English Learning Podcast | Learn English Conversation Practice| Episode 56

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:04]Hello English learners. Welcome back to another lesson here at English Pod. My name is Marco >> and my name is Katherine. Hello everyone. Today Marco, what are we talking about?

[00:00:13]>> Well, today we are um not really in the best mood.

[00:00:17]>> What do you mean?

[00:00:18]>> We're kind of sad. We're kind of um nervous. We're we're not feeling very well.

[00:00:24]>> Yeah, it's a it's a cloudy day. Maybe that's why.

[00:00:26]>> It's the blues.

[00:00:27]>> The blues. So, yeah, that's what we're talking about today. We're gonna have a lot of different descriptive words to express uh maybe feeling sad or maybe you're angry or you're nervous or something like that. M okay. Well, this is a very useful lesson. Hopefully, you're not feeling this way, but if you have to talk about someone who is, got lots of words for you. But first, we're going to preview a couple in today's vocabulary preview.

[00:00:51]>> Vocabulary preview.

[00:00:53]>> All right. So, today on vocabulary preview, we're going to look at two words. And uh the first one is a way of saying that you feel sad. So basically I'm feeling down.

[00:01:03]>> Okay. Down. You might have heard this before because it's the opposite of the word up.

[00:01:08]>> Exactly.

[00:01:08]>> So you're not feeling up happy looking up. You're feeling down. This is another word for sad like Marco said.

[00:01:14]>> Or you can also say I'm I'm a bit down today. Right.

[00:01:17]>> Yeah. I'm a bit down today. Or you look really down. Are you okay?

[00:01:21]>> Yeah. So you you look sad. Are you is everything okay? So down. So now another feeling or a way that a person is feeling maybe that person is grouchy.

[00:01:31]>> Would you please stop talking so loud, Marco?

[00:01:35]>> I think uh you know.

[00:01:36]>> No, I'm I'm seriously >> Don't be grouchy, Catherine. Jeez.

[00:01:39]>> No. So grouchy is is a way someone acts usually when they're in a bad mood, >> right? So it's not like really angry.

[00:01:46]You're not angry, but uh you're not very happy either >> and you're not very nice to people. Mhm.

[00:01:52]>> So, there's a very famous TV character called Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. Look for him on YouTube or Yoku.

[00:01:59]And uh he's very very good uh for learning about this feeling grouchy because he's a grouchy guy.

[00:02:06]>> Yeah. He's always angry or not never happy basically, >> right? He's always complaining about something. So, that word again is grouchy.

[00:02:13]>> All right. So, after taking a look at these two words, we're ready now to listen to our dialogue for the first time. Let's see what this dialogue is about. if maybe they're grouchy or maybe just sad.

[00:02:23]>> Fine.

[00:02:29]>> Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

[00:02:33]>> Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

[00:02:36]>> I just got off the phone with my boyfriend. He's always getting upset and losing his temper over nothing. It's so hard to talk to him at times.

[00:02:45]>> Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

[00:02:51]>> Yeah, but he's always in a really foul mood. I try to find out what's bothering him or get him to talk about his day, but he he always shuts down and brushes me off.

[00:03:02]>> Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge. And the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

[00:03:11]>> I guess you're right. What do you think I should do? He wasn't always as grouchy, you know.

[00:03:16]>> Talk to him. and try to cheer him up when he's down. And if that doesn't work, I say get rid of him and get a new one. You are something else. You know that.

[00:03:29]>> All right. So, two girls talking about guys. I guess guys have a a bad temper sometimes, right?

[00:03:35]>> I think anyone can have a bad temper, but we're talking today about one of uh the boyfriend of one of these girls who has a very bad temper and has been very grouchy recently.

[00:03:45]>> Mhm. and that's why she's feeling a bit down.

[00:03:48]>> So, let's take a look at those words now in language takeaway.

[00:03:53]>> Language takeaway.

[00:03:56]>> All right. So, in today's language takeaway, we've got some wonderful words for you. Words that are very good for describing stress or having anxiety. And the first of these words is is something you hear all the time, especially with young people, >> right? Somebody is stressed out.

[00:04:12]>> My gosh, Marco, I'm so stressed out. I have 10 homework assignments to do and so softball practice and my mom wants me to help cook dinner tonight.

[00:04:23]>> Wow, you really are stressed out.

[00:04:25]>> I am well I don't have any homework and I don't live with my mom. But uh being stressed out is usually something you feel when you have too much stuff to do.

[00:04:33]>> Mhm. So maybe you can be stressed out because uh of school like in your case or maybe at work you have a lot of things to do or a project to finish.

