Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 18, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day.
The series that aims to increase your active vocabulary by introducing
five pieces of vocabulary every day of the week, at least the
working week, from Monday to Friday.
Let's kick off today's list with a noun and it is inhibition, inhibition.
We spell this I N H I B I T I O N.
Lots of Is in there.
Inhibition, inhibition.
Inhibition describes a feeling that prevents you from doing or saying
what you want, usually because you feel worried or embarrassed.
So, people often have inhibition within a social environment.
People who are shy have lots of inhibitions.
They don't speak up, they don't behave in the way they want to.
They don't participate in the way they want to because of
these inhibitions that they have.
I had a lot of inhibitions when I was younger.
Sometimes if I'm in a completely different environment with people I don't
know, then I still have inhibitions.
I feel embarrassed to speak up or to do what I want to do because I don't
feel safe or because I feel like people will laugh at me or wonder,
"Who is she?
What's she doing?"
Have you ever felt any kind of inhibition?
Here's an example sentence,
"It takes me a few drinks to lose my inhibitions and dance,
but once I start, I can't stop.
Show me to the dance floor!"
We often talk about needing a drink to lose our inhibitions.
That idea of loosening up when you've had a little bit of alcohol.
You feel a little bit more courageous when you're a bit tipsy or a little bit drunk.
Okay, next on the list is a verb and it is summit, summit.
We spell this S U M M I T.
To summit is to reach the highest point of a mountain or cliff or a hill.
You summit it.
Here's an example sentence,
"My challenge next year is to summit Mount Everest.
I've never climbed before, but I'm going to do this for charity."
Have you ever summited a mountain?
Do you plan to?
When I was pregnant with Jacob, about six months pregnant actually, I summited
Snowdon, Mount Snowdon in Wales.
That was quite a feat, really.
It was quite tiring carrying a big bump.
Anyway, let's move on to an adjective.
This adjective is queasy, queasy.
We spell this Q U E A S Y.
Queasy.
If you feel queasy, or if you are queasy, then you feel
sick, like you want to vomit.
Certain things can make you feel queasy.
Some people don't like the mention or the sight of blood.
That might make them feel queasy.
I often feel queasy if I try to read or look at my phone while I'm travelling.
I'm very sensitive to that.
I can get travel sick very easily.
So, I have to put my phone down if I start feeling queasy in the car.
Here's an example sentence,
"I can't watch medical programs, I go all queasy at the sight of blood."
Alright, what makes you feel queasy?
Let's move on to a phrasal verb now.
This is go for it, go for it.
We spell this go, G O.
For, F O R.
It, I T.
Three words, but you'll notice the second word, 'for', is in its
weak form, which tends to happen when it appears within a sentence.
So, we hear, /fə/, /ɡəʊ fə ɪt/, go for it.
And then you'll hear the R comes in actually a little bit.
We have /rɪt/, don't we?
/ɡəʊ fərɪt/, go for it, go for it.
To go for it is to give it your best or do something with enthusiasm.
So, if I say to you, go for it, then I'm saying go and do what you want to do.
It usually comes when you ask me for my opinion or for my encouragement.
So, if you say,
"Anna, I'm thinking about joining your fluency programme because I
really want to be fluent in English."
And I'd say,
"If you want it, go for it, go on, do it.
If that's what you want to make it happen, go for it."
Here's an example sentence,
"Louisa was totally going for it in the choir audition last night
you couldn't hear the others as her singing was so loud."
Next on the list is an adjective and it is irrational, irrational.
We spell this I R R A T I O N A L.
Irrational, irrational.
If something is irrational then it's without reason or without clear thought.
It hasn't been thought about.
So, we normally talk about irrational fears.
So, fears that don't have any real reason behind them.
They are just, you know, unconsidered, unexplained fears.
So, my irrational fear that I've spoken about before of wet teabags, how
ridiculous to be scared of a teabag.
But that was my irrational fear.
If someone is behaving in an irrational way, then they're not thinking clearly.
They're not using reason.
Have you ever been irrational?
There are times that I've certainly been slightly irrational where I've
allowed my emotion to bubble over and I've become very emotional.
I might have freaked out for no good reason.
I hadn't really thought through what I was doing and I was just being
emotional and irrational, acting without thinking and without reasoning.
Many of us are irrational at some point or other, aren't we?
