Learning Vocabulary: Fitness & Tech

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 fitness and technology. 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. Rowan has been cycling online and she wants Jack and I to try it out at the gym. We will use lots of words and phrases connected to technology and fitness in this week’s roleplay.

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 for online fitness and tell us how you use technology to keep fit.

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 big congratulations to Hayato from Japan who was the first to get the correct answer.

Jack: And a big well done to the following listeners who also got the correct answer: MoBeckham and HSN from Turkey, Liubomyr and Sabanoleg from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria, Max Alex from Vietnam, Emmanuel from France, Daniel4 from Italy, Yoshichika from Japan, Cho Euihyeong from South Korea, Abdlrhman from Egypt and Guilherme Souza from Brazil.

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?

Rich: The phrase was ******* ****. 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.

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 cycling and we asked you to tell us about a cycle route you’ve been on.

Rich: Thanks for all your messages about cycling. It seems that it’s a really popular sport.

Rowan: And I now have cycle routes to go on in Mexico, Turkey, and Algeria if I ever get the chance to go on holiday to one of these beautiful countries.

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

Introduction to roleplay: Fitness Challenge

Rich: In our roleplay, Rowan has some new tech and she wants Jack and I to try virtual cycling. This is the latest 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 been cycling. This time Rowan is not even going to leave her house. This activity is all online.

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 fitness and technology.

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

Jack: Question one: Where is our cycle race?

Rich: Question two: Who wins the race?

Roleplay

Rich: I’ll just have a coffee, thanks.

Jack: And a tea for me, please. What are you having, Rowan?

Rowan: I’m all right, thanks. I’ve got a cup of tea.

Rich: You said you had some news?

Rowan: I do. Well, I’ve got something that might help you guys with your training for the triathlon.

Jack: Go on.

Rowan: I’ve got some new tech for you to try out.

Rich: Do you mean like a fitness tracker? I wear this all the time. It does all sorts. It tells me how fast I’m going, how far I’ve gone, how many calories I’ve burned, it even monitors my heart rate. It all goes from this little thing on my wrist to an app on my mobile.

Jack: I have a fitness band too, look! I think the tech pushes me to go the extra mile sometimes.

Rich: I agree when I’m running out of steam on a run I think about my time and how many calories I’m burning. Fitness trackers really help with motivation and give me the incentive or impetus to run a bit faster for longer.

Rowan: They look very nice, but I have something a bit different. I’ve joined something called Zwift.

Jack: What’s that?

Rowan: It’s a cycling and running program.

Rich: I’m not sure I have time to get out and about too much at the moment.

Jack: And the weather’s been awful recently. I don’t really feel like running in the cold and the rain.

Rowan: You don’t have to! You can do it wherever and whenever you like.

Rich: What do you mean?

Rowan: This program is an app. Zwift is all online and you can join other runners and cyclists online - it’s multiplayer.

Jack: A computer game? Like on the Wii? Or more like virtual reality? I think I might need to leave my living room to stay in shape!

Rowan: It’s not virtual reality exactly but it lets you interact, train and compete in virtual worlds. You can run and cycle in Paris, New York or London with friends and other people online.

Rich: But where do you run or cycle?

Rowan: OK, you need a bit of equipment. I borrowed it all from a friend last week while she’s on holiday. For running, you need a treadmill and something called a footpod.

Jack: What’s a footpod?

Rowan: The footpod is a small device clipped to your shoe which measures the movement of your foot and transmits that data to the Zwift app which you can install on your phone or a tablet. I’ve got it set up on my laptop.

Rich: What about cycling?

Rowan: You need the app, your own bike and something called a trainer.

Jack: Someone to tell you to go faster?

Rowan: Not that kind of trainer. The trainer is a device that holds your bike in place while you're using Zwift. You take the back wheel off your own bike and add the trainer so you don’t move.

Rich: Sounds complicated.

Jack: And expensive.

Rowan: It’s not complicated and you’re going to try it out this afternoon.

Rich: Where?

Rowan: At the gym. I’ll show you how to sign up and log in on the app now and then we can race this afternoon.

Jack: OK, here we are at the gym.

Rich: I suppose we should look for the exercise bikes.

Jack: Zwift area. That will be it. Get on one of those.

Rich: This looks really cool. Look at those screens above the bikes.

Jack: That’ll be Rowan. Have you got your phone?

Rich: Hi Rowan.

Rowan: Hi Rich. Hi Jack. Can you hear me OK?

Jack: Loud and clear. So, we’ve just got on the bikes.

Rowan: You need to log in on the tablets in front of you and your profiles should pop up.

Rich: Hold on. Yes, there I am on the screen.

Rowan: OK, and I’ve arranged a meetup. A 20 Km race between the three of us in Paris. We’re going to be racing down the Champs-Élysées.

Jack: Great - a sprint. I can see the three of us up on the screen near the Eiffel Tower.

