Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 39, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that is dedicated to increasing your active vocabulary and improving your overall English. So, let's start today's list with a doing word, a verb, and it is to astonish, astonish. We spell this A S T O N I S H, astonish. Astonish. To astonish someone is to fill them with a sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder. So if someone does something that is just completely surprising or overwhelming, overpowering, and you just can't believe it, then you are astonished. They've astonished you. Okay, so it's astonishing. Here's an example sentence,"The magician's trick was designed to astonish the audience." When was the last time you saw a magician? I actually use magicians quite a lot in my example sentences, I realise. But I don't think I've seen a magician live for quite a while. Oh, I did actually, yes. I've been to a few parties in the last few years where they've had a wandering magician, someone who comes and does close-up magic. And often, actually, those magicians that perform close-up magic, they do astonishing tricks. Their tricks astonish me because I'm right there, right next to them, staring at their hands, and they still manage to do the trick without giving it away. So they astonish me. Next on the list, is the noun bliss, bliss. We spell this B L I S S. Bliss. Bliss describes perfect happiness or great joy. Here's an example sentence,"She was in a state of bliss after hearing the good news." Now, many of us do live with a certain amount of anxieties, worries, concerns about things. It's lovely when one of those things that you've been worried about for a long time can finally be put to bed. So for example, if you have a huge debt hanging over your head, maybe it's a credit card debt, maybe it's a loan that you've taken out to buy a car, maybe it's a mortgage, maybe you owe a friend, maybe you had to borrow some money from a friend and now it's just hanging over you that you have to pay this money back. At the point where you're able to actually pay that money back and remove that debt, then I'm sure you'll have a sense of bliss at that point. To finally be free of the chains of anxiety that have bound you for so long. So, bliss. Next on the list is an adjective and it is cautious, cautious. We spell this C A U T I O U S. Cautious, cautious. If someone is described as cautious, then they are careful and they avoid potential problems or danger. So I think I'm quite a cautious person. If something seems too risky, then I'm less likely to do it. I am risk averse, I'm cautious, I try to be very careful in everything I do. Here's another example,"James was full of energy, but he was always cautious when crossing a busy road." Now, I wish my children would be a little more cautious when it comes to roads. They are at the point where they're cycling. My eldest is cycling a bike and my youngest is now operating a scooter. He's scooting quite fast. He does fall over on a regular basis, but neither of them have very much street sense. Neither of them are very aware when it comes to traffic and roads. My eldest is getting better, but he tends to approach the road too fast. So, if he's going downhill, for example, and the pavement is running out, he will wait until the last minute to hit the brakes. And I have to shout to him,"Slow down, Jacob!" Concerned that I'm going to watch him in slow motion, pull on the brakes so hard that he goes over the handlebars and lands on the road. But then, I'm a very cautious person and I catastrophise all the time about every possible thing that could go wrong. So maybe it's more my problem than anyone else's. So, cautious. Next on the list we have a verb. Another doing word and it is dwindle, dwindle. We spell this D W I N D L E, dwindle, dwindle. To dwindle is to become gradually less, so reduce gradually over time until very little is remaining. So, if you have a savings pot, let's say you have a thousand pounds saved up, but you lose your job, and for a few months, you have no income. And so you have to use your savings that you've spent maybe years trying to put together. You now have to rely solely on your savings. Well, if you're living in London, that savings pot will not last more than a month, because it's so expensive to live here. And you'll watch your savings pot dwindle day after day after day getting smaller and smaller and smaller as you have to take money out to pay bills, to buy food, and to keep a roof over your head. And that will be so depressing. So, to dwindle, it's not fun, but it does happen. Here's another example sentence."The restaurant opened to a huge crowd of people. But as the night went on, the crowd began to dwindle." Okay, last on the list is the adjective eloquent, eloquent. We spell this E L O Q U E N T. Eloquent. Eloquent. If someone is described as eloquent, then they are fluent or persuasive in the way that they speak or write. So, it's a compliment to be described as eloquent. Here's an example sentence,"The politician gave an eloquent speech that moved the audience." Who would you describe as being eloquent? Perhaps you have a colleague who's excellent at speaking to the clients and can speak in such a persuasive and enjoyable way that it makes you smile every time you hear them. Perhaps you have a teacher who's quite eloquent and can speak almost without preparation at length about a subject and in a way that fascinates you. Maybe you're quite an eloquent person. Okay, so that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the verb astonish, and this means to fill someone with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder. Then we had the noun, bliss, meaning perfect happiness. We had the adjective cautious, which means to be careful to avoid problems or danger. We had the verb dwindle, which is becoming gradually less until very little remains. And we had the adjective eloquent, meaning fluent or persuasive in the way you speak or write. So let's now do this for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. Astonish. Astonish. Bliss. Bliss. Cautious. Cautious. Dwindle. Dwindle. Eloquent. Eloquent. Fantastic. How's your memory today? Let me do a very quick test. If I'm trying to be really careful to avoid potential problems, what adjective could you use to describe me? Cautious. And if I'm in a state of perfect happiness, what noun could you use to describe this state? Bliss. I'm in complete bliss. And if I want to fill you with sudden and overpowering wonder, what do I want to do to you? I want to astonish you. Now, if you have a pot of money that you've saved up over a long period of time, but because of the circumstances, you're now having to slowly take money away from that pot and that pot becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. What's happening? What doing word would we use here? The pot is... dwindling. Yes, the pot dwindles over time. Okay, finally, what adjective would I use to describe someone who's quite persuasive in the way they speak? Eloquent. They are eloquent. Very good. Okay, listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Lucy had always been a cautious person, the type who double-checked her alarm clock and kept an emergency stash of chocolate for stressful situations. After ten blissful years with Tom, she decided it was time to take a leap. But proposing? That was a different beast entirely. One evening she sat on the couch, fidgeting with a ring box, her thoughts a tangled mess."What if he says no?" she pondered."Or worse, what if he laughs?" The idea of her confidence dwindling in an instant was almost too much to bear. Determined, she planned a romantic dinner. The table was set, candles lit, and she was dressed to the nines. Tom walked in, looking as relaxed as ever, and Lucy felt her heart race. She tried to remember the eloquent speech she'd prepared, but her mind went blank. Over dessert, she finally blurted out,"Tom, will you marry me?" The room fell silent, and Lucy's heart stopped. Tom's eyes widened, and then he laughed, not a cruel laugh, but one filled with joy."I was going to ask you the same thing!" he exclaimed, pulling out a ring from his pocket. The tension melted away, replaced with a shared bliss that filled the room. They both laughed, the coincidence astonished them. It would seem that sometimes, taking a leap together is the best way to avoid falling. And that brings us to the end of today's podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in and I do hope I get to tickle your eardrums again tomorrow. Until then, take very good care and goodbye.