantage of such a gracious, gentle, generous
person.

Neil
As a child, Desmond Tutu’s mother would pamper him –
give him special treatment and make him feel special by
doing nice things for him

Sam
He also says his mother spoiled him – let him do or have
whatever he wanted. Spoiling a child usually has a bad
effect on their character as they grow up, but this doesn’t
seem to be true for Desmond Tutu.

Neil
What upset the young Desmond was how his mother was
treated by some white South Africans who would take
advantage of her - treat her unfairly for their own benefit.

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Sam
In 1955 Desmond Tutu married his wife, Leah. They had
children and the family moved to London for a time, before
returning to South Africa when Desmond was made Dean
of Johannesburg.

Neil
He knew that returning to a racially segregated South
Africa would be difficult for his family. In this interview with
BBC World Service programme, Outlook, Archbishop
Tutu remembers one terrifying incident involving his wife,
Leah, who had gone to the Johannesburg traffic
department to renew a car licence:

Desmond Tutu

they handcuffed her, and they walked with her in the

streets, she was paraded, and then when the court case
was heard my wife was acquitted - but they had done
what they wanted to do which was humiliate her, and in
the process hit at me. I have to say that I found those
actions near unforgivable, because I was the one who
was out in the forefront... although Leah… she’s
a toughie! (laughs).

Sam
Police officers arrested and handcuffed Leah
to humiliate her – make her feel ashamed and stupid.

Neil
When she went to court, Leah was acquitted – declared
not guilty of committing a crime. But the police continued
to harass her, even though his wife was, in his own words,
a toughie – someone who is tough and determined.

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Sam
Archbishop Tutu describes the event as “near
unforgivable” but, in fact, he did forgive the white police
officers, and in 1991, at the end of apartheid, he started
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a way of
healing divisions between black and white communities.

Neil
What an inspirational life! But we still don’t know what
his nickname was, Sam!

Sam
Right, in my question I asked Neil what Archbishop
Desmond Tutu’s nickname was.

Neil
I guessed it was, The Arch.

Sam
Which was the correct answer! Affectionately known as
The Arch, Desmond Tutu will be remembered as a man
of peace and forgiveness. Right, let’s recap the
vocabulary we’ve learned in this programme, starting
with pamper – to give someone special treatment.

Neil
If you spoil a child, you let them do whatever they want,
but be careful because they might take advantage of you
– treat you badly for their own benefit.

Sam
To humiliate someone means to make them feel
ashamed or stupid.

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Neil
If you are acquitted of a crime, it is judged that you are
not guilty.

Sam
And finally, a toughie is a slang word to describe
someone, like Archbishop Desmond Tutu or his wife,
Leah, who is tough and determined.

Neil
Once again, our six minutes are up. Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

like finding a needle in a haystack
something that is impossible or very difficult to find
because the area you have to search is so large

thin on the ground

there are very few of something

abundant
there is more than enough of something

scratch the surface

find out (or do) a small amount about something, but not
enough to fully understand (or deal with) it

vast
extremely large; huge

hard to get your head around

difficult to fully understand or comprehend

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Transcript 🎧 Track 10
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil. The 20th of July 1969 was a big day in
history. Do you know why, Sam?

Sam
Wasn’t that when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the
Moon?

Neil
Right. But it’s often forgotten that some of the most
dramatic photographs taken on the Apollo space mission
weren’t of the Moon at all – they were of Earth. It wasn’t
until we went to the Moon that we really saw the size of
Earth’s oceans and named ourselves, the Blue Planet.

Sam
Despite most of our planet being covered by water, the
ocean remains of place of unexplored mystery, of sea
monsters like Moby Dick, and the Kraken. In this
programme, we’ll be diving into the deep seas, seeing
some of its strange sights, and as usual, learning some
related vocabulary too.

Neil
But before that I have a question for you, Sam. You were
right when you said that most of the Earth is covered by
water. But do you know exactly how much of the Earth’s
surface is ocean? Is it:

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a) 50 percent?
b) 60 percent? or,
c) 70 percent?

Sam
Well, it is called the Blue Planet, so I’ll say c) 70 percent.

Neil
OK. I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. The first
thing to say about the deep ocean is that the rules of life
down there are very different from the rules on land.
Sunlight cannot reach the very bottom of the ocean, a
place between two and three kilometres down known as
the ‘deep abyss’, so it totally dark and extremely cold. And
the weight of water creates massive amounts of pressure.

Sam
This extreme environment is stranger than fiction, and
home to things which seem to be from another planet;
things like hydrothermal vents - volcanic hot springs which
break through the ocean floor. Oceanographer, Alex
Rogers, joined an expedition which discovered a
hydrothermal vent in the ocean near Antarctica. He told
his story to BBC World Service programme, Discovery.

Alex Rogers

Well, the first problem is actually finding them because

they cover a very small area so it’s literally like trying to
find a needle in a haystack, but when you do come
across them, I mean, the deep ocean is food limited, so
life is quite thin on the ground, and then suddenly your
camera just stumbles into this area where there is

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just abundant life all over the sea floor and around these
vents.

Neil
Alex says that finding these small thermal vents at the
bottom of the ocean is like finding a needle in a
haystack, an idiom meaning almost impossible to find
because the area you have to search is so large.

Sam
Because there’s no sunlight on the ocean floor, it’s hard
for plants and creatures to survive, so forms of life
are thin on the ground – there are only a few of them.
Alex cannot find anything to film with his camera, until
suddenly he nears the vent and sees plants and animals
everywhere. Here, there is more than enough,
or abundant life.

Neil
To picture a hydrothermal vent, imagine an underwater
volcano. Billowing clouds of what looks like smoke heat
the seawater to a temperature of 386 degrees C. This
creates a warm environment of all kinds of weird and
wonderful creatures, including vent mussels, tube worms
and blind ‘yeti crabs’, so called because of their hairy
claws, some of which get cooked because the water is so
hot.

Sam
What’s amazing is that while these vents may be as old
as Earth itself, they were only discovered in the 1970s.
So, are there more mysteries hiding in the deep ocean?
That’s the question BBC World Service’s, Discovery,
asked marine biologist, Kerry Howell. Here’s what she
said.

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Kerry Howell

I have absolutely no doubt that there is plenty more to

discover down there. It’s really vast, I mean it’s quite hard
to get your head around how vast the deep sea is, and
it is most of our planet. So… and we’ve barely scratched
the surface of exploration of this unique environment,
and if you think that vents were only discovered in the 70s,
you know, there’s great potential for a lot else to come, I
think. We’ve only been exploring this environment for the
last 150 years, I mean. Before that we didn’t think there
was any life down there at all. So, it’s a very young
science is Deep Sea biology. And so, there’s … yeah,
there’s a lot more to discover. I have no doubt.

Neil
In terms of ocean exploration Kerry thinks we’ve
only scratched the surface – found out a little bit about
something, but not enough to fully understand it.

Sam
That’s because the ocean is vast – extremely big. So
vast, in fact, that it’s hard to get your head around it, or
difficult to really understand.

Neil
But how vast, exactly, Sam? In my question I asked how
much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.

Sam
And I said it was c) 70 percent.

Neil
Which was the correct answer! Well, 71 percent to be

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precise, but either way it’s hard to get your head

around or difficult to fully understand.

Sam
OK, we’d better recap the other vocabulary too, starting
with the idiom, finding a needle in a haystack meaning
that something is almost impossible to find because you
have to search so widely for it.

Neil
If something is thin on the ground, there’s very little of it,
but if it’s abundant, there’s plenty or more than enough.

Sam
When you only scratch the surface, you find out a little
about something, but not enough to fully understand it.

Neil
And finally, vast is another way of saying extremely
large, huge or enormous.

Sam
Unlike the vast oceans, our time is limited to just six
minutes and it’s up. So, join us again soon for more
amazing adventures and, of course, useful vocabulary,
here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Neil
Goodbye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

soundbite
short and memorable phrase used by politicians

rally
unite to support a common goal

pull the wool over someone’s eyes

(informal) trick or deceive someone

premise
idea you believe to be true and use as the basis for
developing an argument

conclusion
decision or plan of action after thinking about something
carefully and considering all the relevant facts

polemical
arguing very strongly for or against a particular opinion
or idea

Transcript 🎧 Track 11
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!’ Do
you know where these famous words are from, Sam?

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Sam
I think that’s a speech by Marc Antony in William
Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.

Neil
Wow, I’m impressed! Caesar has been assassinated
and Marc Antony tries to persuade the crowd to find his
killers.

Sam
Using words to persuade people, giving them a good
reason to do what you say, or to accept your argument, is
known as ‘rhetoric’. In this programme, we’ll be hearing
all about rhetoric and of course learning some related
vocabulary as well.

Neil
The art of rhetoric started with the ancient Greek
philosophers. Later, during the Roman republic,
politicians and statesmen used rhetoric in speeches given
to crowds in the public square.

Sam
Although technology has transformed the way we
communicate since then, the art of rhetoric is still alive
today. Modern politicians may prefer Twitter to the public
square, but they still use persuasive language,
including soundbites – short sentences or phrases
giving a message in an easy to remember way.

Neil
We’ll hear more soon but first I have a question for you,
Sam. Roman politicians used many rhetorical tricks to
persuade people including the argumentum ad
hominum which was an attack on their opponent’s moral

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character. Another was called the argumentum ad

baculum – but what did it mean? Was it:

a) an argument based on logic?

b) an argument based on emotion? or
c) an argument based on the stick?

Sam
Well, to persuade someone your argument needs to be
logical, so I’ll say a).

Neil
OK, we’ll find out the answer later. Whether you want
someone to vote for you, or to buy what you’re selling,
rhetoric can make your message persuasive. During his
career in the adverting industry, Sam Tatum learned a lot
about persuading people. Here he explains the many
uses of rhetoric to BBC World Service programme, The
Why Factor.

Sam Tatum

Rhetoric is persuasive language. We use it rally, to

simplify the complex, to inspire and influence. It’s
important, I think, to identify what strategies might be
influencing us more than we think. By understanding the
power of language in shaping perceptions, we can start to
see, ‘I’m wondering why people are looking to be
so concrete. Are we trying to pull the wool over our
eyes on something that’s more far complex than we
actually state?’

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Sam
As well as persuading people, Sam Tatum says rhetoric
can be used to rally – to bring people together in support
of a common goal. A recent example of this is the way
politicians called the coronavirus our ‘enemy’.

Neil
The words politicians choose, and the way they use them,
can influence us more than we think. Sam Tatum says we
should question whether political rhetoric is trying to pull
the wool over our eyes, an informal way of saying trick
or deceive us.

Sam
But in the age of 24-hour news updates and non-stop
Twitter, has the skill of making a thoughtful argument
been lost? Here’s Kendal Phillips, professor of political
philosophy at Syracuse University, speaking to BBC
World Service’s, The Why Factor.