[00:04:43]Right.

[00:04:44]>> Exactly. And I just want to point out here that you can say I'm stressed or I'm feeling stressed. But uh commonly in spoken English, so when you're talking to your friends, you hear this much more often. Stressed out.

[00:04:56]>> Stressed out. He's really stressed out lately.

[00:04:58]>> Mhm.

[00:04:59]>> All right. So we're stressed out or another word that kind of means the same is uh this is nerve-wracking.

[00:05:06]>> Nerve-wracking. So nerves are those things in our body that help us feel things, right? And so something that racks our nerves makes us very very tense, very anxious, very uncomfortable.

[00:05:17]>> Okay? So it makes you very nervous, >> right? So there are some movies that are nerve-wracking. For example, suspense movies like Hitchcock's movies like Psycho or The Birds >> or like horror, like maybe >> Saw nerve-wracking. Also, some people think that roller coasters are nerve-wracking.

[00:05:35]They're very, very uh anxious when they ride roller coasters, >> right? So, let's listen to a couple of more examples of in different situations where we can use this phrase nerve-wracking.

[00:05:47]>> Example one, >> I think being a doctor is one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the world.

[00:05:55]>> Example two, >> skydiving was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I almost had a heart attack. Example three.

[00:06:07]>> The final match between Brazil and Italy was incredibly nerve-wracking.

[00:06:14]>> And there's another way to describe this feeling again that's a little bit different but very very similar. We can say someone is feeling on edge.

[00:06:22]>> On edge. So this person was feeling on edge. Uh but what does that mean exactly? You're like at the edge.

[00:06:29]>> Why do you have to ask so many questions? Okay listen. This is basic.

[00:06:34]Okay, Marco.

[00:06:34]>> All right. All right.

[00:06:36]>> Are you Are you mocking me?

[00:06:37]>> On edge today.

[00:06:39]>> All right. So, someone who is on edge is easily angered, right? So, it's very easy to make this person upset or angry.

[00:06:48]>> Someone who just quit smoking might be on edge. That means it's very, very easy to get them to be upset.

[00:06:54]>> Wow. So, yeah, you are on edge, right?

[00:06:58]>> Exactly. He's on edge or he seems on edge, doesn't he?

[00:07:03]>> Mhm. Okay. Very good. Wow. These uh three words that we've just looked at are really interesting and very very useful. I guess you can describe many different situations or a person that's going through these feelings, right?

[00:07:16]>> Absolutely. I think there is a thousand ways to describe being nervous or anxious or upset. So maybe we should take take another listen to today's dialogue and figure out how exactly we use these words. And we come back, we'll be talking about some other phrases that are useful.

[00:07:36]>> Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

[00:07:40]>> Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

[00:07:43]>> I just got off the phone with my boyfriend. He's always getting upset and losing his temper over nothing. It's so hard to talk to him at times.

[00:07:52]Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

[00:07:58]>> Yeah, but he's always in a really foul mood. I try to find out what's bothering him or get him to talk about his day, but he he always shuts down and brushes me off.

[00:08:09]>> Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge, and the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

[00:08:18]>> I guess you're right. What do you think I should do? He wasn't always as grouchy, you know.

[00:08:23]>> Talk to him. Try to cheer him up when he's down. And if that doesn't work, I say get rid of him and get a new one.

[00:08:29]>> You are something else. You know that.

[00:08:37]>> All right. Great. So, now that we're back, we can start with a couple of different phrases now on Fluency Builder.

[00:08:45]>> Fluency Builder.

[00:08:47]>> All right. So, Marco, here's the big question. What makes you lose your temper?

[00:08:53]>> H I think what makes me lose my temper very very easily >> is uh like a dirty house or like a dirty room >> really. You're a neat freak.

[00:09:04]>> Not really neat freak, but like if it's not at least semi clean, you know, it really it really bother bothers me.

[00:09:13]Okay. So, this great phrase lose your temper or lose one's temper is is a phrase we use in English to describe getting angry. All right. So, maybe you're okay. You're a little frustrated with something. But someone does something like throws all of their clothes on the floor. And Marco here says, "That's it. I'm tired of this.

[00:09:31]You're always throwing your clothes on the floor." And that's that's an example of Marco losing his temper.

[00:09:36]>> What about you? What makes you lose your temper?

[00:09:38]>> You hear this?

[00:09:40]>> What is that? out drilling construction >> when people when people tap tap tap tap tap tap tap or when they like stomp their feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet when they when they're nervous >> when they make noise. Yeah.

