Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 42, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that is focused on expanding your English vocabulary, improving your overall listening skills, and just keeping you company, really. So, let's start today's episode with the phrase have a flick through something. To have a flick through something. Flick, F L I C K. Through, T H R O U G H. Something. To have a flick through something, this means to quickly look at the pages of a book or magazine. Here's an example sentence,"I don't buy women's magazines like Vogue or Cosmopolitan, but sometimes I have a flick through them while I'm waiting at the doctor's." Do you buy magazines or newspapers? I used to, when I was younger, as a child, I would collect the wildlife magazines, and as a teenager, I would get some of the gossipy teen mags. But as an adult, I'm not really interested in magazines, though I do get many sent to me through memberships to things like the National Trust, so I tend to get gardening magazines sent through my door. And I will occasionally flick through a magazine while I'm at the supermarket. So, if I'm browsing the magazine and books section, I might pick something up and flick through it. I love books. I'm a big collector of books. I've had to actually stop myself from buying books lately because I just buy them and then I don't get around to reading them and they sit on my shelf and gather dust. So, when I'm in a bookshop, I enjoy flicking through a few books and then have this battle with myself to put the book down and step away. Okay, next on the list, we have the noun apprentice, apprentice. We spell this A P P R E N T I C E, apprentice, apprentice. An apprentice is someone who has agreed to work for a skilled person for a particular period of time, and often for low pay. And this is in order to learn that skilled person's skills. So for example, if you are a professional glass blower, you make these glass vases, literally through blowing the hot material and creating these beautiful works of art. Now, glassblowing is an art. It really is. And it's a dying art, possibly. I don't know any glassblowers. I'm sure that technology and robots are now doing that, but some people in the world still know how to blow glass and create these beautiful pieces of work. If I was interested in glassblowing, then I would find a glassblower who's very good at what they do and say,"Could I please be your apprentice? I'll work very hard. Maybe for three months and I don't need any money or maybe just a tiny bit of money, but please just teach me everything you know." I would then become their apprentice. Here's another example,"Apprentices often learn a trade, such as plumbing or carpentry." Okay, next on the list is the noun blow-dry. Blow-dry. We spell this B L O W hyphen dry, D R Y. A blow-dry is a beauty treatment in which someone's hair is dried with a hairdryer and shaped into a particular style. So if you go to the hairdressers, they will often ask you if you want a blow-dry. So if you go in just for a hair cut, they'll say,"Are you having a cut and dry? Do you want a cut and blow-dry?" And you say,"Yes, please." Most people will go for the blow-dry because you don't want to have your hair washed and cut and then walk out of the hairdresser's with wet hair. It's quite nice to have your hair blow-dried and then look beautiful as you come out with the most stunning hair. But in the UK, you often walk out and get blown about or rained on. Maybe it's drizzly outside. And by the time you get home, you look like a wet, soggy cat. Now I did in the past, when money was really tight, I did on occasion say to my hairdresser,"Look, I'm going to say no to a blow-dry. If you could just cut it for me, that would be great. I really need a decent haircut, and I'll blow-dry it at home." And I did. I walked out of the hairdressers with soaking wet hair, and I've got quite long hair, so it's quite obvious. Anyway, a blow-dry. So, as an example sentence, I would say,"I save money on my trips to the hairdresser's by not getting a blow-dry." Next on our list is the adjective carefree. We spell this C A R E F R E E, carefree. If you are carefree, then you have no problems and you're not worried about anything. I love it when I have this sense of lightness like there are no worries or concerns on my mind. I'm not in a rush for something. I'm not anticipating any meetings or deadlines. I can just enjoy the day, enjoy the moment and be present with my family or with myself. I am carefree. It doesn't happen very often, I have to say, but when it does happen, it's lovely. Here's an example sentence,"She missed the carefree days of her youth, before the responsibilities of children, a job, and a partner." Okay, last on our list is the noun bowl cut, bowl cut. We spell this bowl, B O W L. Cut, C U T. Bowl cut. Make sure your tongue tip is touching the roof of the mouth for the L on the end of bowl, bowl. A bit of a tricky one. So, a bowl cut is a hairstyle