Prof Kendal Phillips

It’s hard to analyse the argument or reasoning of a tweet,

‘cos 280 characters is not a way for me to lay out a logical
argument with a major premise, a minor premise and
a conclusion, it’s much easier to just use a two-word
phrase or a hashtag that usually ends up adding to that
kind of polemical division between my side and their
side.

Neil
Global problems involve complex issues which cannot be
solved in 280 letters, the maximum length of a tweet
allowed by Twitter. According to Professor Kendal, we

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need logical arguments containing a premise –

something which you think is true and you use as the
basis for developing your idea, and a conclusion – your
decision or plan of action based on carefully considering
all the relevant facts.

Sam
For example: climate change is damaging the planet –
that’s a premise; therefore, we should act to stop it –
that’s a conclusion.

Neil
Few issues are simply black and white though, and this is
a problem because Twitter debates are often polemical –
argued very strongly either for or against a particular
opinion or idea.

Sam
If you believe passionately in something, you need to
explain it to people in a way they understand, and in
ancient times rhetoric also meant building bridges
between people and finding common ground. Like those
Romans you mentioned, Neil.

Neil
Yes, in my question I asked Sam for the meaning of
term, argumentum ad baculum.

Sam
I guessed it was an argument based on logic.

Neil
Which was the wrong answer, I’m afraid. In
fact, argumentum ad baculum means the argument with
a stick, or in other words, hitting somebody with a stick

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until they agree with you! I guess that’s one way to win an
argument. OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from the
programme, starting with a soundbite – a short sentence
or phrase designed to stick in the memory.

Sam
When people rally together, they unite to support a
common goal.

Neil
To pull the wool over someone’s eyes means to trick
someone.

Sam
Logical arguments contain a premise – a truth used as
the basis for developing an argument, and
a conclusion – a decision based on carefully considering
all the relevant facts.

Neil
And finally, polemical means strongly attacking or
defending an opinion or idea. But there’s no arguing the
fact that once again our six minutes are up! Goodbye for
now!

Sam
Bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

caffeine hit
the effect of the natural stimulant caffeine on your brain
to make you feel more awake

perks you up
gives you more energy, makes you feel more active

wean (somebody) off (something)

make someone gradually stop using something that is
bad for them

Fairtrade
a system of certification which ensures that producers
receive a fair price and safe working conditions for
growing coffee

microlot
small plot of land which grows specialised coffee beans
of a very high quality or unique flavour

artisanal
made in the traditional way by an artisan (someone who
is skilled in working with their hands)

Transcript 🎧 Track 12
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

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Sam
Did you have a cup of coffee this morning, Neil?

Neil
Oh yes, I can’t start the day without my morning cup of
coffee… or two… or three!

Sam
And what do you like about coffee so much?

Neil
Well, that lovely smell for one thing! And, of course, it
wakes me up and gets me ready to face the world.

Sam
Ah, you mean the caffeine hit – the effect of caffeine,
which is a natural stimulant, on your brain making you feel
more awake. Do you think, maybe, you’re… addicted to
coffee?

Neil
It’s not just me, Sam. Have you seen how busy coffee
shops are nowadays?! Full of people enjoying delicious
coffee from all around the world!

Sam
Well, it wasn’t always like that, Neil. The first coffee to
reach Britain in the 17th century took months to arrive by
sea. It was made by boiling raw coffee beans, and
apparently tasted awful! In this programme, we’ll be
looking into the history of coffee in Britain, and as usual,
we’ll be learning some related vocabulary too. But before
that, I have a question for you. The earliest coffee to arrive
in Britain took its name from the port in Yemen it was

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shipped from. So, what was it called? Was it:

a) Cappuccino?
b) Mocha? or
c) Latte?

Neil
I’ll say b) Mocha.

Sam
OK. I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme.

Neil
Britain’s love affair with coffee started with the opening of
London’s first coffee shop in 1652. People loved the effect
– coffee made them more talkative and brighter; it kept
them awake for longer, and the drink became more and
more popular. Within a decade over eighty new coffee
shops had opened in the City of London alone

Sam
By the 1800s, though, tea had replaced coffee as the
most fashionable drink, partly because it was drunk by
Queen Victoria. Listen as Judith Hawley, an expert on
18th century literature, takes up the story with BBC Radio
4 programme, In Our Time.

Judith Hawley

It became more of a working-class drink. So, there were

coffee shacks and carts like these sort of little street carts
that you get still in London, and you get all over New York,
that is a cheap, quick drinks to perk you up. And the
Temperance Movement sponsored coffee taverns to try

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to wean working men off going to the pub for lunch. So,
it moved. It declined seriously and has never fully
recovered even in the current coffee boom.

Neil
In the 17th century there was a coffee boom – an increase
in its popularity. One of the reasons was that coffee perks
you up – gives you more energy and makes you more
active.

Sam
Drinking coffee was also supported by a social group
called the Temperance Movement, who campaigned to
make alcohol illegal. They used coffee
to wean men off alcohol – make them gradually stop
using something they had become addicted to.
Neil
Coffee changed British society and continues to do so
today. Here’s Professor Judith Hawley again, talking to
BBC Radio 4’s, In Our Time, about the situation today.

Judith Hawley

I think if we look at the way coffee consumption is going

today it seems to me to set out two quite radical
alternatives for the world. One is the world of corporate
coffee, the coffee chains existing on a low wage economy.
So, you have that kind of mass coffee market on the one
hand. One the other hand you have
these microlot estates, Fairtrade coffee, the sort of
hipster coffee which is as varied and as interesting as fine
wines and is made in an artisanal way.

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Sam
Many customers today are turning away from large coffee
chains like Starbucks, in search of a more responsibly
sourced cup of coffee. One example of this is Fairtrade,
an ethical standards scheme which guarantees a fair
price for coffee producers in South America, Africa and
Asia.

Neil
Another recent development is the use of microlots
– small plots of land which grow specialised coffee beans
prized for their high quality and unique flavour.

Sam
Fairtrade and microlot coffee are part of a shift in focus
towards quality, artisanal coffee – coffee made by hand,
in the traditional way by skilled growers. It’s artisanal
coffee that’s often sold in smaller, independent coffee
shops preferred by trendy hipsters.

Neil
So, coffee in Britain has come a long way from the days it
travelled for months by sea from faraway places like
Ethiopia and Java – which reminds me, Sam, what was
the answer to your question.

Sam
I asked Neil which city gave its name to the first coffee to
arrive in Britain in the 1600s.

Neil
I guessed it was b) Mocha, which happens to be my
favourite drink.

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Sam
Well, you guessed right because that was the correct
answer! You certainly know your coffee, Neil.

Neil
Right, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve used in this
programme on the history of coffee, a drink which
can perk you up - give you more energy and make you
feel awake.

Sam
Many people drink coffee for the caffeine hit – the way
caffeine, which is contained in coffee, stimulates your
body and mind. The effect can be so strong you might
have to wean yourself off it – gradually stop using
something which is bad for you.

Neil
Fairtrade coffee refers to a scheme which ensures that
coffee farmers receive a fair price for growing their
product, while a microlot is a small plot of land
specialising in coffee beans of a very high quality or
unique flavour.

Sam
Finally, artisanal describes something made by artisans
- skilled workers who make things by hand in the
traditional way.

Neil
Once again, our six minutes up. I’m off to get myself a
hot steamy mocha. Bye for now!

Sam
Goodbye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

glass-half-full person
someone with an optimistic attitude who tends to focus
on the positive side of life

Debbie Downer
(US slang) someone who makes others feel bad by
focussing on the bad or depressing side of things

sugarcoat
to make something seem better than it really is

hyper-
(prefix) having too much of a quality e.g. hyperactive,
hypersensitive

rock bottom
lowest possible level

grumpy old man

describes someone who complains a lot, is moody and
intolerant, and gets easily annoyed

Transcript 🎧 Track 13
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
We often hear phrases such as, ‘dream big’ or, ‘reach for

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the stars’ which reflect an optimistic view of life. Are you

an optimist, Sam?

Sam
I hope so! I try to see the positive side of life, even when
something bad happens.

Neil
It sounds like you’re a glass-half-full person – someone
who always thinks that good things will happen.

Sam
How about you, Neil? Are you optimistic?

Neil
Look, things go wrong all the time - that’s a fact of life. Call
me a pessimist if you like but I’m just being realistic.

Sam
Hmm, it sounds like Neil is more of a glass-half-empty
person, but the truth is that the age-old debate between
optimism and pessimism is more complex than we think.

Neil
Yes, whether you’re a sunny optimist or a gloomy
pessimist may be determined more by your birthplace and
your age than your attitude, as we’ll be finding out in this
programme.

Sam
Great. I’ve got a good feeling about this, Neil!

Neil
But first, as usual, I have a question for you, Sam.
Psychologists define optimism as an attitude which
overestimates the chances of good things happening to

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you, while underestimating the chances of bad things

occurring. So, what proportion of the British population,
do you think, describe themselves as optimistic? Is it:

a) 20 percent?
b) 50 percent? or,
c) 80 percent?

Sam
I’ll choose the largest – 80 percent… but then, I’m
optimistic so I would say that!

Neil
OK, Sam. We’ll find out if your optimistic answer is the
correct one later in the programme. Someone who
probably wouldn’t agree with you, th0ugh, is BBC World
Service listener, Hannah. Hannah grew up in Germany
before moving to the United States. She thinks Americans
tend to be more optimistic than people back home in
Germany, as she told BBC World Service programme,
CrowdScience:

Hannah
I think the stereotypical perception of Germans is that
we’re quite pessimistic and that kind of tends to come
across as being a bit of a Debbie Downer, when in
actuality, Germans just tend to be avid planners for all
eventual negative eventualities as well… so that’s kind of
us being pessimistic but actually being cautious, as
opposed to for example, what I’ve notice in America that
a lot of people tend to be hyper-optimistic. I’ve always
admired how Americans tend to be able
to sugarcoat everything.

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Sam
As a stereotypical pessimist, Hannah sometimes feels like
a Debbie Downer. This expression is American slang for
someone who makes others feel bad by focussing on the
depressing aspects of things.

Neil
Americans, on the other hand, are typically seen as
optimists who tend to sugarcoat things – make things
seem better than they really are.

Sam
According to Hannah, many Americans are hyper-
optimistic. She uses the prefix hyper to say that there is
too much of a certain quality. Hyper-sensitive people are
too sensitive; a hyper-optimist is too optimistic.

Neil
Besides your country of birth, age is another
consideration in the optimism debate. When we’re young
we have our whole life ahead of us, and it’s easier to
optimistically believe that everything’s going to be alright.

Sam
The belief that everything’s going to be fine is called ‘the
optimism bias’. It isn’t fixed but changes as we age -
something neuroscientist, Professor Tali Sharot,
explained to BBC World Service programme,
CrowdScience:

Tali Sharot

So it’s quite high in kids and teenagers – they think, ‘Oh,

everything’s going to be fine’… and then it goes down,

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down, down and it hits rock bottom in your midlife at

which point the optimism bias is relatively small, and then
it starts climbing up again and it’s quite high in the elderly
population, and that goes absolutely against our view of
the grumpy old man, or woman.

