Learning Vocabulary: Fitness Class

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 fitness class. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at lots of different sports and activities.

Rich: We’re going to do a roleplay. The three of us are going to a new type of fitness class at the gym. We will use lots of words and phrases connected to fitness and we’re going to look at the language of encouragement - words and phrases coaches and instructors need to say to support those they are coaching.

Rich: 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. We’ll have more about that later.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Jack: 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.

Jack: 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 Daniel Baron from Colombia who was the first with the right answer. You were quickest out of the blocks once again, Daniel.

Jack: And a big well done to the following listeners who also got the right answer: Marco Zapien and ErikPGD from Mexico, MoBeckham from Turkey, Max Alex from Vietnam, Wsanta from Argentina, HSN from Turkey, Emmanuel from France, Daniel4 from Italy and Alex from Ukraine.

Rich: 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 **** *** **** and we chose the phrase because you can use it in football and tennis - the topic of last week’s podcast. A football player might hit a ball **** *** **** for a winger to run on to. It means a long pass near the edge of the pitch. A tennis player that hits a shot **** *** **** describes a ball that travels parallel to and along the sideline of the tennis court.

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

Jack: If you remember, last week’s podcast was all about tennis and we asked you how you felt about tennis and what you know about the game.

Rich: Lucaly from Italy is a big tennis fan, plays twice a week and has his own tennis coach.

Jack: Max Alex from Vietnam said he was a huge tennis fan and his favourite player is Novak Djokovic and he told us all about a marathon match between Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

Rich: Vic from Mexico told us all about when he took up tennis as a child and how he would like to start tennis lessons again.

Jack: Thanks for all your comments and it’s fantastic to see so many positive messages and that so many of you are enjoying our podcasts.

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

Introduction to roleplay: Fitness Challenge

Rowan: In our roleplay, the three of us are going to the sports centre for a fitness class. It’s the third activity in our series of Premier Skills English fitness challenge - we’ve already done running and tennis.

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 for us.

Rich: We’re going to go running, cycling, swimming, to the gym, to do some sport and we might even play football.

Rowan: We’re going to talk about the advantages and the disadvantages of each sport, what we like and dislike about each activity, and we’re going to give each activity or sport a Premier Skills English fitness challenge score.

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

Rich: But as always the main focus is the language and in this roleplay, we’ll focus on words and phrases to give encouragement.

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

Rich: Question one: What names are given to each of the exercises in the fitness class?

Jack: Question two: What do Rowan and I find surprising?

Roleplay

Rich: Hey Jack. Hey Rowan. Glad you could make it.

Rowan: It sounds like fun. What’s it called again? Goalacize?

Rich: That’s it. Goalacize. It’s a fitness class. A new type of fitness class. We put the music on do some moves and do some exercises with and without the ball.

Jack: And you’re sure it’s not dancing. You know that I’ve got two left feet.

Rich: It’s not dancing. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now - it really gets your heart pumping and the blood flowing.

Rowan: Really? I’m not convinced. You know I regularly run half-marathons and do triathlons. I’m pretty fit.

Rich: It’s a high-intensity workout. I guarantee that you’ll feel it after the session and tomorrow morning. The changing rooms are over there. I’ll see you in class in five minutes.

…

Rich: Morning everyone. We’re going to start with the warm-up. Nice and slow to begin with. Let’s start the music.

Jack: Rich?

Rowan: You’re the teacher? The Goalacize fitness instructor?

Rich: Welcome! Welcome to our newbies Rowan and Jack! Find a bit of space and we’re ready to go.

Rich: Let’s start with some stretches. Loosen those arms and legs. OK, remember this one - save a goal. Arms up and right, save a goal - top corner. Arms up and left, save a goal. Up and right, save a goal. Up and left, save a goal. Good save Rowan. You tipped that one around the post.

Rowan: Thanks. Arms up and left. Save a goal.

...