where the hair grows straight, usually just above the eyes and is cut and the same length all around your head as if someone is literally put a bowl upside down on top of your head and cuddled around it, which is people used to do. Which is why it's called a bowl cut. So, you take a bowl, something you put your cereal or your fruit salad into, you put the empty bowl on your head and you cut any hair that's sticking out. Fantastic. Here's an example,"When I was younger, my mum used to cut my hair for me and she would always give me a bowl cut." Okay, so that's our five for today. Did you spot the theme? Let's do a quick recap. We started with the phrase have a flick through something, which is to quickly look through the pages of a book or magazine. We had the noun apprentice, which is someone who agrees to work for a skilled person in order to learn their skills and the agreement is they work for a period of time on very low or no pay. Then we had the noun blow-dry, which is having your hair dried and styled. Then we had the adjective carefree, which is having no problems and not being worried about anything. And we finished with the noun bowl cut, a hairstyle where your hair is cut at the same length all the way around like a bowl has been put on your head. The length is usually up to your eyebrows. I think it was quite a popular style in the 90s. I remember a lot of boy band members having a bowl cut. Right, let's do this now for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Have a flick through something. Have a flick through something. Apprentice. Apprentice. Blow-dry. Blow-dry. Carefree. Carefree. Bowl cut. Bowl cut. Fantastic. What do you call a person who agrees to work for a very skilled person in order to learn their skills and they are happy to be paid a very low wage? An apprentice. Absolutely. Now, what is the phrase I would use if I'm very quickly looking through the pages of a book? I'm having a flick through. I'm having a flick through this book to see if it looks interesting. If I go to the hairdressers and they wash and cut my hair, what will they do afterwards? What's the noun that describes the treatment of drying and styling my hair? A blow-dry. Absolutely. And after I've had my blow-dry and flicked through a few magazines at the hairdressers, I'll feel like I have no problems and I'll have no worries. What adjective could you use to describe this worry-free me? Carefree. Absolutely. I'm carefree. Finally, if my sons grow their hair very long and they want it to be cut at the same length all the way around, just above their eyebrows, what style are they asking for? A bowl cut, yes. Fantastic. Listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Alana walked into the salon feeling excited. Today was the day for a new look! The receptionist greeted her warmly and led her to a comfortable chair."Would you like a coffee?" the receptionist asked."Yes please," Alana replied, settling in. A young apprentice came over to wash Alana's hair. As warm water flowed over her head, Alana felt her worries disappear. The apprentice's fingers massaged her head gently, and Alana closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. After the wash, Alana explained her desired hairstyle to the apprentice."I'd like to keep the length but add some layers for volume," she said. The apprentice nodded, seeming to understand perfectly. Feeling relaxed and confident, Alana had a flick through some magazines as the hairdresser began to work. She eventually found a fascinating article about exotic travel destinations. It was so interesting that she hardly noticed what was around her, like the noise of the hairdresser during the blow-dry. Alana daydreamed about her beach holidays and mountain adventures, flicking through colourful pages. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the significant changes happening to her hair. Finally, the hairdresser announced,"All done! What do you think?" Alana looked up from her magazine, ready to admire her refreshed, shoulder-length brown hair. As she gazed into the mirror, her jaw dropped in shock. Staring back at her was a stranger with a bright blonde bowl cut."Oh no!" Alana gasped, touching her new hair in disbelief."This isn't what I asked for at all!" The salon fell silent as everyone realised the big mistake. Alana's relaxing day had turned into a hair disaster. She wondered how she would explain this dramatic change to her friends and family. One thing was certain she wouldn't be so carefree during her next salon visit! Oh dear, poor Alana. Have you ever had a hairdressing disaster? I have, but that is a story for another time. If you have a story about a hairdresser disaster, then please do share it. If you're watching on YouTube, you can pop it down in the comments. And if you haven't discovered the podcast YouTube channel, then please come over to The English Like a Native Podcast channel. I'll leave a link in the description. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.