Welcome - English & the UK - Norwich

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: We recommend that you listen to this podcast on the Premier Skills English website because that is where we have the transcript, language examples, activities, quizzes and a discussion page to help you understand everything we talk about.

Jack: However, if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave answers to our questions in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re continuing our series of podcasts that focus on English and the UK. In these podcasts, you will learn more about cities in the UK and at the same time lots of useful English words and phrases.

Jack: In each podcast, we focus on one Premier League city. In our last English and the UK episode, we spoke about Southampton which is the UK’s busiest port for cruise ships.

Rich: Oh yeah, it was a while ago now, we spoke about the Titanic and the language we hear on boats and cruise ships.

Jack: That’s right, we looked at words and phrases like ‘all aboard’, ‘to set sail’ and ‘to get seasick’.

Rich: If you want to go back and do this lesson you can find it on the Premier Skills English website by clicking skills >  listen > podcasts. If you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts you’ll find it in the playlist, it’s called ‘English & the UK: Southampton’.

Jack: In this episode, we are going to talk about a Premier League city that’s in a region called East Anglia. If you can imagine a map of the UK, East Anglia is the area that sticks out into the sea to the northeast of London. The only city in East Anglia is Norwich and that’s the city we’re talking about this week.

Rich: First, Jack and I will have a conversation about Norwich. We will talk about some of the things that are special about Norwich. After that, you will hear a roleplay. This week we’re going to be on a farm.

Jack: You might not know it, but the region of East Anglia is known as Britain’s breadbasket.

Rich: Breadbasket? That’s a strange word.

Jack: A breadbasket is an open container with bread in it that you put on the table at mealtimes. But to describe a region or an area as a breadbasket means that area is a big farming area and provides food to other areas of the country.

Rich: That’s why we will be on a farm in this week’s roleplay, because of the area around Norwich. We’ll talk about the city, too, which also has lots to offer visitors.  

Jack: After the roleplay, we will focus on words and phrases connected to farming and the countryside.

Rich: Don’t forget that all the cities we focus on in this series are home to Premier League teams so listen out for the football connections in the podcast.

Jack: One of those connections is our football phrase section so don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because that’s when we ask you to guess our weekly football phrase.

Football Phrase 1 

Jack: But, before we look at all that, let’s look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week we’ll give you one more chance to guess and give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Rich: It was quite an easy one last week as Jack chose the phrase but if you weren’t listening we have another chance for you to guess the answer right now. Let’s hear it, Jack.

Jack: The phrase is ************* *****. The ************* ***** is when there are no Premier League matches because national teams are playing each other in qualifying matches or friendlies.

Rich: We’ll give you the answer and I’ll have a new football phrase at the end of the show. It will be more difficult this week.

Jack: And a big well done to those of you who already got the right answer. We got correct answers from Liubomyr in Ukraine, Idzingirai from Zimbabwe, Ahmed Abdallah from Egypt and Elghoul from Algeria.

Introduction to conversation

Jack: You are now going to listen to us talking about Norwich and interesting things to do and see in the city and surrounding areas.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question. The question is:

Jack: What did I rent when I was on holiday near Norwich?

Conversation

Rich: Norwich? What do we know about Norwich and the region around it called East Anglia? Mmm … let’s start with the football.

Jack: Its Premier League team is called Norwich City. Their nickname is the Canaries - the team play in yellow and their stadium is called Carrow Road.

Rich: The Canaries - another team whose nickname is a type of bird. Off the top of my head, I can think of the Magpies, the Seagulls, the Eagles, the Owls - there are loads.

Jack: I wonder why so many clubs have bird nicknames? Anyway, Norwich City’s local rivals are Ipswich Town and as we are speaking about farming and the countryside today I thought we’d look at the football connection between these things.

Rich: Go on then.

Jack: Well, the derby match between Norwich and Ipswich is called the Old Farm Derby.

Rich: Brilliant. The name is playing with the name of the Rangers-Celtic Derby in Glasgow which is called the Old Firm Derby.

Jack: Yes and one other thing - Ipswich’s nickname is the Tractor Boys.

Rich: So, the countryside and farming is big news in this part of the UK but if you came as a visitor what would you want to see?

Jack: Well, Norwich used to be one of the most important cities in England and was the biggest city outside of London for over a thousand years. The city is a really popular tourist destination because it’s probably the UK’s most complete medieval city.

Rich: That’s right there are lots of little cobbled streets and ancient buildings in the centre and the city is dominated by its cathedral that is around a thousand years old.

