Learning Vocabulary: Cycling

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rich: My name’s Rich

Rowan: and I’m Rowan 

Rich: And welcome to the Premier Skills English podcast ...

Jack: ... where we talk about football and English.

Rich: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts with examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: In this Premier Skills English course, we’re looking at the different ways people stay fit and healthy.

Rich: We’re talking about lots of different sports and activities and will focus on language-related to fitness and some words and phrases connected to a specific sport.

Jack: This lesson is all about cycling. We’ve been looking at lots of different sports and activities over the last few weeks and this lesson will follow a similar format.

Rich: We’re going to do a roleplay. The three of us are going for a bike ride in the countryside. We will use lots of words and phrases connected to cycling and relaxing in the countryside.

Rowan: In the roleplay, we’ll also tell you about the Premier Skills English fitness challenge that we’re doing.

Jack: We’re going to give a fitness score and a fun score for each of the sports and activities we look at.

Rich: And in the task we have for you later in the podcast, we want you to give your own fitness and fun scores and to tell us about a cycling route in your country. We’ll have more about this later.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Rowan: Before we start this week’s roleplay we need to look back at last week’s football phrase.

Rich: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a language challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rowan: When you know the answer, go to the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments section for this podcast. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: We had lots of correct answers last week but a special congratulations to Mo Beckham from Turkey who was the first with the right answer for the second week in a row.

Jack: And a big well done to the following listeners who also got the right answer: Mikolajspa from Poland, Hayato and Yoshichika from Japan, Marco Zapien from Mexico, Navid from Iran, Emmanuel from France, HSN from Turkey, and Liubomyr and Alex from Ukraine.

Rowan: The new football phrase is at the end of this podcast but we’re going to give you one more chance to guess last week’s football phrase. Are you ready?

Jack: The phrase was just a word and the word was dive. I chose this word because it’s a way of jumping into a swimming pool. You stretch your arms out and they go in the pool followed by your head and the rest of your body. Football players also dive but I’d prefer it if they didn’t. Diving is falling to the floor as if you’ve been fouled, often in a dramatic way, when nobody has touched you, to try to get a free-kick or penalty.

Rowan: We’ll give you the answer and a new football phrase at the end of this podcast.

Jack: If you remember, our last podcast was all about swimming and we asked whether you swam much.

Rich: Mikolajspa from Poland started swimming when he was just four years old and Marco Zapien from Mexico also swam a lot at an early age. He told us that he used to swim in competitions and he used to train with two-kilogram weights attached to his legs.

Jack: I couldn’t do that - I’d just sink to the bottom. Alex from Ukraine is another listener who isn’t worried about the water. He likes jumping from cliffs. He says that he only jumps when there is zero risk but it still sounds risky to me!

Rich: Thanks for all your comments and keep them coming.

Jack: If you haven’t heard this podcast it’s called Learning Vocabulary: Swimming and you can find it on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Introduction to roleplay: Fitness Challenge

Rich: In our roleplay, we are going for a bike ride in the countryside. Cycling is the fifth activity in our Premier Skills English fitness challenge series - you can find the other sports we’ve looked at on the website.

Jack: Our fitness challenge is a little competition between the three of us. We are trying out a few different sports and activities and we decide which is the best.

Rich: We’ve been running, swimming, to the gym, played tennis and this time we’re going cycling.

Rowan: We give each activity a Premier Skills English fitness challenge score based on how much fun we have and how good the activity is for us.

Jack: It’s all a bit of fun but it should help all of us think more about keeping fit and healthy.

Rich: As always, the main focus is the language. In this roleplay, we’re going to focus on words and phrases connected to cycling and phrases connected to relaxing in the countryside.

Jack: In this roleplay, Rowan has been working really hard and needs a break so we decide to go for a leisurely bike ride in the countryside.

Rowan: While you listen we want you to answer two questions:

Rich: Question one: How long is the bike ride?