Rich: We’re ready.

Rowan: OK, on your marks, get set go. Get pedalling guys!

Jack: We’d better get a move on. Rowan’s racing ahead already.

Rich: And I’m going past you. See you later.

Jack: I’ll catch up. Don’t you worry.

Rowan: I’ll see you in the cafe after.

Rowan: Coffee?

Rich: Just a water for me.

Jack: Me too.

Rowan: What did you think then to the virtual race?

Rich: I’ll beat you next time. I just need to get the hang of it.

Jack: Yeah, it was different - especially when we went up hills.

Rowan: The trainer adds more resistance when you go up hills so you have to change gears like in real life. I’ve done the Paris course a couple of times. I shaved over a minute off my personal best.

Rich: And the app has all kinds of features - just like other fitness apps I’ve used.

Rowan: It tracks your progress over time too so you know if you’re getting better at it and you can compare times. So what score are you going to give virtual racing?

Jack: It was fun and I like the challenge but I’m not sure if it’ll replace going out for a bike ride in the real world. I’m going to give it eight for fun and seven for fitness.

Rich: I like using all the tech and if you can’t arrange a real bike ride with friends it’s easy to arrange a race online. Nine for fun and seven for fitness.

Rowan: I’m going to go for an eight and an eight. It’s fun but I’m not sure I’m going to buy all the equipment you need. I can get most of the data I need on my fitness band or an app on my phone when I go out in the real world.

Jack: OK, that gives virtual cycle racing a score of 47.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: Where did we cycle?

Rich: Well we can answer this in a couple of ways. Jack and I went to the gym and we were on the exercise bikes there while Rowan was at home on her bike.

Jack: But the race took place online. It was a virtual race so the answer could even be Paris because Rowan chose Paris for the location in the app we used.

Rowan: It felt like winning le Tour de France.

Jack: The second question was: Who won the race? and I think Rowan has just given away the answer because it was her.

Rowan: It was a proud moment on my long list of sporting achievements.

Rich: Congratulations, Rowan, and who won between me and Jack? Let’s just say we were both runners-up.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Rich: We’re going to focus on language connected to fitness and technology. Let’s start with words and phrases connected to equipment which we used in the roleplay.

Rowan: I think one of the most useful words we used in the roleplay was device. We used this word to help you understand the special equipment we needed to use Zwift.

Rich: When we’re talking about technology a device is usually a small bit of equipment designed to do a specific job.

Jack: Listen to what we said in the roleplay:

Rowan: The footpod is a small device clipped to your shoe which measures the movement of your foot.

Rowan: The trainer is a device that holds your bike in place while you're using Zwift.

Jack: We have all kinds of electronic devices in our lives these days. We mentioned some of these in the roleplay as you need one to use Zwift.

Rich: Rowan had a Zwift app on her laptop but you can have it on a tablet or your phone.

Rowan: Laptop, tablet and phone. Three common devices that many people have in their homes.

Jack: Getting back to fitness, other devices we spoke about in the roleplay were fitness trackers or fitness bands. Listen to this:

Rich: Do you mean like a fitness tracker? I wear this all the time. It does all sorts. It tells me how fast I’m going, how far I’ve gone, how many calories I’ve burned, it even monitors my heart. It all goes from this little thing on my wrist to an app on my mobile.

Rowan: You can also call them fitness bands - they are small devices that fit around your wrist like a watch and store lots of fitness data.

Jack: Your fitness tracker or band - I prefer the word tracker because to track means to record progress over a period of time while band just describes a piece of material that goes around something.

Jack: Anyway, your fitness tracker is connected to an app - usually on your phone. An app is an application - some software - a computer program that can be downloaded on to your phone.

Rich: We all have loads of apps on our phones. What’s your favourite app, Rowan?

Rowan: It’s probably Zwift at the moment but I used an app called My Fitness Pal for ages. It has loads of features.

Rich: Features is a useful word. We mentioned it in the roleplay.

Rowan: Rich said his fitness tracker could monitor his heart rate, tell him how fast he ran, how far he ran; all these kinds of things are features - characteristics or things the app can do.

Jack: The app I like most is called map my run. It’s great for tracking and mapping all the runs I do. What about you?

Rich: My favourite app is Whatsapp. I use it all the time.

Rowan: Oh I thought we were talking about fitness apps.

Jack: You can check your understanding of all the vocabulary connected to equipment we used in the roleplay on the website.

Rich: Let’s take a look at some more words and phrases connected to technology we used in the roleplay. Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Rowan: I’ll show you how to sign up and log in on the app now and then we can race this afternoon.

Jack: When you get a new app, you first need to install it on your device.

Rowan: This means to put it on to your device. This usually happens automatically when you download an app.

Jack: For most apps that’s all you have to do but for some apps or if you’re on a website you may need to sign up and log in and give your details.