Neil
After starting out high in children, the optimism bias
hits rock bottom – the lowest possible level – in middle
age, often because of work pressures, family
responsibilities or caring for elderly parents.

Sam
But optimism seems to increase again as we get older.
This is surprising as it goes against the image we have of
the grumpy old man – a phrase to describe someone
who complains a lot, is moody and gets easily annoyed.
Optimistic women, meanwhile, can look forward to longer,
healthier lives.

Neil
Good news for you then, Sam! But I’m sticking with my
pessimism. If I anticipate things going wrong I don’t get
disappointed when they do!

Sam
That’s actually a fairly positive way of looking at things,
Neil, but I’m not sure if most people would agree with you
– or maybe they would… It depends on the answer to your
question…

Neil
Right. I asked Sam what proportion of British people
describe themselves as optimistic.

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Sam
And optimistically, I said it was c) 80 percent.

Neil
Which was… the correct answer!

Sam
Of course it was. Whether you expect good or bad things
to happen to you, you’re probably right. So why not focus
on the sunny side of life, Neil? That way, you’ve got
nothing to lose!

Neil
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme, Sam.
You’re certainly a glass-half-full person – someone with
an optimistic attitude to life.

Sam
And you’re something of a Debbie Downer - American
slang for someone who brings everyone down by talking
about the negative side of things.

Neil
If you sugarcoat something, you make it appear more
positive than it really is.

Sam
The prefix hyper is used before an adjective to show
having too much of that quality, for example hypercritical
means being too critical.

Neil
If something hits rock bottom it reaches its lowest
possible level.

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Sam
And finally, the phrase grumpy old man can be used to
describe someone who always complains, is intolerant
and gets annoyed easily… a bit like Neil!

Neil
Unfortunately our six minutes are up, but join us again
soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here
at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

whodunnit
story about a murder which does not tell you who the
murderer is until the end

a grinding halt
something which gradually slows down until it stops
altogether

telltale
revealing hidden information which allow a secret to be
uncovered

alibi
proof that you were somewhere else when a crime was
committed

perplexed
confused because something is difficult to understand or
solve

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foible
unusual habit or characteristic which is considered
strange or foolish, but which does not harm anyone

Transcript 🎧 Track 14
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
Have you ever played the game, Cluedo, Neil? The idea
is that the person playing detective discovers who the
murderer is, where the crime took place, and which
weapon was used.

Neil
The last time I played Cluedo it was Professor Plum, in
the library, with the dagger!

Sam
Cluedo is based on a very popular type of book – the
murder mystery, sometimes called a whodunnit – a story
about a murder which does reveal who the murderer is
until the end.

Neil
The queen of murder mysteries is a British writer who was
born in 1890. Her books are read all over the world and
have been translated into a 103 different languages. Her
name is Agatha Christie.

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Sam
To date over 2 billion copies of her crime novels have
been sold worldwide, making her the best-selling novelist
of all time… and the subject of this programme.

Neil
Perhaps her best-known story is ‘Murder on the Orient
Express’, a whodunnit featuring her most famous
detective, Hercule Poirot, who starred in 33 of Agatha
Christie’s books.

Sam
More about that later but as usual I have a quiz question
for you, Neil. Poirot may be Agatha Christie’s most
famous detective, but he isn’t her only one – so who is
Agatha Christie’s other fictional detective? Is it:

a) Hetty Wainthropp?
b) Jessica Fletcher? or,
c) Miss Marple?

Neil
I’ll guess it’s a) Hetty Wainthropp.

Sam
OK, Neil. I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the
programme.

Neil
As mentioned, one of Agatha Christie’s most famous
books is ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. The story takes
place on a train travelling from Istanbul in Turkey to Calais
in northern France. Listen as writer and Agatha Christie

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superfan, Harriet Gilbert, summarises the story for BBC

World Service programme, World Book Club.

Harriet Gilbert

Poirot is on the train, heading back home to England from

Syria, when two unconnected events take place. In a
snowstorm in Croatia, the train comes grinding to a
halt and in one of the sleeping berths, a passenger is
murdered. Since it’s impossible for anyone to have
reached the isolated snow-trapped train or to have
escaped from it without leaving telltale footsteps in the
snow, the killer can only be one of the dozen people
sharing Poirot’s coach. Yet as he starts to investigate it
seems that each of them has an alibi for the time of the
murder. Impossible? Well, Poirot’s certainly perplexed…

Sam
During a snowstorm, the express train comes to a
grinding halt – it slows down until it stops altogether.
Then, someone is murdered!

Neil
The murderer can’t have escaped without
leaving telltale footprints in the snow. When something is
described as telltale, it reveals information which allows
a secret to be uncovered. For example, lipstick on your
husband’s shirt could be a telltale sign he’s having an
affair.

Sam
The murder victim is found in bed stabbed with a knife.
Poirot begins to investigate, but as he questions the train
passengers one by one, it seems that everyone has

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an alibi - proof that they were somewhere else when a

crime was committed.

Neil
Naturally, this leaves the Belgian
detective perplexed, or confused because something is
difficult to understand or solve.

Sam
I won’t spoil the story by telling you what happens next,
Neil. But let’s just say that, as usual, Poirot uncovers the
murderer using his incredible powers of observation.

Neil
In her stories, Agatha Christie describes Hercule Poirot
as a very strange or eccentric man.

Sam
The author, Sophie Hannah, has written several new
Poirot stories based on the characters invented by Agatha
Christie before her death in 1976. Here she is describing
more of Hercule Poirot’s strange characteristics to BBC
World Service Programme, World Book Club

Sophie Hannah

There’s the sort of the outward things, his appearance

which is very striking and very unusual, and his sort of, I
suppose foibles is the best thing to call them, he likes
neatness, he likes order, he approaches thing very
methodically, he’s very proud of his luxuriant moustaches,
you know, all of that.

Neil
Sophie calls Poirot’s unusual behaviour his foibles -

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habits or characteristics which are considered strange or

foolish but which harm no-one.

Sam
Yes, unlike the fictional murderers he uncovers,
Poirot’s foibles do no harm, but it makes me wonder if
Agatha Christie’s other famous detective also had
unusual habits.

Neil
Well, first you’ll have to reveal the answer to your quiz
question, Sam. You asked me for the name of Agatha
Christie’s other famous detective, and I guessed it was a)
Hetty Wainthropp.

Sam
Well, I’m afraid that was the wrong answer! In fact, Miss
Marple was the name of Agatha Christie’s second most
famous character - although Hetty Wainthropp is a
fictional detective on TV.

Neil
Now that we’ve solved the murder and revealed the
correct answer, let’s recap the vocabulary starting
with whodunnit - a murder story which does not tell you
who the murderer is until the end.

Sam
In the whodunnit, Murder on the Orient Express, the train
comes to a grinding halt – it slows down until it stops
altogether.

Neil
A telltale sign reveals hidden information so that a secret
can be revealed.

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Sam
An alibi is proof that you were somewhere else when a
crime was committed.

Neil
To be perplexed means to be confused because
something is difficult to understand.
Sam
And finally, someone’s foibles are their strange but
harmless habits or behaviour.
Neil
That’s all for our six-minute investigation into the
mysterious world of Agatha Christie. Goodbye for now.
Sam
Goodbye.

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

astronomer
scientist who studies the universe and the stars, planets,
moons and suns existing within it

distinctive
easy to recognise because it’s different from everything
else

rust
reddish chemical substance called iron oxide that occurs
when metals react with water and air

immutable
never changing

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adaptable
able to change in order to deal with new situations

habitable
good enough to live in

Transcript 🎧 Track 15
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
In this programme, we’ll be discussing our closest
neighbour in the solar system – the planet Mars.

Sam
Often called the ‘Red Planet’, Mars has been in the news
a lot recently with three separate missions being sent to
explore the planet’s surface in 2021.

Neil
Our fascination with the Red Planet has given birth to
some interesting art over the years. This includes music,
such as David Bowie’s 1973 hit, Life on Mars?, and
countless films, from 1938’s, Mars Attacks!, to the 2015
blockbuster, The Martian.

Sam
But human interest in Mars goes back much earlier.
Ancient civilisations, like the Maya of central America
observed the planet’s colour and recorded its movements,

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just like modern astronomers – scientists who study the

universe and the stars, planets and suns within it.

Neil
Yet despite this, many questions remain unanswered.
What caused the marks and scars on the planet’s
surface?

Sam
And the biggest question of all: is there life on Mars?

Neil
But before we go on, I have another question which needs
answering, Sam. The ancient Romans were also
interested in Mars. They even considered the planet to be
a god – but god of what? Was Mars the Roman god of:

a) Love?
b) Fire? or,
c) War?

Sam
Well, Mars is the ‘Red Planet’, so I guess the answer is
b) the Roman God of Fire.

Neil
OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer at the end of the
programme.

Sam
Whatever the Romans thought, civilisations throughout
history have described looking into the night sky and
seeing a bright, red light. But where does Mars’
characteristic colour come from?

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Neil
Someone who can answer that is Dr Michael Meyer. As
lead scientist on NASA’s Mars Exploration Programme,
he spent years observing and recording the Red Planet.

Sam
Listen to Dr Meyer in conversation with BBC World
Service programme, The Forum. Try to hear the
explanation he gives for Mars’s unusual colour.

Michael Meyer

One of the distinctive things about Mars is that it’s red so

you can see it and identify it. It looks red because of rust –
iron oxide on the surface, which is red and, interestingly
that look can change. And we saw that in 2018 when there
was a global dust storm – Mars, instead of looking red
looked a little orange, and that changing of colour might
have made the civilisations watching Mars maybe uneasy
to see something immutable in our night sky changing
colours.

Neil
Dr Meyer calls Mars’s red colour distinctive - easy to
recognise because it’s different from everything else. But
did you hear why it’s red in the first place, Sam?

Sam
Yes - it’s red because of rust - a reddish chemical
substance called iron oxide that occurs when metals react
with water and air.

Neil
The colour of this rust can change slightly, from red to

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brown to orange, and Dr Meyer thinks these changing

colours may have worried ancient astronomers who
believed Mars was immutable, or never changing.

Sam
Unlike ancient civilisations, modern astronomers have
sent satellites to land on Mars and explore its surface.
And although no human has set foot on the Red Planet
so far, we know a lot about conditions there.

Neil
So, in the words of David Bowie: is there life on Mars?

Sam
Well, that all depends on finding water. Water is life, and
as Dr Meyer told BBC World Service’s, The Forum, with
water anything is possible.

Michael Meyer

And from all that we have learned from astrobiology, life

is amazingly adaptable, but it still needs water. So that’s
why water is the key. So, finding liquid water on Mars,
whether or not it’s now or whether or not it’s in the past,
tells you that you potentially have
a habitable environment, some place that could support
life and perhaps even Martian life.

