Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 27, Day 2 of Your English Five A Day. The series that aims to improve the health of your English vocabulary by deep-diving into five pieces every day of the working week. So, let's start today's episode with the noun artisan. Artisan. We spell this A R T I S A N, artisan. An artisan is a skilled craftsman or craftswoman, someone who creates handmade goods. Now, in this day and age, it's really a novelty. It's a rarity to find someone who makes their own goods because things are mass-produced. Everything is mass-produced: food, products, jewellery all the things that we love to buy and to present as gifts. You'll find mass production of many of those items. And so, you know, when you're, like, a tourist and you're going to nice quaint villages and towns and visiting places, you'll find an occasional little treasure trove of artisan goods created by an artisan. So, we use it as a noun or as an adjective. You'll hear it a lot as an adjective. If you go to a food fair or a food festival, you'll find a lot of artisan producers. So, there are artisans there in the food industry who bake their own cakes or make their own food, their unique dishes that aren't mass-produced. And it's nice. I love buying a little trinket or a gift that's been made by an artisan. One example is a friend of mine who is an artist and she hand draws all of her artwork. And so, I bought one design from her that I absolutely loved, that spoke to me on a very personal level. And so she made one for me. And that was very special, very special, more special than just a reproduced print. So, here's another example,"The artisan spent hours carefully sculpting the clay vase, showcasing their talent and dedication to their craft." Okay, moving on to a verb and it is thrive. Thrive. We spell this T H R I V E. Thrive. To thrive means to grow and develop successfully. And usually at speed because all the conditions are right. So, if my son, who is at school, was struggling to learn how to read and write, if I could see that he was falling behind his peers, then I would say that he's not thriving. He's not thriving in that environment. And in that case, I would consider putting him into a different school, somewhere where he would be happy and thrive, where he would develop fast and become a success, learn how to read and write and be happy. Okay. So, here's another example,"My friend Maria thrives on stress and the challenge of overcoming obstacles in both her work and personal life." Now, I personally thrive in a comfortable environment, so I need the environment to be comfortable in terms of temperature and light, and I also thrive in a clean and orderly space. So, if I'm in a really dark, cold, messy, dirty office, then I really struggle to be creative. It's not an environment that allows me to produce my best work because I just don't feel good. I also thrive sometimes under a little bit of pressure, but mostly when I have more space and time to be creative. How about you? In what environment do you thrive? What do you need to thrive? Okay, moving on. Next we have an idiom and it is for a steal. For a steal. We spell this F O R, for. A steal, S T E A L, like to steal something, to take something that's not yours. So, for a steal, this idiom means that you've bought something at a very, very low price. The price is so good that it's like stealing it. So, if you get something for a steal, or if you buy something for a steal, then you've got it at a ridiculously low price. An amazing bargain is what you've got. So, you could just say,"Oh, what a steal!" In response to hearing the price of an item. Here's another example,"I can't believe it! I just bought a Gucci handbag for a steal at the charity shop!" Now I bought a fantastic item of furniture many years ago. I was driving down the road in my little Fiat Panda, my lovely little Fiat Panda. I was driving from a teaching job in Croydon and the route that I took always took me past this, like secondhand furniture shop and on a good day, they would put a lot of the furniture out on the street so you could see as you were driving past. And on this day I saw this beautiful cheval mirror with a big drawer on the base. And at the time I really needed storage and I thought it looked beautiful. So, I quickly pulled over and I ran back up to the shop and I said,"How much for this mirror?" And they said,"35 pounds." Ah! 35 pounds for this really beautiful, solid, wooden cheval mirror with a storage drawer at the bottom. That's amazing."Yes, I will take it." So they gave me this mirror for 35 pounds. It was an absolute steal. I later found out that this was a very desirable item of furniture. I can't remember off the top of my head the brand, but there was a plaque inside the drawer that told me the brand. And when I looked it up, this particular item was worth 750 pounds and I bought it for 35. Isn't that incredible? Unfortunately, that item of furniture moved around with me a lot because in the past I was, I don't know what the right word is, but I was the kind of person that moved three or four times in a year. So, it moved around a lot. It was put in and out of storage many times. And so it got knocked about a bit and it suffered a lot of wear and tear. So, it wasn't as beautiful by the time I then sold it on. And I think I got maybe a tenner for it in the end, but I enjoyed it and that's the most important part. And I got it for a steal. So, I was very happy about that. Okay, moving on. We have a noun and it is campaign. Campaign. We spell this C A M P A I G N. Campaign. Campaign. It sounds like champagne, but it's campaign. A campaign is a series of planned activities or efforts that are aimed at achieving something specific. So, it's usually to do with promoting something. So, you have a campaign that promotes a cause or a product. It might be something that's social or political. Perhaps there's going to be a green campaign to promote the idea of providing a safe space for hedgehogs because hedgehogs are in decline or it might be a campaign for a local MP who wants to be elected again. And so, they do a campaign to tell everyone about their manifesto and what they're going to do for the local area. Or it might be a marketing campaign. Let's say I'm releasing my next course, or I'm doing a special event, then I would do a marketing campaign to tell everybody about that particular course. So, it's a series of planned activities or efforts designed to achieve something, which is usually promotion. Here's an example,"The political candidates are currently in the midst of their campaign to win the election" Alright, the last item on today's list is an adjective and it is victorious. Victorious. We spell this V I C T O R I O U S. Victorious. If you are victorious, I'm sure you've probably guessed it, it means that you have achieved victory. You are successful. You are