Hello, and welcome to the English Like a Native Podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 15, Day 1 of Your English Five A
Day, a series that aims to increase your active vocabulary by five pieces every
day of the week from Monday to Friday.
So, let's start today's list with a noun, and it is terminal, terminal.
We spell this T E R M I N A L.
Terminal, terminal.
Now a terminal is an area or a building at a station, airport, or port that's
used by passengers who are leaving or arriving by train, aeroplane, or ship.
So, if you've ever taken a flight somewhere, then you
will have been in a terminal.
Here's an example sentence.
"Make sure you tell the taxi driver which terminal you need to go to.
Last time I went to Heathrow, they took me into the wrong one.
I nearly missed my flight!"
In big terminals, you'll find there are places to shop, places to eat,
places to drink, and hopefully relax before you have to travel.
Whenever I've left from a London airport, when I've left the country, I,
in most cases, have enjoyed my time in the terminal, you know, buying little
trinkets for your entertainment on the flight, puzzle books, buying some snacks.
I always like to load up with food because if it's a long
flight, I tend to be hungry.
I don't like to leave myself with nothing.
I'm a control freak and like to have something with me.
And also there are often restaurants and things that you can sit down
and have a fun meal with your family or your friends and just indulge in
the excitement of the upcoming trip.
It's not so nice when the terminal is jam-packed with people though.
I have experienced that as well.
When you can't move because there are so many people, you have to queue up for
20 minutes just to buy your sandwich and queue for the toilets and everything.
That's a bit of a nightmare.
Anyway, let's move on to our next word.
This is another noun and it is conveyor belt, conveyor belt.
Have you spotted the theme for today?
Conveyor belt is spelled C O N V E Y O R, conveyor.
Belt, B E L T conveyor belt.
The conveyor belt is that continuously moving strip or
surface that's used for transporting objects from one place to another.
So, for example, in the airport, the conveyor belt is where you would put
your luggage and then it just moves away from you and gets taken through a little
secret portal and ends up on the plane and hopefully will end up at your destination.
And when you have arrived at your destination, you stand at the
conveyor belt, waiting, watching all these different pieces of luggage
go by, waiting to spot yours.
And then it's a mad dash to grab your luggage and haul it off the conveyor belt.
I think when you're a kid.
It's always quite exciting seeing that conveyor belt.
The idea of jumping onto it and being transported is quite tempting.
When I was there with my two sons recently, I had to hold
them back because they were like,
"Oh, it's a ride!"
I'm like,
"No, don't, don't get on the conveyor belt.
I might lose you."
And that would be terrible.
Okay, so terminal and conveyor belt.
Let's move on to our next phrase.
This is an idiom and it is butterflies in your stomach.
Butterflies in your stomach.
Butterflies spelled B U T T E R F L I E S, butterflies.
In your stomach, S T O M A C H, stomach.
Butterflies in your stomach.
Can you imagine actually having physical butterflies fluttering
around inside your stomach?
That would feel very unusual, wouldn't it?
So, this idiom, to have butterflies in your stomach, is something you say when
you feel very nervous or frightened about something, where you get that
fluttering feeling in your stomach.
Here's an example,
"I always get butterflies in my stomach the night before I fly!
You'd think I'd be used to it after all these years."
Now, when was the last time that you had butterflies in your stomach?
As an old actress, I say old, not old in age, but in the past I was an
actress, I used to suffer with severe butterflies in my stomach before
doing the first night of a new show.
So, when we hadn't yet shown the performance to anyone, it was a
completely new performance; going out in front of that first audience always
gave me big butterflies in my stomach.
Next on our list is a verb and it is upgrade, to upgrade.
We spell this U P G R A D E.
Upgrade.
To upgrade is to give someone something of a better standard or something newer.
For example, a better seat on a plane would be an upgrade; or a better
room in a hotel would be an upgrade.
Sometimes people are very lucky and they're just upgraded because they
were in the right place at the right time, or because it was their birthday
and someone was feeling generous.
Saying,
"Do you know what, our best room is empty, so why don't we upgrade
you to the penthouse suite?"
Have you ever been upgraded like that?
