Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 37, Day 5 of Your English Five a Day. That's right, we've spent the last 37 weeks trying to blow up your vocabulary, improve your listening skills and entertain you with English every day of the working week from Monday to Friday. So, let's finish this week with a fantastic list of target vocabulary. We start with the noun blunder. Blunder. We spell this B L U N D E R. Blunder. Blunder. A blunder is a mistake, a silly mistake, careless and stupid. It often results in embarrassment or harm. So this always makes me think of politicians actually, or people in the public eye doing something that embarrasses them. So, saying something really careless, really embarrassing or doing something like when Boris Johnson did the zip wire and got stuck I mean, maybe I'm thinking of a sketch of him actually, I can't remember if that actually happened or if it was a satire that I was watching. Anyway, Boris Johnson had plenty of blunders during his time as London Mayor and his time as the Prime Minister. A blunder. We've all made blunders. I often make blunders, especially when I'm doing a live recording or speaking in front of an audience. I do silly things that embarrass me. Here's an example sentence,"The clumsy waiter's blunder of spilling red wine on the bride's dress was a disaster." Now, I was cringing while reading that sentence because I used to work as a silver service waitress, which meant I did high-end events and I would serve food directly onto people's plates at these very posh dinners. And I was good at what I did. And I was working the bride's table during one wedding celebration and they had red cabbage as one of the vegetables. Why would you have red cabbage? I mean, it's just a recipe for disaster. And of course, you can guess what happened. I dropped red cabbage into the lap of the bride on her wedding day. Purple stains on her crotch. Oh my gosh, it was the worst working day of my life. So, as you can imagine, I was never allowed to serve at the bride's table again in future weddings from that point on. A blunder. It was a huge blunder. Very embarrassing. The next item on our list is a verb and it is blush. Blush. We spell this B L U S H, blush. To blush is to become red in the face and it's normally because you're embarrassed or because you feel shame. I know some people who feel so embarrassed, even when they're not in the spotlight, but when someone is talking to them, it's like they don't like any eyes on them at all. So, as soon as you ask them a question or look at them, then they start to blush because they feel so shy and so socially awkward. I blushed when I blundered. There we go, I made the noun a verb blundered. I blushed when I dropped the red cabbage onto the bride. I was so embarrassed. My face went bright red. And actually, blushing can feel quite embarrassing in itself, when you almost give yourself away. So you might be trying to hide your embarrassment, but the fact that your face is as red as a beetroot, well, you can't hide that, can you? Have you ever blushed? Has anyone ever made you blush? Okay, next on the list is the idiom back on track, back on track. We spell this back, B A C K. On, O N. Track, T R A C K. Back on track. If you are back on track, then you are back to a state of progress or normalcy after a setback or a deviation. Just like if a train fell off the track. I'm thinking about a toy train now, of course. If the toy train fell off the track and can't move forward. Then you lift it up and you put it back on to the track and then it can go. So, the train is back on track. But we use this metaphorically to talk about anything, a project, perhaps a building project. Maybe it stalls and delays because there are issues with the planning permission. Maybe the council come back and say,"We've decided you can't build it as tall as the plans say, you have to make it three centimetres shorter." And then finally, when you have the new plans in place, then you can get back on track with your building. If you have been learning English for a set amount of time, but then you have to stop, even though you intend to take exams soon, you have to stop studying because of life, then hopefully it won't take long before you are back on track. Here's an example sentence,"After a few setbacks, the project is finally back on track." Okay, next on the list is the adjective mortified, mortified. We spell this M O R T I F I E D. Mortified, mortified. If you are mortified, then you are very embarrassed. So this is something that you feel; very embarrassed. I was mortified when I dropped cabbage onto the bride. Here's another example,"During his presentation, John accidentally hit the"share screen" button, revealing his messy desktop with embarrassing childhood photos. Mortified, he mumbled an excuse and