Neil
Dr Meyer says that life is amazingly adaptable – able to
change in order to survive in new situations.

Sam
Finding liquid water could make the Red
Planet habitable - good enough to live on. And with

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billionaire businessmen like Elon Musk planning manned

missions to space, who knows how long it could be before
we see a human on Mars?

Neil
And who knows what they’d find there! Tiny worms? Little
green men? Or maybe a Roman god…?

Sam
Ah yes, in your quiz question you asked what Mars was
the Roman god of. I guessed b) the Roman God of Fire.

Neil
Which was the wrong answer, I’m afraid. In fact, the
Romans considered Mars their God of War, and sacrificed
wild animals to him such as wolves, bears and, strangely,
woodpeckers!

Sam
OK, Neil let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme
on the Red Planet, Mars, starting with astronomer –
someone who studies the stars, planets and moons in
our universe.

Neil
If something is distinctive, it’s easily recognisable
because it’s different from everything else.

Sam
Rust, or iron oxide, is a red-coloured chemical that occurs
when metals react with water and air.

Neil
Immutable means never changing.

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Sam
Something which is adaptable can easily change to deal
with new circumstances.

Neil
And finally, habitable means good enough to live in.

Sam
That’s all we have time for.

Neil
Bye for now!

Sam
Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

rib cage
structure in the human chest made of bones called ribs
which protects your lungs and heart

primitive
relating to the simple, natural way humans lived in their
early stages of development, before money, machines or
writing were invented

giggle
a quiet, childlike but uncontrolled way of laughing

guffaw
laugh out loud, often at something stupid or rude
someone has said

mammals
animals, including humans, dogs and whales, which give

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birth to live young, rather than laying eggs, and who feed
their young with milk

juvenile
young animal which is not fully grown

Transcript 🎧 Track 16
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
Have you heard this joke, Neil? Question: what’s a rat’s
favourite game?

Neil
I don’t know, Sam, what is a rat’s favourite game?

Sam
Hide and squeak!

Neil
Ha-ha-ha! Very funny!

Sam
Well, I’m glad you’re laughing because, as we’ll be finding
out in this programme, laughter is good for you! In fact,
laughter is often called ‘the best medicine’.

Neil
And it seems that’s really true, medically speaking.
Laughing releases anti-stress endorphins into the body

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and there’s evidence that people who laugh recover more

quickly from illness, including Covid.

Sam
Laughing is an essential part of what makes us human.
Babies cry straight from birth but the next sound they
make, often as young as two or three months, is laughter.

Neil
And who can hear a baby laugh without laughing
themselves? Laughter is catching.

Sam
But before we start tickling our funny bones, I have a quiz
question for you, Neil, and it’s no laughing matter.
Laughter can be a serious business. In fact, there’s a
scientific field of study into laughter and its effects on the
human body. But what is this study called? Is it:

a) gigglology?
b) gelotology? or
c) guffology?

Neil
Did you make those words up, Sam? They sound a bit
funny to me! I’ll say the study of laughter is called b)
gelotology.

Sam
OK, Neil, but you’ll be laughing on the other side of your
face if you’re wrong! Anyway, we’ll find out the correct
answer later in the programme.

Neil
Someone who’s an expert in the study of laughing –

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whatever it’s called – is cognitive neuroscientist,

Professor Sophie Scott. Here she explains to David
Edmonds, presenter of BBC World Service programme,
The Big Idea, exactly how a laugh is produced.

David Edmonds
Laughing is a variation of breathing. Like breathing, it
involves the rib cage.

Prof Sophie Scott

When you laugh you get these very, very large, very fast
contractions of the rib cage. And it’s a very primitive way
of making a sound, so you’re really just squeezing air out
in big bouts. Each of those individual squeezes gives you
a ‘ha!’ sound.

Sam
The ‘ha-ha’ sound you make when you laugh comes from
your rib cage - a structure made of bones, called ribs,
inside your chest which protects the heart and lungs. The
rib cage works like a drum to amplify a laugh.

Neil
It’s the reason why jokes are sometimes called ‘rib-
ticklers’.

Sam
Professor Scott calls this a very primitive way of making
sounds because it’s simple, natural and essentially
human.

Neil
The word primitive can be used to describe anything
relating to the basic way humans lived in their early stages

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of development, before money, machines or writing were

invented.

Sam
Primitive human noises, like crying and laughing, link to a
universal human experience, and this can be seen in the
large number of words we use to talk about them. In
English, ‘chuckle’, ‘giggle’, ‘chortle’, ‘cackle’ and ‘guffaw’
all describe different types of laughter.

Neil
Right, so how would you describe a ‘giggle’, Sam?

Sam
I’d say a giggle is laughing in a quiet but uncontrolled
way, like a child who finds something very funny or feels
embarrassed.

Neil
Unlike a guffaw which is when you blast out a very loud
laugh, often at something stupid or rude someone has
said.

Sam
But humans aren’t the only animals to laugh. We belong
to the same family as other primates like chimpanzees,
gorillas and orangutans, all of whom laugh.

Neil
Even rats tickle each other and make squeaky noises like
laughter when they play. Here’s Professor Scott again to
take up the story for BBC World Service programme, The
Big Idea.

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Prof Sophie Scott

Play is a very important behaviour for mammals – all

mammals play when they’re juveniles and some
mammals play their whole lives, and laughter is a sort of
an invitation to play, it’s a sign that you’re playing.

Sam
Professor Scott says that laughter is an important social
tool for all mammals – animals, including humans, dogs
and whales, which give birth to live young, rather than
laying eggs, and who feed their young with milk.

Neil
By laughing, young mammals - sometimes
called juveniles - signal that they want to play, and young
rats who don’t laugh back are more likely to get a bite than
a giggle. And a rat bite is nothing to laugh about.

Sam
What a lot of facts we’ve learned about laughter, Neil!

Neil
Yes, we could almost be experts on laughter…
‘Guffologists’, isn’t that what you called them, Sam?

Sam
Ah yes, in my quiz question I asked you to name the
scientific study of laughter and its effects on the body.

Neil
I’m almost certain it’s not ‘gigglology’ or ‘guffology’! So,
the answer must be…

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Sam
Gelotology! The correct answer! Well done, Neil, I knew
you were good for a laugh!

Neil
OK. Let’s recap the vocabulary from the programme
before you think up any more terrible jokes! First, we
had rib cage – the structure in your chest which is made
of ribs, and produces the sound of a laugh.

Sam
The adjective primitive relates to the simple, natural
way humans lived in their early stages of development.

Neil
There are different types of laughter, including giggles -
childlike laughter in a quiet but uncontrolled way.

Sam
And guffaw is when you laugh out loud, often at
something someone has said.

Neil
Mammals are animals, including humans, which give
birth to live young and feed them with milk.

Sam
And finally, a young animal which is not fully grown can
be called a juvenile.

Neil
Well, it’s been a laugh a minute, Sam, but unfortunately
our six minutes are up.

Sam
Join us again soon for more trending topics, useful

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vocabulary, and, who knows, maybe some terrible jokes,

here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Neil
Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

random act of kindness
small action done to help someone else or to make them
feel happy

counter-intuitive
not happening in the way you would expect it to

yummy
delicious; tasting very good

warm glow
inner feeling of happiness at doing something kind for
others

compassion
strong feeling of empathy for the suffering of others and
a wish to help them

fluffy
soft and woolly; considered not serious or important

Transcript 🎧 Track 17
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

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Neil
And I’m Neil. In this programme, we’re discussing
something we’ve heard a lot about during the pandemic –
kindness. When was the last time you did something kind
for someone else, Sam?

Sam
Hmmm, I gave my mum flowers last week.

Neil
Ah, that was kind. And how did it feel?

Sam
It felt good knowing I’d made her happy.

Neil
Right! It’s something that psychologists are starting to
prove scientifically but that most of us knew all along: we
feel just as good being kind to someone else as when
someone is kind to us.

Sam
It reminds me of something called a random act of
kindness. Have you heard of that, Neil?

Neil
Yes, things like helping a stranger cross the road – small,
everyday things people do to help others for no other
reason than to make them happy.

Sam
Yes, and one of the main benefits of being kind is that
we feel the kindness in ourselves. It’s called ‘the gift that
keeps on giving’ - and it reminds me of my quiz question.
In 2021, a global survey conducted for the BBC’s
‘Kindness Test’ asked people to name their top five

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random acts of kindness. So which kind act came top?

Was it:

a) giving someone a smile?

b) giving someone a hug? or
c) giving someone your time to just listen?

Neil
They all sound wonderful but what I’d really like is a nice
big hug!

Sam
OK, Neil, we’ll find out later if that’s the right answer.

Neil
Now, that good feeling Sam got from giving her mum
flowers is something psychologists have become very
interested in. During the past decade over a thousand
academic papers were written including the term
‘kindness’.

Sam
The author of one such paper is Dr Dan Campbell-
Meiklejohn, senior psychologist at the University of
Sussex, and researcher for the BBC’s Kindness Test.

Neil
Here is Dr Campbell-Meiklejohn discussing his findings
with BBC World Service programme, Health Check.

Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn

What we know from the science is, and what can

seem counter-intuitive because giving can cost
something of ourselves, is that we can experience a
sense of reward when we are kind to others… so like,

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when we eat a yummy food or have a pleasant surprise,

the parts of our brain that help us remember these nice
experiences and motivated us to do them again and again
– they become active when we’re kind. And we call this
feeling a warm glow.

Sam
Usually giving something away, money for example,
means we no longer possess it. But kindness is different:
both the giver of kindness and the receiver experience
what Dr Campbell-Meiklejohn calls a warm glow – an
inner feeling of happiness.

Neil
Nevertheless, for some people giving something away
equals losing it, so for them being kind seems counter-
intuitive – opposite to the way you expect things should
happen.

Sam
But on a chemical level the brain doesn’t agree! For our
brain, being kind feels as good as any other pleasurable
activity, for example eating something yummy –
something delicious which tastes good.

Neil
OK, Sam, I can see that being kind is great in my personal
life. But what about the ruthless world of business or
politics – surely there’s no place for kindness there?

Sam
It’s true that in many countries politics involves fierce
debate and criticism of anyone who disagrees with you.
But there are those who believe it doesn’t have to be like
that.

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Neil
Jennifer Nagel for one. She’s co-director of a movement
called Compassion in Politics and author of the book, We,
written with the actor Gillian Anderson.

Sam
Listen as Jennifer explains her vision to BBC World
Service programme, Health Check.

Jennifer Nagel

Compassionate leadership leads to inclusive, cooperative

outcomes which lead to fairer societies, lower crime rates,
higher levels of health and wellbeing. And yet we have
this idea that compassion somehow doesn’t belong, that
it can be dismissed in the same way as women have been
dismissed as something fluffy and a nice idea but not
really practical. But in fact, the science behind
compassion is that it actually takes courage to act with
compassion.