Have you ever stepped on a plane, going like economy class and then being
upgraded to business class or first class?
Has that ever happened to you?
It's never happened to me.
So, if any airlines are listening, any hotel chains, if I come and stay with
you or fly with you, then you're welcome to upgrade me to give me the experience.
But we also often upgrade our phones, upgrade equipment,
upgrade our bicycles or our cars.
As time goes on, these mechanical and electrical
devices usually need an upgrade.
So, here's an example sentence,
"I've only ever been upgraded on a flight once, it was on my honeymoon and
I felt even more special than normal."
Last on our list for today is an adverb and it is diligently,
diligently, diligently.
It's a little bit of a mouthful.
Let me spell this for you.
D I L I G E N T L Y.
Diligently.
If you do something diligently, then you do it in a way that is
careful and uses a lot of effort.
When I am filing my tax returns, I go through the numbers diligently.
One incorrectly placed decimal point could cost me a lot of money
or get me into a lot of trouble.
So, I go through my tax return diligently to make sure that
everything is precise and correct.
What do you do diligently?
Here's an example sentence,
"The flight attendant diligently checked that every passenger
had their seatbelt fastened.
As always, a few people had to be reminded."
Okay, that's our five.
So, let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun terminal, which is the area or building in
a station, airport or port where passengers leave and arrive.
Then we moved on to another noun, conveyor belt, which is the continuously moving
strip that carries objects from one place to another in an airport, it's our
baggage that goes on the conveyor belt.
Then we had the idiom butterflies in your stomach, which describes
that very nervous feeling when we're frightened about something.
Then we had the verb upgrade, which is to get something of a better standard
or newer than the previous thing.
Then we had the adverb diligently, which is to do something in a way that's
very careful and uses a lot of effort.
So, let's do this now for pronunciation.
Please repeat after me.
Terminal.
Conveyor belt.
Butterflies in your stomach.
Upgrade.
Diligently.
Very good.
Now, if I arrive at the hotel and they tell me that I'm going to get
a bigger, better room than the one that I'd booked, what are they doing?
What verb would I use here?
Upgrade.
Yes, they are upgrading me.
"Congratulations, Miss Tyrie, you have been upgraded."
And if I'm about to get on a plane and I've got this nervous fluttering in
my stomach, what idiom could I use?
Butterflies in my stomach.
Yes, I've got butterflies in my stomach.
And the area, the building in which I'm standing while I'm waiting
for my plane, is called what?
What noun would we use here?
Terminal.
I'm standing in the terminal, waiting for my flight with butterflies in my stomach.
Now when I arrive at the other end, at my destination, I'm going
to stand by this moving strip, hoping that my baggage comes out.
What's this moving strip called?
Conveyor belt, conveyor belt.
And when I take my baggage through security, they are going to check
everything in a way that's very careful and takes a lot of effort.
What adverb could I use here?
Diligently, diligently.
Fantastic, let's bring all of those words and phrases together in a little story.
When was the last time you went on an overseas holiday?
Did you fly?
Take the Eurotunnel?
A ferry?
Now, I love travelling, but as I've grown older, travelling doesn't seem to love me!
Whereas I used to get all excited about catching a plane to some
exotic, hot and sunny destination, now I get butterflies in my stomach.
It always happens the night before we're due to go.
I spend two weeks packing diligently, ensuring we have clothes for every
type of weather, just in case.
I have passports in my bumbag, local currency in my purse, and the clothes
set out ready for the morning.
I'm laying there trying to sleep as I know there's an early start to look forward
to, but I just can't get over the nerves.
I have to think positively.
I might get upgraded!
Imagine arriving at the airport.
Oh, make sure you go to the right terminal unlike me, when I once flew to Dubai from
Heathrow and ended up at terminal 4 rather than 3, checking in, and being told you
have been upgraded to business class!
Result!
All that's left to do now is put your suitcase on the conveyor belt and
watch them being whisked away to meet you at your dream holiday location.
Now, get to the business class lounge and enjoy a cocktail or
two, you are on holiday after all!
And the cocktails help with the nerves.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope you found it useful.
If you did, then please leave it a rating or a view or a big fat like.
That would be greatly appreciated.
And until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.