scurried to close the window." Okay, last on our list is the verb squirm. Squirm. We spell this S Q U I R M. Squirm. So, this verb means to twist and wriggle. So it's a movement. If you're squirming, you're twisting and you're wriggling. And typically, a worm would squirm. But also a person can squirm if they feel uncomfortable or uneasy. Just like if you're sitting in your seat at the cinema and you're suddenly watching something that really disgusts you or embarrasses you. Imagine you are at the cinema with your grandma or your mum and then there's a love scene, a very saucy love scene on the screen and it's graphic. There's lots of nudity and panting and oh, it's just really embarrassing. You are going to start twisting and writhing in your seat. You'll be so uncomfortable, so you are squirming. Here's another example,"My niece always squirms in her seat as she tries to avoid eating her vegetables." Okay, so that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the noun blunder. Blunder, which means a silly mistake, a careless mistake that leads to embarrassment. Then we had the verb blush, to become red in the face due to embarrassment or shame, to blush. We had the idiom back on track, which means that you get back to a state of progress or normalcy after a setback. Then we had the adjective mortified, meaning very embarrassed, absolutely mortified. And we finished with the verb squirm. Squirm, meaning to twist and wriggle, usually because you're uncomfortable or uneasy, or simply an animal would squirm if it wriggles and twists. Now, one last thing to point out before we move on to our pronunciation section is mortified is an extreme adjective. So, if you are mortified, then you are extremely embarrassed. Therefore, we don't tend to modify it. We could use absolutely when using the word mortified, but otherwise, you wouldn't say very mortified or a bit mortified you are just mortified or you could emphasise it with the word absolutely or completely. Okay, so, now that we have all our target words in order, let's do some pronunciation practice. Please repeat after me. Blunder. Blunder. Blush. Blush. Back on track. Back on track. Mortified. Mortified. Squirm. Squirm. Very good. What was the adjective that I used to mean very embarrassed? Mortified. That's right. And if I become red in the face because I'm embarrassed, what verb would you use to describe this? I blush. That's right. I blush. What idiom means that I'm returning to a state of progress after a delay? I am back on track. Yes, that's right. And what noun could we use that means a careless mistake? It begins with a B. Blunder. Yes. And finally, what's the verb that I might use to describe the movement of twisting and wriggling? Squirm. Well done. OK, listen for these items once again in today's storytime. Julia was excited about her first day of work in her new company. After a tough interview, she had managed to get the job of marketing director and was excited to get started. She got up extra early that morning to get ready. She put on her favourite suit and gave her hair and make-up more attention than usual. She wanted to make a good first impression. She put on her shiniest pair of high heels, checked herself in the mirror one more time and walked out of her front door. When she arrived at her new workplace, the company director, Mr. Fitzbottom, came down to meet her in person. He would show her around and introduce her to the marketing team."You must be Julia. I'm Mr. Fitzbottom. Nice to meet you," he said warmly as he saw her waiting in the entrance. She got up and walked over to him."I am. Nice to meet you," Mr. Fartsbottom, said Julia warmly. Mr. Fitzbottom stopped shaking her hand and stared at Julia in shock."It's Fitzbottom.""Fitzbottom, of course. I'm so sorry." She blushed, her face turning tomato red as she apologised. She felt her insides squirm as she realised what an embarrassing blunder she had just made. She wondered how she would get her first day back on track."Well, let's start the tour," said Mr. Fitzbottom."Before we do, Mr. Fitzbottom, I just want to say that I'm mortified about the mistake I made with your name. It won't happen again. I guess I'm more nervous than I realised.""We all make mistakes, Julia. We actually have a company culture of transparency when it comes to mistakes. We don't hide them, we talk about them.""That's good to know," she replied."But let's keep this one between us. It is kind of funny when you think about it," he added. On hearing this, Julia felt some relief and was once again ready to have a great first day at work. And that wraps up today's episode and Week 37. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and remember to recommend The English Like a Native Podcast to your English learning friends. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.