Neil
Jennifer wants politics to be based on compassion – a
strong feeling of empathy with the suffering of others and
a wish to help them.

Sam
She says kindness is sometimes dismissed as fluffy –
soft and woolly, something not considered serious or
important. But in fact, being compassionate is not easy
and takes courage.

Neil
Jennifer’s is a strong voice for a kinder, more

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compassionate society. But I bet even she could use a

random act of kindness now and again… maybe a hug?

Sam
Ah that’s right, Neil, a hug was one of the top five random
acts of kindness I asked about in my quiz question, along
with smiling and listening. But which came out on top?

Neil
I said it was b) giving someone a hug. So, was I right?

Sam
Giving a hug was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid. The
number one random act of kindness was a) giving a smile.
But don’t worry, Neil – I have a big hug waiting for you
here!

Neil
Ah, thanks, Sam, that’s so kind! OK, let’s recap the
vocabulary from this discussion about random acts of
kindness – small things people do to be kind to others.

Sam
Something counter-intuitive doesn’t happen in the way
you expect it to.

Neil
Yummy means delicious or tasting very good.

Sam
A warm glow describes the pleasant inner feeling of
happiness at doing something kind.

Neil
Compassion is a feeling of sympathy for the suffering of
others and a wish to help them.

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Sam
And finally, something fluffy is soft and woolly, not
considered serious or important.

Neil
Our six minutes are up, but if you’ve enjoyed this
programme, why not go out and perform your own
random act of kindness. Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

fusion
mix of different styles

entomophagy
the practice of eating insects

an uphill struggle
needs a lot of effort to achieve

ingrained
long-lasting attitude that is difficult to change

viscerally
having an emotional reaction rather than one based on
fact or reason

sustainably
doing something in a way that can last for a long time
and is good for the environment

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Transcript 🎧 Track 18
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
Do you like trying new food?

Sam
I do indeed – I love eating foods from around the world
and I especially like trying out restaurants that serve news
kinds of food.

Neil
Me too, and I like food that is a mix of different styles –
sometimes called fusion food. But could I tempt you to
some insect tapas or a tarantula doughnut?

Sam
Maybe not – the idea of eating food made from bugs and
creepy crawlies doesn’t appeal.

Neil
Well, maybe I can convince you in this programme
because that’s what we’re discussing – and teaching you
some vocabulary along the way. But first, I must serve
you a question to answer. It’s about food – but not made
form bugs. Do you know what type of food is sometimes
known as ‘priest chokers’? Is it:

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a) cheese?
b) pasta? or
c) potato?

Sam
I think I know this one, Neil. It’s pasta, isn’t it?

Neil
Well, I will give you the answer at the end of the
programme. But, let’s get back to food made from bugs –
which is a growing trend in the Western world. Insects
are an alternative source of food and experts say they’re
filled with lots of good nutrients, including amino acids and
protein. And eating them could help to fight world hunger
and reduce pollution.

Sam
I’m not convinced yet, but I do know that the word for
eating insects is ‘entomophagy’ and it’s something BBC
World Service programme, The Food Chain, discussed.

Neil
The programme spoke to experts who think cooking with
bugs is a great idea. One of them was Andy Holcroft,
founding director of Grub Kitchen and Bug Farm Foods.
He explained the challenge of getting some people to eat
bugs…

Andy Holcroft, founding director of Grub Kitchen

and Bug Farm Foods

In the Western culture, we have got a bit of an uphill – I

would say - struggle because pre-conceptions around
eating insects are already sort of ingrained in society, so

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we already think before we've even tried them, they're

going to taste disgusting or gross. So, to actually get
someone to put it in your mouth - the easiest way we find
straightaway is to try maybe, a cricket cookie or a
chocolate-chip cricket cookie where you have… we are
using cricket powder so you don’t actually see any insects
whatsoever – you’re getting the idea of eating them so
people can deal with that a bit more than actually seeing
the whole insect.

Neil
Interestingly, it seems to be western cultures that don’t
like eating insects – perhaps because it’s thought to be
wrong or just disgusting, even if it’s not! As Andy says,
people have pre-conceived ideas about it. To change
these ideas is an uphill struggle or needs a lot of effort
to achieve.

Sam
Yes, the negative attitude to eating bugs is ingrained into
society, meaning it is a long-lasting attitude that is difficult
to change. But Andy and other chefs are trying to change
that attitude by subtly introducing insects into food, such
as his chocolate-chip cricket cookies.

Neil
This is just for starters! Other interesting and exotic
dishes, where you do see the bugs you’re eating, are now
being served.

Sam
I’m still not convinced but maybe chef Joseph Yoon can
change my mind? He is a chef and an ‘edible insect
ambassador’. He’s also trying to persuade the squeamish

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– people easily upset by something unpleasant - to

overcome their fears of crickets, worms, and spiders, and
instead see them as a tasty, alternative source of protein.

Neil
Here he is, speaking on the BBC’s Food Chain
programme talking about changing people’s attitudes.

Joseph Yoon, chef and executive director of Brooklyn

Bugs
We approach our work with openness, with understanding
and inclusivity. When people approach me and they go
like ‘urghh’ or they react very viscerally, I don’t get
confrontational, I go like, I understand that you can feel
that way and what we need to do is start changing these
perceptions from insects as being a pest, that bites you or
that carries disease, to edible insects, something
that’s sustainably farmed and harvested specifically for
human consumption.

Neil
So, Joseph is passionate about edible insects but is
understanding of people who don’t like the idea and
maybe show this viscerally - having an emotional
reaction rather than one based on fact or reason.

Sam
But Joseph wants to change these negative emotions by
explaining the insects are farmed purely for humans to
eat, and they are farmed sustainably – in a way that can
last for a long time and is good for the environment.

Neil
I suppose we kill animals such as cows and sheep to eat
so why not insects or spiders? The debate about this

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continues but there’s no debate about the answer to

today’s question, Sam. Earlier, I asked you if you knew
what type of food is sometimes known as ‘priest choker’?

Sam
And I was sure if was pasta.

Neil
It is pasta. Strozzapreti, which means ‘priest chokers’ in
Italian, is an elongated form of cavatelli pasta. Its name is
thought to come from the greedy priests who were so
enthralled by the pasta that they ate too quickly and
choked themselves. No bugs were involved, though.

Sam
That’s good to know because we have been talking
about entomophagy, a word for the practice of eating
insects.

Neil
Other vocabulary we mentioned included fusion, which
means a mix of different styles. And the expression an
uphill struggle means needs a lot of effort to achieve.

Sam
Something that is ingrained is a long-lasting attitude that
is difficult to change.

Neil
Viscerally describes having an emotional reaction rather
than one based on fact or reason.

Sam
And, doing something sustainably is doing it in a way
that can last for a long time and is good for the
environment.

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Neil
Well, that’s all for this 6 Minute English. If you’ve enjoyed
it, join us again soon for more real-life stories and topical
vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

boredom
the state of feeling little excitement or enthusiasm

die of boredom
be extremely bored

upside
a positive side to a bad situation

stimulation
activates or enriches the mind

novelty
new, unusual or different.

connotation
an emotion connected to a word

Transcript 🎧 Track 19
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

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Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
How’s your week been, Sam?

Sam
Oh, you know, quiet – I haven’t done much or been
anywhere – so, it’s been a bit boring.

Neil
I know that feeling – when nothing exciting happens, it can
lead to boredom – the state of feeling little excitement or
enthusiasm, often because you’ve got nothing to do. But
Sam, there is some good news – boredom can be good
for you.

Sam
Tell me more!

Neil
I will but not until I’ve set you a question to answer. A
survey by British newspaper The Mirror, found Peter Willis
to be ‘the most boring man in Britain’. What ‘boring’ hobby
did he have that earned him that title? Was it…?

a) Collecting train numbers – that’s train spotting,

b) Taking photos of letterboxes, or
c) Driving around roundabouts of the UK.

Sam
Wow – they all sounds deadly boring – but I imagine
taking photos of letterboxes is the most boring –
perhaps?

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Neil
Well, as usual, I will give you the answer at the end of the
programme. But, as you say, we might die of
boredom following those hobbies – a phrase that
expresses how extremely bored you are.

Sam
But not for everyone – boredom depends on your state
of mind – some of us might find something boring while
others might it fascinating.

Neil
True. But let’s talk about feeling bored when we have
nothing to do – not even trainspotting! Having nothing to
do, or doing the same task again and again, can certainly
be demotivating. But according to Sandi Mann, who was
speaking on the BBC World Service’s The Why Factor
programme, being bored doesn’t have to be boring – it
can be good for us…

Dr Sandi Mann, Psychology lecturer, University of

Central Lancashire

It's this emotion everyone thinks is so negative but there's

a real positive to it too, there's a real upside to it. We
become more creative, so for example, being bored
allows our mind to wander, allows us to daydream, and
that can actually lead us to problem solving and creativity.
I fear that by swiping and scrolling our boredom away
these days, that we're losing that creativity because we've
got so much to entertain us - but it seems that the more
we have to entertain us, the more bored we seem to be!
And there's a reason for that – and that’s because we
actually get addicted to stimulation and to novelty.

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Neil
Some interesting thoughts from Sandi Mann there. She
says that there’s an upside to boredom – that means a
positive side to a bad situation. And that is, it can make
us more creative.

Sam
That’s because when we have nothing to do, we allow our
minds to wander. We can think freely, which might help
us solve problems. This can’t happen when, as Sandi
says, we swipe and scroll our boredom away – referring
to the movements we make on smartphones.

Neil
Yes, and it’s smartphones we turn to for entertainment
when we are bored – it gives us stimulation – it activates
or enriches the mind. And it gives us something new,
unusual and different to look at – what we can
call novelty.

Sam
I’m sure many of us look at our phones when we are in a
queue or sitting on a bus – just to prevent being bored –
but it seems we should just sit and think. Let’s take
inspiration from Manoush Zomorodi – an author and host
of the Zig Zag podcast. Here she is speaking on The Why
Factor programme, explaining that it takes effort but it’s
worth it….

Manoush Zomorodi, author and podcaster

We think, who wants to be bored? What an

awful sensation that is. And I think that the issue is with
mind-wandering, you don't immediately get to roses and

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chirping birds, and amazing creative thinking - there is this

uncomfortable period that you have to pass through
where maybe you start thinking about things you don't
want to think about or uncomfortable situations or
unpleasant feelings that you have, that's why boredom I
think has negative connotations 'cos we feel
uncomfortable - but when we stick with it that's when the
good stuff can come.

Neil
So, we might think boredom as an awful sensation – or
feeling – because that’s when we start focussing on
negative things. Manoush thinks that’s why we have
negative connotations with boredom.

Sam
A connotation is an emotion connected to a word. But if
we work through the bad stuff and stick with it, amazing
creative thinking can happen – as Manoush says ‘the
good stuff can come’.

