Learning Vocabulary: Fitness & the Environment

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: Before we get into this week’s show, we’d like to ask for your help and your opinions.

Jack: We want you to tell us what you like and don’t like about our podcasts and we want to talk to you about any changes you would like us to make.

Rich: We would like to get in touch with you. If you are over eighteen and happy to speak to us, please write to us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org.

Jack: Let’s get back to this week’s episode.  

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re going to be talking about how we can improve our fitness and help the environment at the same time.

Jack: In this week’s roleplay, I’m going to take Rich plogging.

Rich: Surely you mean jogging or maybe … going for a drink?

Jack: No, Rich, I mean plogging. It’s something we can do to keep our towns and cities clean and stay fit at the same time.

Rich: Oh, right. I’m looking forward to it already.

Jack: And after we’ve been plogging, we’ll look at some vocabulary connected to fitness and some language connected to keeping our streets clean and tidy.

Rich: In this week’s task, we’re going to ask what you do in your home and neighbourhood to keep your area clean and to help the environment more generally.

Jack: But before all that, we need to look at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase

Jack: Last week’s football phrase, If you didn’t hear it, we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. We’ll give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Rich: Last week, Jack gave you the phrase and we had lots of right answers. We also had a fantastic clue from one of our listeners. Lakerwang in China said in our comments section that you can see this phrase written on a big yellow banner before every football match.

Jack: Let’s hear it one more time. Do you know what the missing phrase is?

Rich: The phrase was **** ****. This phrase is the idea of following the rules and respecting the opposition. Nobody should cheat or try to trick the referee. It’s the referee’s job to ensure **** **** on the pitch.

Jack: Well done to Mario from Mexico who wrote his correct answer on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: And well done to Lakerwang from China, Idzingirai from Zimbabwe, Liubomyr and Alex from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria, Ahmed Abdallah from Egypt, and Wsanta from Argentina who all wrote their correct answers on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: We’ll give you the answer at the end of the show and we’ll have a new football phrase for you to guess.

Introduction to roleplay

Jack: As I said at the beginning of the show, in this week’s roleplay I’m going to take Rich plogging.

Rich: And while you are listening we have two questions we’d like you to answer:

Jack: Question one: What is plogging? And question two: What three things is plogging good for?

Roleplay

Rich: Morning, Jack! I’m ready. I’ve been warming up for ages. Ready for our first big run.

Jack: You’re on time, Rich. It’s a miracle. I thought I’d be ringing you up to get you out of bed.

Rich: You know me. Punctuality is my middle name. I’m always on time.

Jack: I’m not so sure about that but good to see that you’re keen. Here you go.

Rich: What’s this?

Jack: It’s a bag, Rich.

Rich: Yes, I can see that but what’s it for?

Jack: To put things in.

Rich: I know but what do I want it for?

Jack: We’re going plogging remember.

Rich: Jogging.

Jack: No, plogging! I did say that this run would be a little different.

Rich: What do you mean?

Jack: I’ve been doing plogging for a while. I started a couple of months ago. The idea is that you go for a run or a jog and while you are running you pick up any rubbish you see.

Rich: That’s why we have the bag?

Jack: Yes, you put the garbage in it as we run.

Rich: So we’re rubbish collectors. Litter pickers?

Jack: Kind of, yes. People were getting fed up with litter in our streets and communities so we decided to do something about it. There are ploggers all over the world. I think it's part of the trashtag craze!

Rich: You like to be at the cutting edge of things don’t you. I suppose it’s a good idea to keep things tidy.

Jack: And it’s a great workout, too. Much better than just jogging. You’ll see in a minute. Here put these gloves on.

…

Jack: You sound out of breath already. Come on keep up.

Rich: I’m knackered. I can’t keep up.

Jack: You missed that carton there. Come on!

Rich: Oh! Yes, sorry. I didn’t want to look down in case I hit a tree.

Jack: Keep looking on the pavement and I’ll look in the gutter. Don’t stop! Bend your knees, grab the plastic bottle and carry on plogging!

Rich: That’s easy for you to say. All this bending down again and again. Hold on. Got an old cola can! All in one move!

Jack: Nice one. See, you’re getting the hang of it.

Rich: Will this be over soon? My bag’s nearly full.

Jack: Lets sprint over to the recycling bins at the end of the block. We can get rid of it all there.

…

Rich: What have we got then? Tin cans, milk cartons, plastic bottles.

Jack: We can recycle all of this trash. So, what do you reckon to plogging then?

Rich: Yeah, it’s a great idea. It keeps you fit - it’s a better workout than just jogging. All that stopping, starting, twisting and bending over - it’s got to be good for you, hasn’t it?

Jack: You can even fit in extra exercises when you pick up the rubbish. You can do some squats or lunges each time you stop and you can even work on your arm strength as the bag fills up.

Rich: And, of course, keeping our streets clean and tidy is important. I feel like I’m doing something good for our neighbourhood.

Jack: Yes, definitely. I’ve also read that if there is less rubbish on the street, people don’t drop it in the first place. They probably feel guilty and use litter bins and recycling points.

Rich: And, picking up all that plastic means it gets recycled which is good for our planet.

Jack: So, same time next week?

Rich: Definitely.

Language Focus: Keeping things tidy

Jack: Did you get the answer to our questions? The first was what is plogging?

