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Hi there, welcome to the English. Like A Native podcast. This is your Fiverr Day, week 2.1.

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Number one on this week's list is a fantastic word flummoxed. Flummoxed. Say it with me, flummoxed. I love this word. This is an adjective and it means to be completely confused. Hmm, i'm flummoxed. Here's an example sentence The difficult puzzle flummoxed even the most skilled problem solvers. Honestly, i'm flummoxed.

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Every single day I put my phone down. I think I know where it is. I come back and it's not there, and I look around all the obvious places but I can't find it anywhere. I'm absolutely flummoxed. What have I done with my phone?

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Okay, number two on the list is to wear one's heart on one's sleeve. So I often wear my heart on my sleeve. This is an idiom and this means to show your feelings, your true feelings, openly and without stopping to think about it. So you have no doubts, you have no hesitation. You're just happy to show people how you feel. I'm very much like that. Here's an example sentence She wears her heart on her sleeve, which makes it easy for others to know how she feels.

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Next up, we have a phrasal verb. Number three is to brush off. To brush off. Now, today's version of brush off is to dismiss or ignore someone or something in a casual and disrespectful way. So if I brush someone off, then I'm ignoring them in a way that's disrespectful. Or if you say something to me and I brush it off, i'm treating it like it's not important, whatever it is you just said. Here's an example sentence He brushed off her concerns, saying that she was talking nonsense.

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So imagine you're having a terrible time at the office because you're very worried about a glitch in the system that's going to cause huge problems for the company And you go to your manager and you say I've got these terrible concerns, there's this glitch and it's going to cause all these problems and it's going to be it's going to be a really, really big issue. We need to sort it out now. But your manager just disrespects you and says you're talking nonsense, get out of my office. And he's brushing off your concerns. That's not very nice, is it Okay?

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number four on our list is to empathize, empathise Say that with me. Empathise This one might be a little bit tricky to say because you have a TH followed by an Z sound Thise, thise, oh, like your thise, your upper leg, your upper legs, your thise. To empathise. In American English this is spelt with a Z. In British English this is spelt with an S, but still pronounced like a Z. So to empathise, this is a verb and it means to understand and share the feelings of another person. Here's an example. As someone who has also lost a loved one, i can empathise with your pain and grief.

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Last on our list is melancholy. Melancholy, this is a lovely word, it's a noun. I say it's lovely. I always use the word lovely when I'm describing sad words. It sounds lovely, melancholy. Melancholy It has a nice ring to it, but it means a feeling of sadness, often when you're thinking about something from the past. Melancholy. So an example would be. The melancholy in her voice indicated that something was troubling her. Okay, so there's our five. Let's just quickly recap. We had flummoxed to wear one's heart on one's sleeve, to brush off, to empathise and melancholy. Now it's time to bring them all together in a little story. Let's go.

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Alex sat at his desk, flummoxed by the math's problem in front of him. He had always struggled with numbers, but this was something else entirely. The more he tried to solve it, the more his frustration grew. He knew he needed help, but he didn't want to admit it. As he pushed his notebook away, alex felt a twinge of melancholy settle in his chest. It was the feeling he got whenever he thought about his father, who had died two years ago. He missed him terribly.

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Alex decided to take a break and go for a walk. He walked down the street, lost in thought, until he heard a familiar voice calling out to him hey, alex, wait up. It was his best friend, jason, jogging to catch up with him. Alex turned to face him, feeling a little better already. Jason told Alex that he could tell something was wrong and that he was here to help. But Alex brushed it off as nothing, not wanting to admit he had a problem. They walked together for a while talking about nothing in particular, until Alex finally worked up the courage to tell Jason that he found maths really difficult.

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Jason had a lot of empathy for his friend, as he knew what it was like to struggle in school. He said I know a tutor who could help you out. He's really good and I'm sure he could explain it in a way that makes sense to you. Alex felt a wave of gratitude wash over him. He realised that he didn't have to wear his heart on his sleeve all the time, but sometimes it was okay to ask for help. Thanks, man. I really appreciate that Alex said. Well, i hope you found this episode useful and if you'd like to support this podcast in any way, then you can by leaving a rating or review so that other listeners can find me too, or go a step further and become a plus member to access all the bonus podcast material. All the details will be in the show notes. Thank you for joining. Until next time, take care and goodbye.