Neil
So, basically, don’t think of boredom as being boring!
However, could this adjective be applied to the hobby that
Peter Willis – the most boring man in Britain – does?

Sam
Ah yes, Neil, you asked me what that hobby is. And I said
he took photos of postboxes. Was I right?

Neil
Yes, you were! Congratulations. The former postman
dreams of taking a photo of all of Britain’s 115,000
postboxes.

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Sam
Well, good luck to Peter. I didn’t realise there were so
many postboxes in the UK! So, we’ve been talking about
the benefits of boredom today – boredom is the state of
feeling little excitement or enthusiasm.

Neil
We mentioned the phrase to die of boredom which we
use to express how extremely bored we are.

Sam
But boredom has an upside, which means it has a
positive side to a bad situation.

Neil
We heard the word stimulation which means activates or
enriches the mind. And novelty which describes
something that is new, unusual or different.

Sam
And we described a connotation – that’s an emotion
connected to a word.

Neil
Well, I hope you haven’t been bored listening to us!
Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye!

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Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

domesticated
describes animals which are under human control and
live closely with people, for example pets, working
animals and farm animals

anthropomorphize
treat an animal as if it were human in appearance or
behaviour

feign
pretend to have a particular problem or emotion

agony
extreme physical pain

distress
strong feeling of worry, sadness or pain

grooming
the way some animals clean themselves using their
tongue or paws

Transcript 🎧 Track 20
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil. Sam, do you remember an old children’s
television show called, ‘Lassie’?

Sam
Yes, I grew up watching the adventures of schoolboy,

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Timmy, and his pet dog, a collie named Lassie. Whenever

Timmy got lost or into trouble, Lassie sensed danger and
came to the rescue.

Neil
If you believe shows like ‘Lassie’, pets know when their
human owners feel afraid or in danger. But in real life do
animals know, or care, about human feelings?

Sam
Now, Neil, obviously we’re not talking about wild
animals, right?

Neil
We’re talking about domesticated animals – types of
animals which are under human control and have been
living closely with people for centuries. They include pets,
like cats and dogs, working animals and farm animals, like
cows and sheep.

Sam
So, what about dogs like our friend, Lassie? Do you think
they can sense human feelings?

Neil
It’s hard to know what’s really going on behind a dog’s big,
brown eyes. Unlike humans, pets can’t talk to say how
they’re feeling, and this makes it easy for us to
misunderstand them. People
often anthropomorphize their pets – treat them as if they
were human by giving them human characteristics.

Sam
In cartoons, Micky Mouse can talk and Donald Duck

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dances and sings, but we know mice and ducks don’t

really do that in nature.

Neil
Exactly. But recently, new research has suggested that
sometimes pets do respond to their owner’s feelings.

Sam
OK. Well, before we find out more, I have a quiz
question for you, Neil. ‘Lassie’ wasn’t the only TV show
to feature a boy and his pet companion. A similar show,
Skippy, was set in Australia - but what type of animal
was the star? Was Skippy:
a) a rabbit?
b) a frog? or
c) a kangaroo?

Neil
Well, if Skippy was Australian, I’ll guess he’s c) a
kangaroo.

Sam
OK, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Now,
Neil, earlier you mentioned that because animals can’t
speak, it’s difficult to know their feelings about us.

Neil
Difficult, yes… but not impossible. Recently,
anthrozoologist Dr Karen Hiestand, designed an
experiment to test whether our pets really do care about
us. She filmed pet owners pretending to be hurt and
observed the reactions of their dogs and cats.

Sam
Here’s Adrian Washbourne, producer for BBC World

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Service programme, Health Check, pretending to hurt

his leg at home, where he lives with his two pets, a cat
and a dog.

Adrian Washbourne

And now I’m going to fake an injury, and we’ll see how
they respond. Ouch! Ow! Well, the tail wagging has got a
bit more, there’s a bit of a yawn. I don’t think they were
particularly sensitive or bothered that I was squealing
around the floor in agony, holding my leg up in the air,
trying to feign an injury. Meanwhile the cat, who’s on the
windowsill, is looking at me with wide eyes.

Neil
Adrian didn’t really hurt his leg – he feigned, or
pretended, to be hurt. He pretended to be in agony –
extreme physical pain, to see what his pets would do.

Sam
Adrian’s dog wagged his tail and gave a yawn. The cat,
meanwhile, just looked at him with wide eyes… Little
evidence of pets showing care or concern there, you
might think. But, according to Dr Hiestand, the animals’
behaviour makes perfect sense when you remember
where they came from. Dogs are descended from ancient
breeds of wolves – very social animals who live together
in packs, so it makes sense that a dog would sniff and
come closer to investigate what was happening.

Neil
Cats, on the other hand, are solitary creatures,
descended from wild cats who lived and hunted alone. Dr
Hiestand thinks this explains the reaction of Adrian’s cat,

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as she told BBC World Service programme, Health

Check:

Dr Karen Hiestand

What we’re seeing typically is cats staying much more

still… that they’re looking and looking at their owner, so
they’re definitely paying their owner an awful lot of
attention when they’re displaying a
negative distress emotion, comparing to during the
control procedure where they’re just doing cat things –
walking around, grooming… that kind of thing.

Sam
The experiment showed the different responses of cats
and dogs to human distress – feelings of worry,
sadness or pain.

Neil
In the experiment, dogs were visibly concerned, while
cats simply paid more attention to what was going on.
Some cats did nothing except carry on grooming –
cleaning themselves using their tongue and paws.

Sam
The experiment confirms the idea we have of cats being
cold and antisocial.

Neil
And of dogs being our best friend. But according to Dr
Hiestand’s findings, cats also feel human distress – they
just show it in a different way.

Sam
Well, if the experiment included Lassie, he’d probably

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phone the emergency services, then make Adrian a cup

of tea!

Neil
Ha! And what about, Skippy?

Sam
Ah yes, in my quiz question I asked Neil about the
Australian TV star, Skippy.

Neil
I guessed that he was c) a kangaroo.

Sam
Which was… the correct answer! Over two metres high
and able to jump nine metres in a single hop, you’d be in
safe hands with Skippy the Kangaroo. Right, let’s recap
the vocabulary from this programme starting
with domesticated – a word to describe animals which
are not wild and live under human control.

Neil
To anthropomorphize means to give animals human
qualities and characteristics.

Sam
If you feign illness, you pretend to be ill when you are
not.

Neil
To be in agony means to be in extreme physical pain.

Sam
Someone who’s in distress, feels worry, pain or
sadness.

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Neil
And finally, grooming is how some animals clean
themselves using their tongue and paws.

Sam
That’s all the time we have for this programme. Bye for
now!

Neil
Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

go out like a light
go to sleep very quickly

switch off
stop thinking about something and think about
something else

agitated
get worried or upset

encroach
gradually take over

side-effects
unpleasant and unexpected result from taking
medication

sleepwalking
moving around and doing things while still asleep

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Transcript 🎧 Track 21
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
Sleep – we all need it – some more than others. I can
usually get by with around seven hours a night but I do
like to have a nap – a short sleep – in the afternoon, when
I’m not working of course. How about you, Neil?

Neil
I’m always tired and as soon as my head hits the pillow,
I’m out like a light – meaning I go to sleep very quickly.

Sam
Well, Neil, you might not survive in South Korea then.
Apparently, it’s one of the most stressed and tired nations
on earth - a place where people work and study longer
hours and get less sleep than anywhere else. We’ll find
out more later and teach some sleep-related vocabulary.

Neil
But before we do, you need to give me a question to keep
me awake and alert!

Sam
Of course I do, and here it is. In the 1960s, American man,
Randy Gardner, set the world record for staying awake for
the longest period. Do you know what that time was? Was it:

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a) 64 hours
b) 164 hours, or
c) 264 hours?

Neil
All sound impossible but I’ll guess a) 64 hours – that’s
nearly 3 days!

Sam
Oh, well. I’ll give you the answer later in the programme –
assuming you don’t doze off! But let’s talk more about
sleep now. As I mentioned, we all need it to help our mind
and body rest and relax. And going without sleep – or
sleeplessness - is bad for our health.

Neil
Many things can stop us sleeping and some of them are
pressure, anxiety and stress caused by your job. And in
South Korea research has shown it’s become increasingly
difficult to switch off – stop thinking about work and relax.
South Koreans sleep fewer hours and have higher rates
of depression and suicide than almost anywhere else.

Sam
Se-Woong Koo has been reporting on this for the BBC
World Service Documentary podcast. He met one worker
who explained why she never got time to relax.

Se-Woong Koo, BBC reporter

Separating work and rest time has been a recurring issue

for Ji-an – in her last job her office hours were long. Like
most Korean firms, her employer didn’t think about any
boundaries. They encroached on almost all her time.

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Korean office worker

They told me ‘you need to be contactable 24/7’ – there

will always be someone from work reaching out to me, like
needing to get something done right now. Even just
thinking about it, I get really agitated.

Sam
So, that stressed out worker got agitated just thinking
about the situation – she got worried or upset. That’s
because office hours in South Korea are long and some
employers expect their workers to be contactable all the
time.

Neil
Yes, there are no boundaries – so no limits or rules about
when employers can contact their employees. Therefore,
as this employee said, work encroached – it gradually
took over - her leisure time. Stress like this can lead to
insomnia – a condition where you are unable to sleep.

Sam
The BBC Discovery podcast goes on to explain that
offering a cure for this sleeplessness has become big
business. There are sleep clinics where doctors assess
people overnight, and sleep cafes that offer places to nap
in the middle of the working day.

Neil
One other issue in South Korea that’s affecting sleep is
the ‘bali bali’ culture, meaning ‘quickly, quickly’ or ‘hurry,
hurry’. People are constantly in a rush.

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Sam
Doctor Lee spoke to the World Service’s Discovery
podcast about the effects of this and how even trying to
take medication to help sleep, has its problems.

Dr Lee

People take like, ten or twenty pills per one night, and
because they cannot fall asleep even with the medication,
they drink alcohol on top of that, and they
experience side-effects of the medication. People
can sleepwalk, and go to the refrigerator, eat a lot of
things unconsciously - uncooked food, and they don’t
remember next day. There were cases of car accidents in
the centre of Seoul which has been sleepwalking patients.

Neil
So, some people are taking lots of pills to help them sleep
but they’re not working so they’re drinking alcohol as well.
This leads to side-effects – unpleasant and unexpected
results from the medication.

Sam
It seems, one of these side-effects is sleepwalking –
moving around and doing things while still asleep.

Neil
Well, if sleeping pills aren’t working, there’s always
meditation – or working less.

Sam
At least South Koreans are getting some sleep, unlike
Randy Gardner who I asked you about earlier.

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Neil
Yes, he holds the record for staying awake the longest.
And I thought he stayed awake for 64 hours. Was I right?