Jack: Question two: What did Rich enjoy most about the bike ride?

Countryside & Relaxing

Rich: It’s good to get out into the countryside, isn’t it?

Rowan: Yes, the fresh air is lovely and everything is so green.

Jack: I haven’t been out of the city for ages. Why don’t we do this more often?

Rowan: It’s nice to get out and about and I’ve definitely needed a change of scenery. Work has been manic recently. I’ve been so busy.

Jack: A change of scene can definitely improve your mood and help you relax a little.

Rich: Yes, you’ve been working your fingers to the bone. You need to slow down, Rowan.

Rowan: A leisurely ride in the country sounds like just the ticket - just what I need right now.

Jack: We’re going to take it easy today. We’re doing about 20 miles in total.

Rich: With a break though, right?

Jack: Yes, Rich - we’ll stop for lunch about halfway - in a little village called Nether Wallop, it has a lovely little cafe.

Rowan: Good to know that we’re taking it easy - we’ll be able to enjoy the views.

Jack: That’s what I thought but before that, we need a safety check.

Rich: Safety check?

Jack: We’ll be on a cycle track most of the time but we need to be safe and we don’t want our bikes breaking down or to get a puncture a couple of minutes into our ride.

Rowan: You’re right. Well, I can see we’ve all got our helmets.

Jack: Yep, good. There are a few other things we need to check: wheels, tyres, brakes, the chain and gears.

Rich: Can’t we just leave already?

Jack: I’m serious. I got a puncture a few weeks ago and had to walk home in the dark!

Rowan: I don’t need that happening. Wheels you say?

Jack: Yes, check that they’re turning correctly, no wobbles and then check the tyres.

Rich: All good here.

Rowan: My back tyre is a bit flat.

Jack: Let’s pump it up and then check the air pressure.

Rich: What else did you say we need to check?

Jack: Check your brakes. It’s better to check them here. You don’t want to be flying down a hill to find out you can’t stop.

Rich: They’re good.

Jack: OK, turn the bike onto its saddle and check the chain - it might need some oil. I’ve got some in the car. Move the pedals and change the gears and check that the chain moves easily.

Rowan: Tyre pressure is good.

Jack: Great. Let’s finish our checks and it will be time to set off.

Rowan: I really enjoyed that. The wind in your hair. Exhilarating - that’s the word!

Rich: Not too many hills - that’s what I like.

Jack: Yeah, the track’s an old railway line so it’s pretty flat.

Rowan: You disappeared for a while.

Jack: Yeah, I got a flat but I fixed it pretty quickly.

Rich: It didn’t take you long to catch us up.

Jack: I had to ride really fast. Feel I’ve earned my cream tea now.

Rowan: Oh yeah where’s that cafe you were talking about …

SCORES

Rich: OK, cycling was the fifth activity in our Premier Skills English fitness challenge. We need to give our opinions and scores. Jack?

Jack: It was fun - definitely fun. We had a leisurely ride so I’m not so sure about the fitness side of things. I’m going to give it nine for fun and six for fitness.

Rich: And you Rowan?

Rowan: I really enjoyed it. Getting out of the city and into the countryside helped me relax and forget about work. I’m going to give it ten for fun and seven for fitness. What about you Rich?

Rich: I definitely think cycling is more enjoyable when you are out in the country and even more so when it involves a cake at the halfway stage. Ten for fun and five for fitness but that’s because of the cake.

Jack: OK, so our final Premier Skills English Fitness challenge score is 47. That means cycling moves into joint second place in our list of top Premier Skills English activities.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: How long was the bike ride?

Rich: The answer is 20 miles in total. Ten miles to Nether Wallop and ten miles back.

Jack: Twenty miles is just over 32 kilometres if you were wondering.

Rowan: Our second question was: What did Rich enjoy most about the bike ride?

Rich: Well, I enjoyed the cycling and I really liked being in the countryside but I have to be honest and say the thing I loved the most was the cake.

Jack: It was very good cake.

