Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 46, Day 4 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that gives you a healthy daily dose of English vocabulary so that you can slowly but surely increase your vocabulary, improve your listening skills, and of course, I'm here to keep you company for the next 15 or so minutes. So let's start today with the noun wavelength, wavelength. Now you may be thinking,"Um, Anna, we had that recently." Yes, yes, we did. We had the idiom to be on the same wavelength. Do you remember that one? Well, wavelength used on its own as a noun means the distance between successive peaks of a wave, so the length of a wave. Now we're spelling this W A V E L E N G T H wavelength, but it's all one word wavelength. So the distance between successive peaks of a wave. Here's an example of how you would use it in a sentence,"The scientist measured the wavelength of the light to determine its colour." So this may not be a word that you use very often unless you work within some sort of technical or scientific field. Next on the list we have the noun alignment, alignment. We spell this A L I G N M E N T, alignment. Alignment as a noun refers to the arrangement or positioning of objects in a straight line, or in a correct relative position. So if everything is where it's supposed to be, it's in alignment. Here's an example sentence,"The alignment of the solar panels was carefully adjusted to maximise their exposure to sunlight throughout the day." Do you have solar panels? I don't have any solar panels. I've considered it. However, we have more cloudy days than sunny days in this country, so I don't know if it would be worth the investment. Anyway, back to the noun alignment. I am often trying to tidy up my children's toys and I like things to look nice and presentable and intriguing. So I often find myself putting all the little figures in alignment so that the boys come down and squeal with glee when they see their toys nicely lined up. And then they make a mess, of course, causing mayhem wherever they go. Okay, next on the list is the phrasal verb stick at, stick at. Stick, S T I C K. At, A T. To stick at something is to continue to work in a serious and determined way to achieve something, even if it's hard. You stick at it. Here's an example sentence,"If you stick at learning English, you'll be fluent by next year." I keep trying to enforce a more disciplined routine for my morning and bedtime, but I just can't stick at it. It's really difficult. I need to stick at it, because if I don't, then I'll just go mad, I think. I'll gradually decline my physical health, my mental health, and the chaos in my house will continue if I don't stick at this new routine that I've set up for myself. Okay, next on the list is the phrase to cast an eye over something. To cast an eye over something. Cast, C A S T. An eye, E Y E, like the eyes that we use to see. Over, O V E R. To cast an eye over something is to quickly look at or review something in order to check for errors or to make a quick assessment or to ensure that everything is in order. For example, if you've asked someone else to prepare some notes for you or you've asked someone else to prepare paperwork, then it would be sensible to cast your eye over that paperwork before it's submitted or before it's finalised, especially if it's something that's quite important. Here's an example sentence,"Before submitting the report, the manager asked me to cast an eye over it to check for errors." Last on the list is the verb format, format. Format, F O R M A T, format. To format something is to arrange or configure it. Here's an example sentence,"Please format the text to meet the required standards." Oh, that sends shudders down my spine, that sentence. It reminds me of a number of occasions where I've had to submit things in a different format to what I held. So data, huge amounts of data, whether it's my course data, and then I've had to change the format or my spreadsheet of all the content I've ever made for YouTube, and then I've had to submit that to somebody. And they've wanted it in a different format for them to upload it to their platform. Oh my goodness. Even formatting my statements to go onto my online accountancy software, my bank statements are in a different format. So I have to format my statement to match the format of my accountancy software and it takes such a long time. I dread it every time I have to do it. What a nightmare. Anyway, that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the noun wavelength, that scientific term that describes the distance between successive peaks of a wave. Then we had the noun alignment, which refers to objects being arranged in a straight line or in the correct relative position. Then we had the phrasal verb stick at something, which is to continue to work in a serious and determined way in order to achieve something, even if it's hard, you stick at it. Then we had the phrase cast your eye over, or to cast an eye over something. This is to quickly look at or review something. And then we had the verb format to arrange or configure something to format it. Right, let's now do this for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. Wavelength. Wavelength. Alignment. Alignment. Stick at. Stick at. Cast an eye over. Cast an eye over. Format. Format. Fantastic. Okay, what's the noun that I'd use to describe objects that are in a straight line? They are in what? Alignment. Yes. Very good. And if I need you to continue to work in a really serious and determined way to achieve the thing that's really hard to achieve, what do you need to do? Stick at it. Absolutely. And what's the phrase that I'd use if I want you to quickly review something? Cast an eye over something. Yes. And if we need to arrange the text in a very specific way, what verb might I use instead of arrange? Format. Absolutely. And finally, what's the noun that is the distance between successive peaks of a wave? Wavelength. Very good. Okay. Let's listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Dr. Emily Carter was a physicist working on a groundbreaking experiment involving light waves. She spent weeks preparing for it, obsessing over every detail. The equipment had to be positioned precisely, with each laser beam directed at the exact angle needed to measure the wavelength of the light accurately. One afternoon, as she was setting up the final stage of the experiment, Emily decided to cast an eye over the data she had collected so far. She noticed that something was wrong. The measurements didn't match the expected results, and the misalignment in the readings puzzled her. Determined to figure out the problem, she decided to stick at it, reviewing each step of the setup. After hours of careful examination, Emily realised that the issue was with the alignment of the mirrors in the laser path. A slight misalignment was causing the light waves to interfere in unexpected ways, which skewed the results. She adjusted the mirrors, ensuring that they were in perfect alignment, and then reformatted the data collection process to reflect the changes she had made. With everything ready, she began the experiment again. This time, the measurements were accurate and the data matched her predictions perfectly. The successful alignment of the equipment had made all the difference. Later, as she reviewed the final results, Emily felt a deep sense of satisfaction. The experiment had been a success, thanks to her attention to detail and determination to stick at solving the problem. The data she collected would be crucial for her research, and she knew that her work would have a significant impact on the field. The precise alignment of every component, along with her very careful approach to formatting the data, had led to a breakthrough. And if you have been listening to The English Like a Native Podcast for all 46 weeks of this particular series, then I commend you. And if you have been a loyal listener, but you still haven't yet discovered the ELAN Community, then I encourage you to check it out. We are actually offering free speaking classes, these are taster sessions so that you can get a feel for what these practice classes are all about. Now if you are keen to improve your English, then this is the place for you to be. So click on the link in the show notes and come and check out the ELAN Community. Until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.