Sam
No, Neil. Not long enough. Randy Gardner stayed awake
for an incredible 264.4 hours – that’s 11 days and 25
minutes – in January 1964.

Neil
That’s one record I really don’t want to beat.

Sam
Well, before you nod off Neil, let’s recap some of the
vocabulary we’ve been discussing, including go out like
a light, which means you go to sleep very quickly.

Neil
When you switch off you stop concentrating on one thing
and start thinking about something else.

Sam
A lack of sleep or rest can make you agitated – you get
worried or upset.

Neil
Encroach means gradually take over.

Sam
When you take medication and it gives you an unpleasant
and unexpected result, we call these side-effects.

Neil
And sleepwalking describes moving around and doing
things while still asleep.

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Sam
That’s our six minutes up. Goodbye and sweet dreams!

Neil
Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

controversy
disagreement or argument about something people have
strong feelings about

in full swing
at its highest level or activity

headache
something that causes you a lot of problems

mountain
(metaphor) large amount of something

dynamic
continually changing and developing

the clock is ticking

time is running out to prepare for or complete something

Transcript 🎧 Track 22
Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Neil.

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Sam
And I’m Sam.

Neil
Sam, would you describe yourself as ‘sporty’?

Sam
Well, I do like to go running and I might watch some
sport on TV.

Neil
Would you watch sport like bandy, skeleton or perhaps
luge?

Sam
Ah, you’re talking about quite specialised sports, played
on ice or snow, and that’s because it’s almost time for the
Winter Olympics.

Neil
Yes, you’re right. The 2022 Winter Olympics starts in
Beijing on the 4th February. This event will mark the
return of the Olympics to Beijing for the first time in 14
years, having previously hosted the 2008 Summer
Games.

Sam
That means Beijing will become the first city in the world
to have hosted both the Winter and Summer Games. But
these latest Games are not without controversy – that’s
disagreement or argument about something people have
strong feelings about.

Neil
More about that later – but as usual, I have a question or
you, Sam. The Winter Olympics have not been around

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as long as the Summer Olympics, so do you know when

the first Winter event took place? Was it in:
a) 1904
b) 1924, or
c) 1934?

Sam
Well, as they are relatively new, I’ll go for c) 1934.

Neil
OK, Sam, we’ll find out if that’s right later in the
programme. Now, this latest Winter Olympics are
scheduled to include a record 109 events over 15
disciplines in seven sports - biathlon, bobsledding,
curling, ice hockey, luge, skating and skiing.
A discipline in this context is a particular way of doing a
sport.

Sam
The BBC’s China correspondent, Stephen McDonell,
went to a recent test event for the Olympics and explained
what the organisers are hoping for…

Stephen McDonell, BBC China correspondent

In the mountains outside Beijing, the test events are in

full swing. (The) Games organisers will be hoping (that)
despite the coronavirus headaches, despite the alleged
human rights abuses, despite the allegations from a
former Chinese Olympian - a tennis star at that - involving
a senior government official - they can still produce
a memorable Winter Olympics.

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Neil
So that was Stephen McDonell at a test event which he
described as being in full swing – so, at its highest level
or activity – its busiest. And he mentioned the controversy
surrounding the games.

Sam
Yes, he mentioned the coronavirus headache – not an
actual headache but something that causes a lot of
problems. Covid-19 certainly makes it difficult to plan a
huge event like this, particularly managing people who are
travelling from all parts of the world.

Neil
On top of this, China is accused of human rights abuses
against the Uighur Muslims. And there is the controversy
around the tennis player, Peng Shuai.

Sam
But despite the issues facing the game’s organisers, they
want to put on an event that is hard to forget, for good
reasons – Stephen used the word memorable.

Neil
Well, seeing athletes hurtle down an icy track at 130
kilometres an hour on what looks like a tea tray, is
certainly unforgettable. This is what they call ‘the
skeleton’.

Sam
Let’s hear more about the preparations for the games
from the BBC’s Stephen McDonell.

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Stephen McDonell, BBC China correspondent

The games will be held in a freezing, mostly dry area -

a mountain of snow making is required, but this can
make for quick, dynamic runs. The athletes we spoke to
said these sites will make for high-quality competition - for
everyone here, the clock is now ticking.

Neil
So, despite this being a winter event, held in a cold place,
enormous quantities of artificial snow have to be made.
Stephen McDonell describes this as a mountain of snow
– not a real mountain – but a large amount of it.

Sam
But some athletes say this type of snow is good for speed,
and changing and developing – or dynamic – conditions.
They hope it will be a ‘high-quality’ competition.

Neil
Let’s hope so, and it’s not long until it starts – and for the
athletes the clock is ticking, meaning time is running out
to prepare.

Sam
And our time is running out too, so Neil, what’s the answer
to the question you asked me?

Neil
Oh yes, I asked you when the first Winter Olympics took
place?

Sam
And I said 1934.

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Neil
Which was… I’m afraid to say, Sam, the wrong answer.
The first Winter Olympic Games took place in 1924 and
were held in Chamonix in the French Alps. The Beijing
Winter Olympics is the 24th games. And the Paralympic
Games will take place a month later in the city, between
4th and 13th March 2022.

Sam
Looks like I need to brush up on my Winter Olympics
knowledge but not before we recap some of the
vocabulary we’ve mentioned, starting with controversy –
disagreement or argument about something people have
strong feelings about.

Neil
We talked about something being in full swing – so, at
its highest level of activity.

Sam
And a headache is, metaphorically, something that
causes you a lot of problems.

Neil
A mountain is not only a very high hill - used
metaphorically it means a large amount of something.

Sam
Something continually changing and developing can be
described as dynamic.

Neil
And finally, the clock is ticking, means time is running
out to prepare for or complete something.

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Sam
Well, the clock is no longer ticking for us because our six
minutes are up!

Neil
Goodbye for now!

Sam
Bye bye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

gut (informal)
intestines; long tube inside the body which starts below
the stomach and helps digest food

microbes
tiny, microscopic organisms living inside the human body

calorie
unit measuring the amount of energy that food provides

flimsy
weak and difficult to believe; not convincing

skinny
very thin

stick out of the crowd

be very easy to notice, in a positive sense

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Transcript 🎧 Track 23
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
In recent years new diets with names like ‘vegan’, ‘keto’
and ‘paleo’ have become very popular. Are you a
vegetarian, Neil? Do you follow any particular diet?

Neil
Well, I eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and only a little
meat from time to time.

Sam
Well, while many diets claim to improve health or help you
lose weight, recent research shows that what counts is
not what you eat but how your body reacts.

Neil
Yes, and that reaction doesn’t happen where you might
think – not in the brain, or tongue, or even the stomach,
but in the gut – another name for the intestines - the long
tube inside your body which digests food.

Sam
Inside everyone’s gut are millions of microbes – tiny
living organisms, too small to see without a microscope.
Some of them are good for us, some bad.

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Neil
Microbes help digest food, but they influence our bodies
more than we know. Think of them as chemical factories
that cause our individual reaction to the food we eat.

Sam
This mix of gut microbes is unique and different for
everyone, even identical twins.

Neil
And it’s the reason why some doctors now recommend a
personalised diet, one that perfectly fits your own unique
combination of microbes.

Sam
We’ll hear more soon, but first I have a question for you,
Neil, and it’s about the gut - the tube which includes the
large and small intestine. It’s very long - but how long
exactly is the average adult’s gut? Is it:
a) 3.5 metres?
b) 5.5 metres? or,
c) 7.5 metres?

Neil
Well, everybody is different of course, but I’ll say on
average the gut is b) 5.5 metres long.

Sam
OK, Neil, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme.

Neil
Among the first to investigate gut microbes was Dr Tim
Spector, author of bestselling book, The Diet Myth. He
wanted to check whether the dietary advice he had heard

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and believed, advice like ‘eat little and often’ or ‘avoid fat’,
was really true.

Sam
Listen as Dr Spector explains how he started to doubt
some of this advice - ‘food myths’, he calls them - to BBC
Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific:

Tim Spector

All these so-called myths that I’d believed, whether it was

about calories, about fats, when to eat, how to eat, were
based on flimsy or no evidence, very old, very poor
quality, and had been repeated so much that people didn’t
think to question them.

Neil
One of the food myths Dr Spector questioned was
counting calories – the units which measure the amount
of energy food provides.

Sam
He discovered that much of the dietary advice he had
heard was either incorrect or based on flimsy evidence.
If evidence is flimsy, it’s weak and unconvincing.

Neil
As Dr Spector questioned these food myths, he
remembered an earlier study involving identical twins,
pairs of brothers or sisters with the same genes.

Sam
It was the surprising differences in weight between one
twin and another that made Dr Spector realise that no two

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people have the same gut – even identical twins’ guts are
different.

Neil
But, as he told BBC Radio 4’s, The Life Scientific, the
discovery came in a very smelly way – by asking his
volunteers to send samples of their poo in the post!

Tim Spector

We collected lots of these samples, sequenced them, and

looked at twins where one was overweight and one
was skinny… and we found in every case, the skinnier
twin had a more diverse microbiome, greater numbers of
different species and they also nearly always had high
numbers of a couple of microbes that just stuck out of
the crowd – and one was called christensenella and the
other was called akkermansia.

Sam
Although genetically identical, one twin was overweight,
while the other twin was skinny, or very thin.

Neil
Because the weight difference could not be explained
genetically, Dr Spector suspected the microbes in the
skinnier twin’s gut held the answer: the more diverse
someone’s microbes, the better their gut was at digesting
food, regulating fat and maintaining health.

Sam
Two microbes, christensenella and akkermansia, were
especially effective. Dr Spector says these

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microbes stuck out of the crowd, meaning they were

easy to notice for their positive effect.

Neil
And since everyone’s microbes are different, it follows
that a personalised diet which selects the friendliest food
for your gut, is best. Right, and all this talk of eating is
making me hungry, so tell me, Sam, was my answer to
your question, right?

Sam
Ah yes, I asked about the length of the gut in the average
adult.

Neil
I said it was 5.5 metres.

Sam
Which was… the correct answer! Well done, Neil – that
took ‘guts’, which is the second meaning of the word:
courage.

Neil
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned starting
with gut – an informal word for the intestines, the tube
which digests food from the stomach.

Sam
Microbes are microscopic organisms living inside the
body.

Neil
A calorie is a unit measuring how much energy food
provides.

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Sam
If an argument or evidence is flimsy, it’s weak and hard
to believe.

Neil
A skinny person is very thin.

Sam
And finally, if something sticks out of the crowd, it’s
noticeable in a good way.

Neil
Unfortunately, our six minutes are up, but remember: look
after your gut, and your gut will look after you! Goodbye!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

living language
a language that people still speak and use in their
ordinary lives

my bad
used instead of ‘my fault’ to admit that you have made a
mistake (informal, US)

patron saint
someone who is believed to give special help and
protection to a particular activity

conlang
constructed language; artificially invented language,
such as Esperanto and Klingon

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root (of a language)

origin or source

get stuck on (something)

be unable to continue or complete what you’re doing
because it’s too difficult

Transcript 🎧 Track 24
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil. How are you today, Sam?