Rich: To sign up and to log in are a couple of useful phrasal verbs that you see online all the time.

Jack: To sign up means to register or join a group or organisation. You sign up when you decide to join for the first time.

Rich: To log in means to access your account; you usually have a username and a password to do this.

Rowan: When you’ve finished you log out so nobody else can access your details.

Jack: As well as log in you can sign in or sign out. On the Premier Skills English website, you register, then sign in and then log out.

Rich: It’s a good idea to sign up, if you haven’t already. Let’s look at a couple more words connected to technology. Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Rowan: This program is an app. Zwift is all online and you can join other runners and cyclists online - it’s multiplayer.

Jack: A computer game? Like on the Wii? Or more like virtual reality?

Rich: Our cycle race was online. It happened on the internet. Most games can be played online these days and it’s becoming more and popular with sports and different fitness programmes.

Rowan: Zwift is a multiplayer activity. This means that many players can take part or play at the same time. Many people enjoy multiplayer games online.

Jack: The prefix multi as in multiplayer means many and there are lots of words that use this prefix. Listen to these sentences and check you understand them:

Rich: She’s a multimillionaire. He’s multilingual. We live in a multicultural society. Multimedia content has been available on mobiles for years.

Rowan: Jack mentioned virtual reality. Virtual reality or VR games and activities take place in a computer generated world which you can actually take part in.

Jack: You usually wear a special headset and use other equipment so you can interact with what you see.

Rich: So Zwift isn’t virtual reality but we said: you take part in online virtual worlds.

Rowan: In a general sense we use virtual to describe something which is nearly or almost something. We might say: it’s a virtual certainty that he’ll sign for United in the summer or the country is in a virtual civil war.

Jack: But when we’re talking about computers and technology we use virtual to talk about something that doesn’t exist in the real world.

Rich: In computer games, players compete in virtual worlds.

Rowan: We also use virtual to describe things that take place online and don’t involve going anywhere. You can do virtual shopping, have a virtual meeting or take a virtual tour of a museum or football stadium when you are online.

Jack: I like visiting places virtually on Google Earth. It’s a great app.

Rich: Remember you can practise all this language we’re looking at on the Premier Skills English website.

Rowan: Motivation is a very important part of fitness and getting fit. If you don’t feel motivated you probably won’t get off the sofa. In the roleplay, both Jack and Rich said they thought using technology motivated them to do more exercise. Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Jack: I have a fitness band too, look! I think the tech pushes me to go the extra mile sometimes.

Rich: I agree when I’m running out of steam on a run I think about my time and how many calories I’m burning. They really help with motivation and give me the incentive or impetus to run a bit faster for longer.

Rowan: If you are motivated or have motivation you have the desire and enthusiasm to do something and to do it well. Rich said that using technology was motivating and it gave him the incentive or impetus to run faster.

Jack: An incentive is something which encourages you to do well. Before a run I will tell myself if I run 10 kilometres I’ll buy myself something nice.

Rich: I need an incentive to run faster as well. The tech gives me that - the incentive is to run or cycle a personal best - beat my previous record.

Jack: We used a couple of idioms in this part of the roleplay. I said that using technology encourages me to go the extra mile.

Rich: To go the extra mile means to make an extra effort - do more than what you would normally do.

Rowan: And Rich spoke about running out of steam. To run out of steam means to lose energy and or enthusiasm. We can use it to talk about fitness and losing energy or something more generally we have lost enthusiasm for.

Jack: One final idiomatic phrasal verb we used in the roleplay was to shave off. Listen to what Rowan said:

Rowan: I’ve done the Paris course a couple of times. I shaved over a minute off my personal best.

Rich: To shave off means to reduce a number by a certain amount - it’s often used when we talk about times when doing sports like running and cycling.

Jack: But you can also use this phrasal verb if you have a beard and you shave it off!

Rowan: 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.

Rich: 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 virtual sports.

Jack: Do you think going for a run or a bike ride online can keep you fit? Do you think it’s a fun way to do exercise together?

Rich: Our second task is to tell us how you use technology when you do exercise.

Jack: Have you ever done any virtual cycling or running like we did in the roleplay?

Rowan: Do you wear a fitness band or tracker that tracks the exercise you do or have an app on your mobile phone that monitors your activity?

Rich: And do you think these devices, apps and pieces of technology motivate you to do more exercise and stay healthy?

Jack: Tell us how you use technology when doing exercise or sport and give us a Premier Skills English Fitness Challenge score for virtual exercise.

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

Rowan: I have. This week’s football phrase is ******** **********. This is the phrase and the tech which is used when a referee needs to know if the ball has gone in the net or not. There are sensors around the goal and in the ball to detect when the ball has gone in the goal. When this happens, a message is sent to a watch which the referee wears and a goal is awarded.

Rich: 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 a bicycle kick.

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 podcast.

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!