Rich: The answer is a mixture of running and collecting rubbish on the streets.

Jack: Plogging is actually a portmanteau word which is when you combine the beginning of one word and the end of another.

Rich: Plogging was originally a Swedish word. It’s a mixture of ‘plocka upp’ which is Swedish for ‘pick up’ or ‘pluck’ and ‘jogging’.

Jack: Other common portmanteau words are motel, brunch, smog, Bollywood and the Paralympics. If you know what the original words are let us know in the comments section.

Rich: The second question we wanted you to answer was what three things is plogging good for?

Jack: In brief, the answers are: our fitness, keeping our local area tidy and our planet.

Rich: Let’s look at some of the language we used in the roleplay. Plogging is about picking up rubbish. Let’s start with that sentence ’picking up rubbish’.

Jack: To pick something up is a phrasal verb and has lots of meanings but the one we were looking at in the roleplay means to lift or collect something from the floor.

Rich: And rubbish is what we throw away because we don’t want or need it any more. Unfortunately, many people throw rubbish in the street.

Jack: We used a few other words that are similar to rubbish in the roleplay. Listen to these sentences:

Rich: One: While you are running you pick up any rubbish you see. Two: You put the garbage in the bag as we run. Three:  People were getting fed up with litter in our streets. Four: We can recycle all of this trash.

Jack: Generally, all of these words mean the same. They describe things that we don’t need or want and have thrown away.

Rich: The main difference is that garbage and trash are used more in American English and rubbish is used more in British English. Litter is usually used more for rubbish outside and in the street on signs and public litter bins.

Jack: Another difference between American and British English is what we put our rubbish or garbage in.

Rich: In the US, you usually have a trash can or garbage can but in the UK you have a rubbish bin or a dustbin or a wheelie bin. These objects are usually outside.

Jack: We also use these words to give negative opinions about something. We say things like ‘That’s a load of rubbish’ ‘That’s garbage’ and we often hear about ‘trash talk’ in sports like boxing and cricket where players insult each other.

Rich: That’s not cricket, is it? We also spoke about recycling in the roleplay. We recycle things so they can be made into different things and used again.

Jack: Recyclable materials like plastic, glass, metal and paper are collected from our houses or recycling points in our local area. They are then made into different products and used again.

Rich: In many countries, you can read on a plastic bottle or a carton if it has been made out of recycled materials.

Jack: There are a few words there: recycle, recycling, recyclable and recycled. Listen to these sentences to understand how these words are often used:

Rich: One: In my house, we always recycle plastics, glass and paper. Two: Hey, Jack! Can you do us a favour and take the recycling when you go out? Three: Recycling is good for our planet. Four: This is made of plastic and paper I wonder if it’s recyclable. Five: Cool trainers, Jack. They are made out of recycled plastic bottles!

...

Jack: When we were plogging in the roleplay we also used a few words and phrases connected to fitness. Let’s have a look at those now.

Rich: I don’t do too much exercise and it was my first time plogging. In the roleplay, Jack said I was out of breath and I said I was knackered.

Jack: To be out of breath means to have problems breathing after or during exercise. (example)

Rich: Knackered is an informal word that means very tired. It’s got a silent k at the beginning. The word is pronounced knackered. I was knackered in the roleplay.

Jack: We said that plogging was a good workout. A workout is a length of time we do exercise for, often at the gym.

Rich: It is a phrasal verb, too. Hey, Jack. Do you work out?

Jack: No too often.

Rich: I didn’t think so!

Jack: Thanks, Rich! We used some more phrasal verbs in the roleplay. Rich warmed up before we went plogging. To warm up means to do some light exercises before more rigorous activity.

Rich: I couldn’t keep up with Jack. He was too fast for me. Keep up is another phrasal verb and means to continue at the same speed as something else.

Jack: When you are plogging you have to bend over a lot to pick up rubbish. To bend over means to move your body to the floor while you are still standing.

Rich: We said that carrying all that rubbish means you can work on your arm strength. Work on is another phrasal verb. To work on something means to try hard to do something.

Jack: So, there are a few words and phrases connected to fitness. We’ve got more examples and activities on the website so you can practise the language we’ve been looking at in this podcast.

Task

Rich: Your task this week is to tell us what you do or would like to do to keep your area clean and our planet healthy.

Jack: And whether any of these things benefit your personal fitness. Use these questions to help you and try to use some of the vocabulary we’ve spoken about in this podcast.

Rich: Can you recycle things where you live? Do you?

Jack: Is there a lot of rubbish in the streets where you live? What could be done about this?

Rich: Do you ever walk, run or cycle instead of using a car or public transport? Do you do this for fitness or to help the environment?

Jack: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website. You’ll find the page for this podcast on the homepage or under skills>listen>podcasts>learning vocabulary: fitness and the environment.

Football Phrase

Rich: OK, it’s time for this week’s football phrase.

Jack: Is it a difficult one? They usually are.

Rich: I think this one is quite easy. Let’s see who can get it right. This week’s phrase is * ******* ****. It’s a type of shot where the ball is at about waist height and the player jumps, kind of horizontally, with legs apart and shoots very powerfully. The player’s legs look a bit like what you cut paper with. This shot is not to be confused with a bicycle kick or an overhead kick.

Jack: OK, I got it when you started talking about cutting paper.

Rich: 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.

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

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!