We do silly things occasionally without thinking.
Okay, here's an example sentence,
"Your behaviour has become so irrational recently, is everything okay at home?"
Alright, so that's our five for today.
Shall we recap?
Yes, I think we should.
We started with the noun, inhibition, inhibition.
So that's a feeling that prevents you from doing or saying something
that you want to do or say because you feel embarrassed or worried.
Then we had the verb summit, to summit, which is to reach the
highest peak or the highest point of a mountain, cliff or hill.
We had the adjective queasy, to feel sick, like you want to vomit.
We had the phrasal verb, go for it, which is to give something your best;
to do something with enthusiasm.
And then we had the adjective irrational, irrational, which is not
thinking clearly or using reason.
Let's now do this for pronunciation.
Please repeat after me.
Inhibition.
Summit.
Queasy.
Go for it.
Irrational.
Alright, let's test you now.
So, if I'm telling you I am going to reach the highest point of Mount
Everest, what verb should I use?
Summit.
I'm going to summit Mount Everest.
The problem I have is that at altitude, I tend to feel quite sick.
What adjective could I use to replace feeling sick?
Queasy.
I feel queasy when I'm at height.
What phrasal verb would you use to tell me to go ahead and do this climb to
try and summit Mount Everest regardless of feeling queasy when I'm high up?
You think I should do it with enthusiasm.
What phrasal verb are you going to use?
Go for it.
Yes, you might even tell me that my doubts about doing it, my thoughts about dropping
out and not doing it are not completely thought through, not using reason.
What adjective would you use to describe my poorly considered
view about dropping out?
Irrational.
Absolutely.
But you know that I have a general feeling that prevents me from doing
what I want to do, especially when it involves a physical challenge.
What noun could you use to describe this feeling that prevents me
from doing what I want to do?
Inhibition.
I have an inhibition.
I have lots of inhibitions, but this one is really going to hold me back
from doing the thing I want to do, which is to summit Mount Everest.
And it's an irrational thought, not doing it.
It's all based on the fact that I might get queasy when I'm up there,
but you've told me that I should go for it and ignore my inhibition.
Get over my inhibition.
And so, that's what I'm going to do.
Thank you very much.
Alright.
It's time to bring this all together in a little story.
Olivia is a 35-year-old woman with a passion for adventure and a heart of gold.
She has decided to take on a challenge that will not only push
her limits, but also raise money for a cause close to her heart.
She is about to climb the Shard, one of the tallest buildings in the
world, all in the name of charity.
She is determined to summit the building, even though she has never climbed
before, and has a tiny fear of heights.
As she starts to ascend, Olivia's heart starts to race.
She can sense the familiar feeling of inhibition creeping in, trying
to stop her from reaching her goal.
But she knows she can't let it get the best of her.
Over halfway up, with her heart pounding, her legs a little wobbly
and a slight queasy feeling in her stomach, Olivia takes a deep breath
and looks out at the city skyline.
It is beautiful, and for a moment, there is a sense of calm within
her, until a pigeon flaps by, making her flinch and lose her grip.
She falls only about half a metre before her safety rope stops her
sudden and unexpected descent.
Filled with adrenaline, Olivia grips tightly to her rope as she swings back and
forth 200 metres above the London streets.
"I can't do this," she mutters to herself.
Ready to signal for assistance, Olivia stops.
"No, I have to do this.
I have already come so far.
It's now or never."
This is her moment to go for it, to push past her fears and doubts.
So, with a shaky hand, she grips onto the building once again.
"Let's finish this!"
As she climbs, Olivia reflects on the cause that she's climbing for.
She remembers the people who will benefit from her efforts and that
thought alone gives her the strength to keep going all the way to the top.
Olivia has done it.
She has conquered her fears, pushed through her inhibitions,
and reached the summit.
And all for a cause that is bigger than herself.
In that moment, Olivia realises that sometimes, the most
irrational decisions can lead to the most incredible experiences.
And for her, this climb was definitely worth it.
So, next time you feel held back by your inhibitions, remember
Olivia and her incredible feat.
Because sometimes, it's worth taking a leap of faith and going for it.
And on that inspiring note, I'm going to wrap up today's podcast.
I do hope you found it useful.
As always, it would be great if you could leave a like, a rating or
review and share this podcast with any of your English-learning friends.
Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.