Equipment 

Rich: Let’s focus on some language connected to cycling and the countryside we used in the podcast. Let’s start with the equipment.

Rowan: A bike and a helmet to go on your head.

Jack: OK, everyone will know the words bike and helmet so let’s look at some more difficult words we use to describe different parts of a bicycle.

Rich: In the roleplay, Jack said we needed to do a safety check before our ride. Can you remember what he told us to check?

Jack: There are a few other things we need to check: wheels, tyres, brakes, the chain and gears.

Rowan: He told us to check the wheels. Bikes have two round wheels that go round and round when you turn them. Jack told us to check if the wheels wobble.

Rich: Bike wheels sometimes wobble. I like this word - wobble. It means to move from side to side in an unstable way.

Jack: Someone might wobble when they walk if they’ve drunk too much beer.

Rich: Exactly, well, a wheel can wobble if the wheel rim - that’s the round metal part of the wheel - is a little bent and not perfectly round.

Rowan: Jack also told us to check the brakes. He said:

Jack: Check your brakes. You don’t want to be flying down a hill to find out you can’t stop.

Rich: So, you press your brakes to stop the bike. You have a back brake and a front brake. It is also a verb. You brake with your brakes.

Rowan: Don’t confuse brake with break.

Jack: I’m confused.

Rowan: Brake. B - R - A - K - E is something to stop a car or bike, but break - B - R - E - A - K is a short rest. In the roleplay, we stopped for a break in Nether Wallop for cake.

Rich: Jack also asked us to check the bike chain. The chain is the little parts of metal that are connected in a loop that moves around when you move the pedals.

Jack: Pedals. There are two pedals on a bike. You put your feet on the pedals and push, the chain and the bike then move.

Rowan: Jack told us to check that the chain moves easily when we change gears.

Rich: Bikes might have 21 or 24 gears; cars usually have five gears. You use first gear to pedal up really big hills.

Jack: First gear is the easiest gear. I sometimes hear this phrase when people are talking about football and a team has won very easily.

Rowan: Oh, yeah, a commentator might say something like ‘United didn’t need to get out of first gear to win’.

Rich: It means that someone or a team didn’t need to push themselves too much or try too hard to win.

Jack: You can check your understanding of bike equipment vocabulary on the page for this podcast on the website.

Repairs

Rowan: Jack told us to check one more thing before we went on our bike ride and that was the tyres. He said:

Jack: We don’t want our bikes breaking down or to get a puncture a couple of minutes into our ride.

Rich: I think this is what most people will check before a long ride.

Rowan: The tyres are the black, rubber rings that go around bicycle or car wheels.

Jack: And a puncture is a small hole in a tyre made by a sharp stone or some glass that allows air to escape.

Rich: The strongest collocation with puncture is to get a puncture.

Rowan: Jack didn’t want us to get a puncture. He got a puncture a couple of months ago and had to walk home.

Rich: Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Rowan: My back tyre is a bit flat.

Jack: Let’s pump it up and then check the air pressure.

Rich: Rowan’s back tyre was a bit flat. Here flat means without enough air. A tyre is flat if it doesn’t have enough air in it.

Rowan: Flat has a few meanings. Near the end of the roleplay, Rich said he enjoyed the bike ride because it was very flat - there weren’t many hills.

Rich: Going back to tyres you can also use flat as a noun. Here’s what Jack said in the roleplay:

Jack: I got a flat but I fixed it pretty quickly.

Rowan: A flat is short for a flat tyre. You get a puncture and soon after your tyre will be flat.

Rich: But Jack is a bicycle whizz - a bike expert and he fixed it - repaired it very quickly.

Jack: But It’s still good to check things before you go out. I always check the air pressure on my tyres before I go out for a ride.

Rowan: The air pressure shows how much air is in your tyres. If it’s low there’s too little air in your tyres and they will feel soft and if it’s high there might be too much air and the tyres will feel really hard.