victorious. Now this is usually used in regards to competition. So, if you're competing with someone and you win, then you would be described as victorious. Perhaps a horse in the Grand National runs the race and wins. Then that is the victorious horse. Okay, here's an example,"It took two bad seasons and a lot of extra training, but the under-10s football team finally emerged victorious in the championship game." Alright, so that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the noun artisan, which is a skilled craftsman or craftswoman, someone who creates handmade goods. Then we had the verb thrive, which is to grow or develop vigorously and successfully. Then we had the idiom for a steal, to purchase or to get your hands on something for a very low price. Then we had the noun campaign, which is a series of planned events aimed at achieving something specific, like promoting something. And the adjective victorious, describing someone who has achieved victory or success. Let's now do this for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Artisan. Artisan. Thrive. Thrive. For a steal. For a steal. Campaign. Campaign. Victorious. Victorious. Very good. Let me now test your memory. There was a young boy who showed real talent as a sprinter. Now, he didn't attend a school that had much in the way of resource or support for talented sports people. So, he asked his parents if he could move to a school that did a lot to help and develop students that showed talents in the world of athletics. His parents decided it would be a good idea. They knew if they moved him to this new school that he would grow and develop vigorously and successfully. What verb could I use to describe this growth and development? In the new school, he would... thrive as a sprinter. So, they did it. They sent him to the new school and he did indeed thrive. Now at the end of his first year, he had a chance to compete in a national championship, which was going to be amazing. The problem was his only pair of running shoes had started to fall apart. And so, he asked his parents for a replacement pair, but they couldn't afford it. But they did know a very skilled craftsman in their village who had started making these very special running shoes. What noun could I use to describe this craftsman who makes handmade shoes? An artisan. So, his parents approached this artisan and asked if he would be willing to sell a pair of his special shoes to his son for a knockdown price because they didn't have much money. He agreed to give a pair of trainers to the boy for just one pound. Now the parents were astonished that they were going to be able to buy these beautifully handmade trainers for just one pound. What idiom could they use to describe this amazing bargain? They got the trainers for a steal. For a steal."Oh, we got them for a steal. This is amazing". So, the boy got the trainers, attended the competition and won. He achieved victory. What adjective could we use to describe him achieving victory or success? Victorious. Yes, with these shoes, he was victorious. And he was then asked by the artisan if he would be the face of a series of planned activities to do a promotion of these special handmade shoes. What noun could we use to describe this series of planned activities for marketing purposes? He was asked to be the face of a marketing campaign. Yes. So, this campaign was going to market these brilliant shoes that had led him to be victorious in his competition. So that wasn't bad for an off-the-cuff story. Let me see if I can remember it. We started with a young boy who showed great talent but was in a school that didn't support sports. And so, his parents decided to move him to a school where he would thrive as a sportsman. And indeed, he did thrive. He was asked to compete in a national competition, but he didn't have any trainers. So, his parents approached an artisan in their village who made shoes. He agreed to sell a pair of trainers to the boy for just one pound, which the parents said,"Wow, we got these for a steal." Then the boy ran his race in these new handmade shoes and he emerged victorious. It was so fantastic that the artisan asked if he would be the face of a campaign to promote his handmade trainers. And of course, the boy said yes. Okay, so, I hope you enjoyed that story. Let's now revisit these five items in a planned and prepared story during today's storytime. In this storytime, you are going to become the character. Here we go. As you walk through the cobbled streets of your hometown, you are hit by a sense of nostalgia. This is the town where you spent your childhood summers, exploring the woods and playing in the fields with your cousins. Now, years later, you have returned with a different purpose to save your aunt and uncle, both artisans with a failing patisserie business. The patisserie has been a staple in the town for generations. But with the rise of big chain bakeries and the changing tastes of the locals, their once-thriving business has been struggling to stay afloat. Your poor aunt and uncle are ready to throw in the towel and retire, but you can't bear to see their legacy crumble. You sit down with your aunt and uncle and discuss their options. You suggest a campaign to promote the patisserie's unique products, which are made with love and care using traditional methods. Your aunt and uncle are hesitant at first, but you convince them that this is their chance to stand out and compete with the big chains. With your marketing background, you create an eye-catching campaign that highlights the patisserie's traditional methods and locally-sourced ingredients. You also reach out to the community, inviting them to participate in a taste-testing event to gather feedback and generate buzz. On the day of the event, the patisserie is packed with people eager to try the new products. The response is overwhelmingly positive, and orders start pouring in. Your aunt and uncle are ecstatic, and you can see the pride in their eyes as they watch their business thrive once again. Thanks to your efforts, the patisserie is now flourishing, and your aunt and uncle couldn't be happier. They ask if you would like to take over the business. They are offering it to you for a steal, but you gratefully decline, as you are planning to travel for a few months. Maybe it would be a good opportunity for you for when you return home. As you walk out of the patisserie, you can't help but feel victorious. You have not only saved a business but also preserved a piece of the town's history and tradition. Ahhh, the sweet pastry smell of success! Did you enjoy that? If you did, please take a moment to leave a like, a rating or a review. And if you have any English language-learning friends, then I'd be so grateful if you were to recommend that they listen to The English Like a Native Podcast. Until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.