Rich: Now, this one’s called almost scored. Squat down, bend your knees. You’re in your seat at the match. Your team are on the attack. Hold that squat. Move slowly out of your seat and … almost scored - up with your hands on your head.

Jack: That’s hard.

Rich: Come on Jack you can do it. You’re in your seat. Your team are on the attack and almost scored.

Jack: Hold the squat. Hold the squat. Oh! Almost scored!

Rich: That’s it - good work everyone.

Rowan: These squats really work your quads, glutes and lower back.

Rich: Keep it going, Rowan. Hang in there and keep pushing yourself. Jack - get off the floor.

…

Rich: Let’s get those hearts pumping. Don’t stop till you drop. This one’s called knees up. Knees up on the spot. Like this.

Jack: Like this?

Rich: Up to hip level. Higher and faster Jack. Good high knees Mavis. That’s really good. Keep it up.

Rowan: Do you know Mavis had a knee replaced six months ago? You can do better than this - it’s embarrassing.

Jack: Quiet. I’m giving it a go.

Rich: 30 seconds. As fast as you can .. go. Great energy levels, Agnes. Way to go Mabel! OK, slow it down and relax.

Jack: Something a bit slower. Thank goodness.

Rich: Too much, Jack? Let’s try some leg swings. This one’s called top bins. Swing one leg back and forth and imagine you’re kicking a ball.

Rowan: Like this?

Rich: That’s it, Rowan. Top bins. You want the ball to go high so your leg should go high after you kick the ball.

Rich: Higher Jack. We don’t want any daisy cutters here.

Rich: And faster. And higher. Kick that ball hard into the top corner and follow through. Nice shot Iris! Top bins!

Rich: Keep it going everyone. Now for penalty run-up. Run and kick and back … run and kick and back. Come on Jack get off the floor.

Jack: I just slipped. Putting too much into it.

Rich: Let’s keep the intensity going. Red card. Running on the spot and you’re the referee. Show that red card ... and the other arm. Show that red card. Keep it going. Don’t give up. Stay in the zone. Red card … and show it again. Red card.

Jack: I’m going to give you the red card in a minute.

Rich: Come on, Jack. You can do it. Let’s pick up the pace. This one’s called protect your bits. OK, follow me. Arms up and form a wall. Arms up and form a wall. Brilliant work everyone and relax. Good job. Let’s take two minutes.

Rowan: That was pretty strenuous.

Rich: And that’s just the warm-up. Get the balls out, Mina. Where’s Jack gone?

Rowan: I’ll go and find him. I think he’s gone for a sit-down.

…

Rich: OK, the fitness class was our second activity for our Premier Skills English fitness challenge. We need to give our opinions and scores. Jack?

Jack: Yeah, it was good. Some of the others in the class were really good - how long have they been doing it? I couldn’t keep up.

Rowan: We could see that? What happened?

Jack: I had a big breakfast that’s all. I’m going to give the fitness class a fitness score of six out of ten and a fun score of two out of ten.

Rich: Is that a fun score or an embarrassing score? What about you, Rowan?

Rowan: Well, it was a better workout than I had expected so I’m going to give it a fitness score of seven.

Rich: And was it fun?

Rowan: It was more fun than I expected, too. I liked how it combined things we see and do on the football pitch. It was funny and even funnier to see Jack finding it difficult. I’m going to give it a fun score of eight.

Jack: Yeah, yeah. What about you Mr. Instructor?

Rich: Yes, it’s fun to be the instructor and helps me stay fit at the same time. Ten out of ten for me for fun and fitness.

Rowan: OK, so our final Premier Skills English Fitness challenge score is … 43. That means fitness class moves ahead of tennis into second place but running is still our top Premier Skills English activity.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Jack: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: What names were given to each of the exercises in the fitness class?

Rich: The activity was called Goalacize and each activity was based around something you see or do on the football pitch.

Rowan: Here are the names of the exercises again. I’m going to say them really slowly and you can do the exercise to check that you understood.

Rowan: Save a goal ... almost scored … knees up … top bins … penalty run-up … protect your bits.