Rich: If you have the correct air pressure in your tyres it will help you cycle faster and avoid flat tyres and punctures.

Jack: So, you might need to let out a little air from your tyres or more often you might need to pump your tyres up.

Rowan: Pump up is a phrasal verb and it means to fill something such as a tyre with air.

Jack: And what do you use to pump up tyres? A pump! Sometimes English is easy.

Rich: Football managers might need to pump up their players at half time if they’re not playing well.

Jack: That’s because pump up also means to make people feel more excited or energised. The manager shouts at the players - she pumps them up and the players feel pumped up for the second half.

Rowan: You can check your understanding of the words in this section by using the transcript which you can find on the Premier Skills English website.

Countryside & Relaxing 

Rich: In the roleplay, we were out in the countryside - away from the city and used quite a few phrases connected to being in the country and relaxing.

Jack: Let’s have a look at a few of them. None of us had been out of the city for a while. Here’s what Rowan said:

Rowan: It’s nice to get out and about and I definitely needed a change of scenery.

Rich: The phrase to get out and about means to do things outside of your house especially when you haven’t been able to get outside for a while or do things you want to do in your free time.

Jack: You might not have been able to get out and about because you’ve been sick or because you’ve been working a lot.

Rowan: People might not be able to get out and about because of COVID19 restrictions where they live.

Rich: Rowan also said she needed a change of scenery.

Jack: This phrase is used to talk about going somewhere different when you’ve been in one place for a long time.

Rowan: The phrase is often used when you are feeling a bit down or depressed or if you’ve been working a lot and need a change.

Jack: Rowan has been working a lot. Listen to what Rich said in the roleplay:

Rich: Yes, you’ve been working your fingers to the bone. You need to slow down, Rowan.

Jack: Working your fingers to the bone is an idiom to mean working a lot. It’s quite disgusting when you think about it: working your fingers to the bone. Ugh!

Rowan: Rich told me to slow down. Slow down is a phrasal verb which means to be less active and to relax more.

Jack: Some people work too much. They need to slow down or they’ll have a heart attack.

Rich: Here are some phrases connected to relaxing we used in the roleplay:

Jack: We’re going to take it easy today. We’re doing about 20 miles in total.

Rowan: A leisurely ride in the country sounds like just the ticket.

Rich: If you take something easy you’re doing something in a relaxing or calm way.

Jack: Or a leisurely way like our bike ride.

Rowan: Just the ticket is an expression we use to describe something that is exactly what you need. After being so busy at work a leisurely ride in the country was just the ticket.

Rich: We’ve looked at a lot of vocabulary in this section and you can take a much closer look at it all on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: We’ve got the transcript, activities, questions, and a discussion for you all on the website.

TASK

Rowan: It’s time for this week’s task. Our first task for you is to give us a Premier Skills English Fitness Challenge score for cycling.

Rich: Our second task is to tell us about a route where you could go for a bike ride.

Jack: We want you to tell us about a place you could go to get away from the busy city. Tell us about a place in the countryside where you could cycle.

Rowan: Where would you start your bike ride? How would you get there? Where would you cycle to?

Rich: Would you cycle to one place, turn around and come back or would it be a circular route?

Jack: What would you see on the way? Why is it relaxing and peaceful? Where could you stop for a break?

Rowan: Tell us about your cycle route and then give us a Premier Skills English Fitness Challenge score for this activity.

Rich: Give us a score out of ten for fitness and a score out of ten for fun - just like we did in the roleplay.

Jack: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and try to use some of the words and phrases we introduced in this podcast.

FOOTBALL PHRASE 

Jack: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Have you got one Rich?

Rich: I have. This week’s football phrase is ******* ****. This action on the football pitch connects football and cycling. A ******* **** is when a player jumps backwards in the air and shoots when the ball is over their head.

Jack: Let’s see if anyone gets it right and who is first this week. If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was dive or diving.

Rowan: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Rich: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Jack: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Rowan: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!