Jack: Norwich has been voted the happiest place to live in the UK and one of the best small cities in the world so it’s well worth a visit.

Rich: Outside the city, you have an area called the Norfolk Broads which is a national park. The Broads are a collection of waterways and rivers that can be navigated by boat. There are over 200 kilometres of them and it’s a really popular place for a holiday and a chance to see the countryside.

Jack: I went on a holiday there once. We hired a boat for a week and slept on it too. There are hundreds of boats to choose from and you can hire them for a few hours or a few weeks.

Rich: Sounds like a nice holiday. OK, so that’s a little bit about Norwich. We’ve been speaking about farms and the countryside quite a lot so in the next section, we’re going to do a roleplay connected to the countryside.

Introduction to Roleplay 

Rich: Did you get the answer to the question: What did Jack rent when he was on holiday near Norwich?

Jack: I rented a boat on the Broads.

Rich: Right, you’re now going to listen to a roleplay. In the British countryside, you often see signs on the side of the road that say ‘pick your own strawberries’ or ‘pick your own berries’

Jack: This means that a farm is selling fruit but it is still on the plant. You have to collect the fruit yourself. In the summer months, it’s something that lots of people do.

Rich: In the roleplay, Jack decides to pick his own strawberries. While you listen we want you to answer a question:

Jack: Why shouldn’t we eat the strawberries when we pick them?

Roleplay

(in car - car engine running)

Jack: Look at that sign guys! PYO. Pick your own strawberries. Shall we get some?

Children: Yay!

Jack: Come on then, let’s park the car.

(car engine stopping, gravel cars getting out)

Jack: Alright, yeah. I’ll meet you out there in the field in a couple of minutes.

Rich: Aryorite?

Jack: Oh, yes, hi, hello. How are you? We’re here to pick some fruit.

Rich: Are you on your own?

Jack: No, the others will be with me in a minute.

Rich: OK, well we’ve got strawberries four pounds a kilo, blueberries five pounds a kilo, and blackberries and raspberries are three pounds a kilo.

Jack: Can you tell us a bit about the farm and the fruit that you grow here?

Rich: It’s a family farm - we’ve been doing PYO for over twenty years. Apart from the fruit, we grow other crops and vegetables like sweetcorn, courgettes, and squashes.

Jack: Oh! Can we pick those, too?

Rich: You’ll have to come back in a couple of months for those. It’s not harvesting time yet. We’ve got an orchard, too and you can pick apples, pears, plums and cherries. It’s open now.

Jack: Great. The fruit - is it organic?

Rich: It’s all organic. We don’t use any artificial pesticides or other chemicals on the fruit and we only use natural fertilisers.

Jack: Can we eat the fruit as we pick it?

Rich: You probably want to give the fruit a quick wash so best not too.

Jack: OK, so the fields are just there.

Rich: That’s right - just through the gate. All the baskets are over there. Just grab one or get a trolley if you’re going to pick a lot. You can grab some punnets and fill them up with different fruits and then we’ll weigh everything you’ve got when you come back.

Jack: OK, we’ll see you in a bit. Can you send the others out to me when they come back?

Rich: Will do. Don’t forget to only pick fruit that is ripe. You don’t want to pick anything that’s not ready.

…

Jack: Wow, that was hard work - all that bending over. I think I might have pulled a muscle in my back.

Rich: You were gone a while. You have quite a few kilos there. You did it all by yourself.

Jack: Yeah! It looks like the others found your adventure playground!

Children: Yay!

Language Focus

Jack: Did you get the answer to the question? Why shouldn’t we eat the strawberries when we pick them?

Rich: Because you should probably wash them first. OK, let’s look at some of the vocabulary we used in the roleplay.

Jack: Let’s start with the fruit. I was picking strawberries in the roleplay. Berries are small fruits that grow on bushes rather than trees. I was picking strawberries, but you could also pick blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

Rich: The best way to learn what these berries are is by looking at some pictures so, if you want to check, we’ve put a few images on the page for this podcast on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: We’ve done the same for the other fruit and vegetables we mentioned too. Let’s look at some more vocabulary. I think the most important word in the roleplay was to pick something.

Rich: To pick fruit means to take it from where it is growing.  You can also pick flowers from the garden or go strawberry picking.

Jack: To pick also means to choose or select from a group of things at the same time. You pick the flower or strawberry you want.