Rich: Do remember that we are English teachers and not fitness professionals so we can’t take any responsibility for the quality of the Goalacize routine.

Jack: Our second question was: What do Rowan and I find surprising?

Rowan: Well we thought we were all going to a fitness class together and we were, but we were amazed to find out that Rich was the instructor.

Jack: Yes and he did shout a lot. We’re not in the army, Rich.

Rowan: I thought he was very encouraging and that’s the language we’re going to focus on now - words and phrases to show encouragement.

Rich: Encouragement is the support and hope people give to others through what they say and do.

Jack: It’s an important part of many people’s job to encourage others and offer support. Teachers, managers, coaches and fitness instructors need to encourage their students, employees, participants or players.

Rowan: In the roleplay, Rich encouraged me and Jack and all the others in the class. He used some different phrases to do this. Let’s have a look at some examples.

Rich: Firstly, let’s look at some phrases we can use to encourage others when they are doing well.

Jack: Rich said things like ‘brilliant work everyone’, ‘Great energy levels, Agnes. ‘Way to go Mabel!’, ‘Nice shot Iris!, ‘keep it up’ and ‘Good job’.

Rowan: All of these phrases can be used to encourage people while they are doing something or just after they have finished.

Rich: We use lots of positive adjectives like good, great fantastic, brilliant, superb, stunning and outstanding to encourage and offer support.

Jack: To keep something up is a phrasal verb that’s very useful here. We say keep it up or keep up the good work when we want something to stay at the same level. It’s very useful to encourage others.

Rowan: I found some of the exercises quite difficult and Jack even more so. A good coach also needs to encourage us when we’re having trouble or problems.

Jack: There are a few phrases we can use in this situation, too. Rich used a few of them in the roleplay:

Rich: Keep it going, Rowan. Hang in there and keep pushing yourself.

Rich: Don’t give up. Stay in the zone.

Rich: Come on, Jack. You can do it.

Rowan: All of these phrases are being used to encourage and offer support when someone is finding something difficult. Let’s focus on a couple of them.

Jack: Keep going means continue; don’t stop. It’s very common: come on, keep going. You can do it.

Rowan: Hang in there is a phrase which means to be determined even though things are difficult.

Rich: Give up is another phrasal verb which means to stop trying to something. To encourage someone we will say things like ‘don’t give up now, you’ve nearly finished’.

Jack: And to be in the zone is an idiom which describes a state of feeling confident and performing to your best abilities.

Rowan: OK, there are some words and phrases we use to encourage others. You can check your understanding of these phrases and we’ll look at some phrases connected to fitness on the Premier Skills English website.
Rich: We encourage you to do the activities and join in the discussion on the website page for this podcast.

Jack: Yes, you should give it a try, go for it, it’s worth a shot, you might as well, just do it.

Rowan: Why not? What are you waiting for? What do you have to lose?

Jack: Did you see what we did there?

Rich: Yes, loads more phrases which we use to encourage others. Very nice.

TASK

Rowan: Our task for you is to give us a Premier Skills English Fitness Challenge score for fitness classes.

Jack: This score is for fitness classes in general not just Goalacize which we invented.

Rich: We also want you to tell us if you’ve ever been to a fitness class.

Rowan: Have you ever done a group keep fit class, Zumba class, boxercise, yoga, pilates, cross-fit or circuit training in a group?

Jack: What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of going to fitness classes?

Rich: Is it possible to join these types of classes where you live? Are they popular?

Rowan: Tell us about your experiences of fitness classes and then give us a Premier Skills English Fitness Challenge score for this activity.

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

Rich: 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: We’ve all been waiting, RIch. What’s this week’s football phrase.

Rich: This week’s football phrase is ****** ******. This phrase is used when a club has lots of players out of action at the same time. It is a time of difficulty for a club because they might find it difficult to field a full team if the ****** ****** is really, really bad. The phrase is a strong collocation and other types of ****** may include financial, humanitarian or political.

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 down the line.

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!