Sam
Thanks for asking Neil, I’m fine… not!

Neil
Sorry, so are you fine? Or not…?

Sam
Oh, did I confuse you? My bad!

Neil
Sam is speaking English, just a very modern type of
English, for example saying ‘my bad’, instead of ‘my fault’
as a way of accepting that she’s wrong.

Sam
Or adding ‘not’ at the end of a sentence to show I really
mean the opposite of what I said. Both are examples of
small changes in English which have happened naturally
over the last decade or two.

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Neil
Changes like these happen because, unlike say, Latin,
which no-one speaks day-to-day, English is a living
language – a language people speak and use in their
ordinary lives.

Sam
New bits of English are invented as people use the
language in new ways, but what happens when a
language comes from an entirely different galaxy –
somewhere like Qo’noS, home planet of the Klingons?

Neil
Yes, when sci-fi TV show, Star Trek, introduced alien
characters called Klingons, the makers needed to invent
a whole new language - Klingon.

Sam
Entirely made-up and unrelated to any human language,
Klingon has developed a life of its own. Today you can
even study it at university. So, Neil, my quiz question is
this: in 2010, Klingon became the first invented language
to do what? Is it:

a) have its own dictionary?,

b) have an opera written? or,
c) be recognised as an official language by the United
Nations?
Neil
Hmmm, every language needs vocabulary, so I’ll say a)
Klingon was the first invented language to have its own
dictionary.

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Sam
OK, Neil, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme.
Klingon isn’t the only made-up language invented for the
movies. David Peterson is the creator of Dothraki, a
language used in the fantasy TV show, Game of Thrones.

Neil
From his home in Los Angeles, David spoke to Michael
Rosen, presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of
Mouth. They discussed Saint Hildegard who created the
very first made-up language in the 12 th century:

David Peterson

What she had was an entire list of nouns, a whole list of

nouns – many of them godly, many of them not, and she
would drop them into songs using Latin grammar and
other Latin words, so it’s not a language proper in the way
that we understand it now, because really when we talk
about a language it’s not just the vocabulary, it’s the
grammar – nevertheless we still kind of look on her as
the patron saint of modern conlanging.

Sam
Saint Hildegard invented new nouns but used Latin
grammar, so David doesn’t think her invention is a proper
language. Nevertheless, Saint Hildegard is considered
the patron saint of languages.

Neil
The patron saint of something refers to a Christian saint
who is believed to give special help to a particular activity.
Here, the activity is inventing a conlang, short for

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constructed language – artificially invented languages,

like Klingon and Dothraki.

Sam
Another famous constructed language, Esperanto, was
invented in 1887 by Polish doctor, Ludwik Zamenhof. He
wanted to make it easier for people who spoke different
languages to communicate with each other.

Neil
Listen as David Peterson speaks Esperanto with Michael
Rosen and tests how much he understands for BBC
Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth:

David Peterson

You are an English speaker from Western Europe, and in

the 19th Century ‘universal’ meant ‘able to be understood
by people from Western Europe’. And so, for example to
say, ‘I speak Esperanto’, ‘mi parolas Esperanton’.

Michael Rosen

Yes, I might have got that one – the ‘parle’ bit from its
Latin root, and ‘me’, obviously. Try me again.

David Peterson
Kiel vi fartas?

Michael Rosen

Who is my father? No, ‘Where am I travelling’? Er, no I got

stuck on that one!

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Sam
Like Spanish, Italian and other modern European
languages, Esperanto is based on Latin. Michael guessed
the meaning of the Esperanto word ‘parolas’ from its
Latin root – the origin or source of a language.

Neil
But the second sentence of Esperanto isn’t so easy.
Michael gets stuck on that one – he can’t answer
because it’s too difficult.

Sam
I think I’d probably get stuck on that as well. But at least
Esperanto was invented for humans, not alien creatures
from outer space!

Neil
And speaking of creatures from outer space, did I get the
right answer to your quiz question, Sam?

Sam
I asked Neil about an unusual first achieved by the made-
up alien language, Klingon.

Neil
I guessed it was the first invented language to have its
own dictionary.

Sam
Which was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid. Incredibly, the
correct answer was c) - in 2010 a company of Dutch
musicians and singers performed the first ever Klingon
opera! The story must have been hard to follow but I’m
sure the singing was out of this world!

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Neil
MajQa! That’s Klingon for ‘great’. OK, let’s recap the
vocabulary from our discussion about invented
languages, also called constructed languages,
or conlangs for short.

Sam
A living language, like English, is a language that people
still speak and use in their ordinary lives.

Neil
The phrase, my bad, originated in the United States but
is also used in Britain as an informal way to say, ‘my fault’
or to tell someone that you’ve made a mistake.

Sam
A patron saint is someone believed to give special help
and protection to a particular activity.

Neil
The root of a language means its origin or source.

Sam
And finally, if you get stuck on something, you’re unable
to complete it because it’s too difficult.

Neil
That’s all the time we have for this programme about
invented languages. ‘Gis revido baldau’- that’s Esperanto
for ‘see you again soon’.

Sam
In other words, ‘Qapla’, which is how Klingons say
‘goodbye’. Qapla!

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Neil
Qapla!

Study the Vocabulary First and then Listen

three-dimensional (3-D)
having the three dimensions of length, width and height,
making objects appear real and solid, not flat

phygital
combining the features of physical and digital worlds to
create a new type of experience

sceptical
doubtful that something is true or useful

unwieldy
difficult to move or carry because it’s so heavy, large or
strangely shaped

augmented reality (AR)

technology which augments (adds to) the ordinary

physical world by projecting virtual pictures, text or
characters on top

immersive
stimulating the senses and surrounding someone so that
they feel completely involved in an experience

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Transcript 🎧 Track 25
Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning
English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
On Saturday mornings I love going to watch football in the
park. The problem is when it’s cold and rainy - I look out
the bedroom window and go straight back to bed!

Neil
Well, instead of going to the park, why not bring the park
to you? Imagine watching a live version of the football
match at home in the warm, with friends. Sound good,
Sam?

Sam
Sounds great! – but how can I be in two places at once?
Is there some amazing invention to do that?

Neil
There might be, Sam - and it could be happening sooner
than you think, thanks to developments in VR, or virtual
reality. According to Facebook boss, Mark Zuckerberg, in
the future we’ll all spend much of our time living and
working in the ‘metaverse’ – a series of virtual worlds.

Sam
Virtual reality is a topic we’ve discussed before at 6
Minute English. But when Facebook announced that it

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was hiring ten thousand new workers to develop VR for

the ‘metaverse’, we thought it was time for another look.

Neil
Is this programme, we’ll be hearing two different opinions
on the ‘metaverse’ and how it might shape the future.

Sam
But first I have a question for you, Neil. According to a
2021 survey by gaming company, Thrive Analytics, what
percentage of people who try virtual reality once want to
try it again? Is it:

a) 9 percent?
b) 49 percent? or,
c) 79 percent?
Neil
I guess with VR you either love it or hate it, so I’ll say b)
49 percent of people want to try it again.

Sam
OK, I’ll reveal the correct answer later in the programme.
But what Neil said is true: people tend to either love virtual
reality or hate it. Somebody who loves it is Emma
Ridderstad, CEO of Warpin’, a company which develops
VR technology.

Neil
Here she is telling BBC World Service programme, Tech
Tent, her vision of the future:

Emma Ridderstad

In ten years, everything that you do on your phone today,

you will do in 3-D, through your classes for example. You

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will be able to do your shopping, you will be able to meet

your friends, you will be able to work remotely with
whomever you want, you will be able to share digital
spaces, share music, share art, share projects in digital
spaces between each other. And you will also be able to
integrate the digital objects in your physical world, making
the world much more phygital than is it today.

Sam
Virtual reality creates 3-D, or three-
dimensional experiences where objects have the three
dimensions of length, width and height. This makes them
look lifelike and solid, not two-dimensional and flat.

Neil
Emma says that in the future VR will mix digital objects
and physical objects to create exciting new experiences –
like staying home to watch the same football match that
is simultaneously happening in the park. She blends the
words ‘physical’ and ‘digital’ to make a new word
describing this combination: phygital.

Sam
But while a ‘phygital’ future sounds like paradise to some,
others are more sceptical – they doubt that VR will come
true or be useful.

Neil
One such sceptic is technology innovator, Dr Nicola
Millard. For one thing, she doesn’t like wearing a VR
headset – the heavy helmet and glasses that create
virtual reality for the wearer – something she explained to
BBC World Service’s, Tech Tent:

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Dr Nicola Millard

There are some basic things to think about. So, how do

we access it? So, the reason, sort of, social networks took
off was, we’ve got mobile technologies that let us use it.
Now, obviously one of the barriers can be that VR or AR
headsets - so VR, I’ve always been
slightly sceptical about. I’ve called it ‘vomity reality’ for a
while because, frankly, I usually need a bucket
somewhere close if you’ve got a headset on me… and
also, do I want to spend vast amounts of time in those
rather unwieldy headsets? Now, I know they’re
talking AR as well and obviously that does not necessarily
need a headset, but I think we’re seeing some
quite immersive environments coming out at the moment
as well.

Sam
Nicola called VR ‘vomity reality’ because wearing a
headset makes her feel sick, maybe because it’s
so unwieldy – difficult to move or wear because it’s big
and heavy.

Neil
She also makes a difference between VR - virtual reality-
and AR, which stands for augmented reality – tech
which adds to the ordinary physical world by projecting
virtual words, pictures and characters, usually by wearing
glasses or with a mobile phone.

Sam
While virtual reality replaces what you hear and see,
augmented reality adds to it. Both VR and AR
are immersive experiences – they stimulate your senses

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and surround you so that you feel completely involved in

the experience.

Neil
In fact, the experience feels so real that people keep
coming back for more.

Sam
Right! In my question I asked Neil how many people who
try VR for the first time want to try it again.

Neil
I guessed it was about half – 49 percent. Was I right?

Sam
You were… wrong, I’m afraid. The correct answer is much
higher - 79 percent of people would give VR another try. I
suppose because the experience was so immersive –
stimulating, surrounding and realistic.

Neil
Ok, A, let’s recap the other vocabulary from this
programme on the ‘metaverse’, a kind of augmented
reality – reality which is enhanced or added to by
technology.

Sam
3-D objects have three dimensions, making them
appear real and solid.

Neil
Phygital is an invented word which combines the
features of ‘physical’ and ‘digital’ worlds.

Sam
A sceptical person is doubtful about something.

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Neil
And finally, unwieldy means difficult to move or carry
because it’s so big and heavy.

Sam
That’s our six minutes up, in this reality anyway. See you
in the ‘metaverse’ soon!

Neil
Goodbye!

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