Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 51, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that gives you a healthy daily dose of English vocabulary so that you can feel more confident when using and speaking English. Remember that you can access all of the vocabulary plus the example sentences in the database. So, get your hands on the Master Sheet by filling out the form in the show notes. Let's begin today's episode with the phrasal verb, pick up, pick up. Now here, we're talking about illnesses to pick up. P I C K, pick. Up, U P. To pick up, we would often use this with something like a virus or something that you can catch, basically. So, not a disease, but something that you can get from coming into contact with a virus or some form of bacteria. So, it's catching an illness from someone or something. Here's an example sentence,"Simon must have picked up a cold during his trip because he's been feeling unwell since he got back." As a mum, I can tell you that I am constantly picking up the coughs and colds and illnesses that my children bring home from school or whatever childcare facility they've been visiting. They are constantly ill. It might be hand, foot and mouth disease or chicken pox or a simple cold or a cough. Oh, my goodness, it's endless, especially during the winter. So, I'm always picking up whatever they've picked up. Next on the list is the adjective life-affirming, life-affirming. Two words. Life, LIFE. Then a hyphen. Affirming, A F F I R M I N G. Affirming. Affirming. Life-affirming. If something is described as life-affirming, then it's making you believe that life and people are good. So, it's offering hope for a better future. Here's an example sentence,"Witnessing the birth of his child was a profoundly life-affirming experience for John." So, you could use this with an experience, with a moment in time. It was a life-affirming moment. It was a life-affirming experience. Have you experienced any life-affirming moments? Okay, next on the list is another phrasal verb and it is rally round, rally round. The first word rally, we spell R A L L Y, rally. Second word round, R O U N D, rally round. To rally round is when a group of people work together in order to help somebody who's in a difficult or unpleasant situation. So, everyone rallies round to help this person who needs help. This instantly brings my mind to a clip that I saw of a nature documentary where a baby elephant had slipped into a large hole or crater. And it was quite muddy, so the little calf couldn't get out. And the mother elephant was quite distressed trying to get her baby out. And then you could see that all the other elephants came running to her aid. And so they all rallied round to try and help this calf to get out of the pit that it had fallen into. In the end, they were able to work together to get the baby out, so they all rallied round. Here's another example sentence,"In times of crisis, it's important for communities to rally round and support one another." Next on the list is the adjective dull, dull. We spell this D U L L. So, this version of dull is referring to when something is not sharp. So, if we were to call a knife or a blade dull, then it's not sharp, or if we were to say that a pain is dull or a sound is dull, then it's not sharp. The sound is not clear. I often talk about having a dull pain, something that's kind of niggly and it's there, but it's not sharp enough for you to go,"Ow!" It's just a,"Ooh!" a dull pain, a dull ache, you might say. Here's an example sentence,"Oh, the knife was so dull that it struggled to cut through the vegetables." That's annoying, isn't it? When you get what looks like a sharp knife from the knife block and you go to cut a tomato or something and it just squashes. It doesn't actually cut through the skin. Last on our list today is the phrasal verb drift off, drift off. Drift, D R I F T. Drift. Off, O F F. To drift off is to gradually start to sleep. To drift off. I sometimes struggle to drift off when I'm lying in bed, especially if my mind is busy working things out. I try to silence my thoughts and drift off quietly, but it takes a while. Here's another example sentence,"Ellie was so tired from the long day that she drifted off while watching TV." Okay, that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the phrasal verb pick up, talking about an illness. And this is where you catch an illness from someone or something. Then we had the adjective life-affirming, which is an experience or a moment that makes you believe that life and people are good. It offers you hope. Then we had the phrasal verb rally round. Which is when a group of people come together in order to help somebody in a difficult or unpleasant situation. We had the adjective dull meaning not sharp when we're talking about a blade, a knife, a sound, or a pain. And we finished with the phrasal verb drift off, which is to gradually start to sleep. So, let's do this now for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. Pick up. Pick up. Life-affirming. Life-affirming. Rally round. Rally round. Dull. Dull. Drift off. Drift off. Good. Okay, let me test your memory. If a moment really makes you believe that life and people are good, what adjective could you give that moment? It's a life-affirming moment and that moment was in fact when a group of people all worked together to help you. What phrasal verb would we use to describe what these people were doing? They rallied round. Very good. And if you are suddenly unwell because you came into contact with someone else who was unwell and you caught their illness, what phrasal verb could you use to replace caught? You picked up their illness. Very good. And if we were going to describe a knife that is not very sharp or a pain that is not sharp, what adjective could you use? Dull. A dull pain or a dull knife. And finally, if I gradually start to sleep, what phrasal verb could I use here? Drift off. Very good. Okay, listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Celia woke up one morning feeling under the weather. She thought she had picked up a simple cold, but as days passed, the illness wouldn't go away. Her body felt heavy, and a dull pain settled behind her eyes."It's just a winter bug," she told herself, trying to carry on with her daily routine. However, Celia found it increasingly difficult to concentrate at work. She would often drift off to sleep in the middle of the day, her energy completely drained. As the weeks went by, Celia's condition got worse. Whatever she had picked up wasn't going away. Simple tasks like cooking or cleaning became overwhelming. Worried about her health, she finally decided to see a doctor. To her surprise, her friends, family and neighbours rallied round to support her. Emma, her best friend, drove her to the doctor's office. The diagnosis wasn't serious, but Celia needed rest and care to recover fully. During her recovery, Celia got lots of help from the people who rallied round her. Her neighbour, Mr Johnson, mowed her lawn. Co-workers took turns bringing homemade meals. Her sister came over to do laundry and keep her company. Though being ill was tough, Celia found the experience life-affirming. She was deeply touched by the care and support she received. It opened her eyes to the goodness in people and the strength of her community. Slowly but surely, Celia regained her health. As she recovered, she felt not only physically better but also emotionally uplifted. The illness had been challenging, but the love and support she received made her appreciate life and relationships even more. Celia promised herself that once fully recovered, she would find ways to rally round others in need. This difficult but life-affirming experience had shown her the true value of community and human connection. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. I do hope you found it useful. If you did, please remember to recommend The English Like A Native Podcast to your English-learning friends. Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.