Rich: Like in football, the manager picks the team. He chooses the players he wants for each match.

Jack: Yes, but back to the countryside. Farms are full of fields. Fields are used to grow crops or to keep animals.

Rich: Did you know that in the USA football pitches are called football fields?

Jack: It makes sense. You like to get in those football connections, don’t you?

Rich: Yes, I do. You mentioned crops before. Crops are plants that are grown for food on farms usually in large quantities.

Jack: Farmers usually specialise in one thing so you can get crop farmers who grow cereals and vegetables. You can have dairy farmers who have cows to produce milk. Any other types?

Rich: You can have sheep and pig farmers, or poultry farmers who have chickens and turkey and things, or you can have cattle or beef farmers that have cows that are used for meat.

Jack: Let’s get back to picking fruit. I asked if the berries were organic in the roleplay.

Rich: If a food is organic it means that it has been produced in a natural way without any artificial chemicals like pesticides or fertilizers.

Jack: A fertilizer is something that is put in the soil to help a plant grow better and a pesticide is something that is put on plants to kill insects. Both of these are often different types of chemicals.

Rich: When we talk about organic meat we often also use it to talk about how the animal is looked after - animal welfare.

Jack: Does the animal have access to lots of free space and sunlight, does it get a good, healthy diet that kind of thing?

Rich: So if something is organic it’s usually better for the environment, better for the animal and healthier for us.

Jack: Yep, I think so. Let’s look at two more words connected to farming ‘harvest’ and ‘ripe’. The first is harvest. Harvest can be a verb or a noun. To harvest crops means to cut down and collect crops from the field.

Rich: In the roleplay, I said ‘you can’t pick any apples because it isn’t harvesting time’. ‘Harvest time’ is the time of year you harvest or collect a crop because it’s ready.

Jack: When a fruit is ready we use the word ‘ripe’. In the roleplay, Rich said ‘only pick the fruit that is ripe’. This means the fruit is ready to eat.

Rich: Before we finish with the language we want to look at one final thing. We want to look at the phrases ‘on your own’ and ‘by yourself’.

Jack: In the roleplay, Rich asked me if I was ‘on my own’. Here the phrase means ‘alone’ he was asking me if I was alone - not with other people. The phrase ‘by yourself’ can be used in the same way. Rich could have said ‘Are you by yourself?’

Rich: In the roleplay, I also said ‘You collected all the strawberries by yourself’. Here again, the phrase means ‘alone’ but it also adds the meaning ‘without any help’.

Jack: Yes, I collected the strawberries ‘by myself’ or I collected the strawberries ‘on my own’. It was hard work and nobody helped me.

Rich: So, the two phrases essentially mean the same but be careful with those prepositions: ‘By yourself’ and ‘on your own’.

Jack: That covers some of the vocabulary we used in the roleplay. If you want to check your understanding and learn more vocabulary connected to the countryside and farming, take a look at the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: You’ll find this lesson on the homepage or by clicking skills >  listen > podcasts > Norwich.

Task

Jack: This week we want you to talk about farming and the countryside in your country. At the same time, we want you to use some of this week’s vocabulary.

Rich: Here are five questions for you to answer. Question one: What’s the most beautiful part of the countryside in your country?

Jack: Question two: Is farming an important part of the economy in your country?

Rich: Question three: Have you ever picked your own fruit or vegetables?

Jack: Question four: Which crops are often grown in your country?

Rich: Question five: Is it better to try to choose organic food?

Jack: Write your answers on the Premier Skills English website.

This week’s football phrase:

Jack: OK, it’s time for this week’s football phrase. You have a really tricky this one this week, don’t you?

Rich: Yes, super difficult. This week’s phrase is ‘****** ** *** **** ** *** *****’.

Jack: I see why you have chosen that one. You’re still thinking about the topic of this week’s podcast. There is a connection between plants and football.

Rich: Nothing gets passed you, Jack. Anyway, the phrase, once more, is ****** ** *** **** ** *** ***** and it describes a team that is at the bottom of the league by a big margin and there is little chance of them moving upwards - they are stuck. The keyword in the phrase is the part of a plant that grows under the ground.

Jack: And you also need a word that describes part of your body - it means the same as bottom but it’s not your bottom!

Rich: Haha! You’re right this week it’s a difficult phrase. Good luck trying to get it, everyone!

Jack: Before we forget, if you’re still thinking about last week’s football phrase - the answer was international break.

Rich: Write your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. Bye for now and enjoy your football!