[00:09:52]>> So slowly it's like okay fine calm down it's okay. No seriously stop it.

[00:09:58]Seriously. And then all of a sudden I just can't stand it anymore.

[00:10:02]>> Explode.

[00:10:02]>> Exactly. So >> all right. So that what's So that's what makes you lose your temper. I'll be sure to um keep my eye out for that and not tap my pen. Don't.

[00:10:10]>> All right. All right. So, okay. You lose your temper and now uh there are situations sometimes where you need to brush someone off.

[00:10:18]>> All right. Or when you get brushed off and that's not very good feeling. But uh this phrase to brush someone off, you've heard the word brush before. It's the word that we use to to you know brush your hair or brush your teeth. Exactly.

[00:10:30]When you brush someone off, it's like saying that you're ignoring them.

[00:10:34]>> Yeah. So you ignore them or you basically tell them to go away very subtly sometimes or very directly.

[00:10:39]>> Exactly. And so to brush someone off is to avoid their company. And so a lot of times when people are angry, they like to be alone. So they brush you off.

[00:10:47]>> Mhm.

[00:10:48]>> So I could say, "Hey, did you want to go see that movie tonight?"

[00:10:51]>> Uh no, I can't. I uh have to do something tonight.

[00:10:54]>> And then Marco walks away while we're talking. He's brushing me off. He's ignoring me.

[00:10:59]>> Yeah. So uh it happens. And also maybe some people can make up excuses and that's also brushing someone off. Right.

[00:11:05]>> Right. Exactly. So to brush someone off or he brushed me off doesn't feel good.

[00:11:11]>> All right. And well all of these all of these bad feelings brushing somebody off. Maybe you feel stressed out in the end. You always need a good friend to cheer you up. Right. And that's what this dialogue is all about.

[00:11:23]>> Exactly. And so friends are actually the people that do that the best or family I think. And uh well, we can break this phrase down because uh most of it's pretty clear, but cheer might be a new word for some of our listeners.

[00:11:35]>> Yeah, maybe we've heard of the term cheerleader, you know, like give me an A, give me a B.

[00:11:40]>> So cheer or people cheering or cheers when the beer.

[00:11:44]>> So cheer is like happiness. So someone who can cheer you up is someone who makes you happy. Remember that down we had earlier? I'm feeling down. We're trying to cheer someone up. We're trying to make them go up and be happy.

[00:11:56]>> Exactly. So, you want to cheer up your friends or maybe if you're feeling a bit down, a family member will try and cheer you up.

[00:12:02]>> Do you need someone to cheer you up, Marco?

[00:12:05]>> Yes, I do.

[00:12:07]>> Well, let's go have a drink and eat some popcorn and be cheered up.

[00:12:10]>> That's what cheers me up. Or chocolate always cheers me up.

[00:12:12]>> Oh, I know. There's some of that.

[00:12:14]>> All right, so we've taken a look at a lot of great phrases, but the last sentence of the dialogue is maybe a little bit uh strange, right? When she says, "You are something else." You know that >> uh something what? Like >> is she an alien? Is she a monkey? What does she mean when she says you are something else?

[00:12:32]>> That's a great question. Well, this might be a little bit hard to understand at first, but she's saying I can't believe you.

[00:12:38]>> Mhm.

[00:12:39]>> She's like there's no one like you.

[00:12:40]You're really something else. You know that. So, it's kind of like a joke, but uh what she's saying is I can't believe you. You just want to go on and encourage me to find another boy. You're unbelievable. So it could be is it on a positive note or can it be both positive and negative?

[00:12:56]>> Well, here we've got two friends who are using it. So it's a positive note, but she's kind of making fun of her saying, "I can't believe you." Um, but it can be >> negative fighting with her boyfriend and and her boyfriend cheats on her and she's like, "You're really something else." You know, >> you are something else. You know that it's like there's no comparison. You're the worst.

[00:13:16]>> Yeah. Exactly. So yeah, it really depends on how this is used and what the tone of voice is. So how someone says it.

[00:13:23]>> Uh but in this case, I think it's kind of a joke joke, but uh it's it's a positive, >> right? Very interesting. It's very spoken English as you say because all the words that we see there, they're pretty simple, but the context or the connotation, the meaning is very very different from the actual words. Right.

[00:13:39]>> Exactly. Mhm.

[00:13:40]>> All right. So let's listen to this dialogue for the last time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.

[00:13:52]Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

[00:13:56]>> Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

[00:13:59]>> I just got off the phone with my boyfriend. He's always getting upset and losing his temper over nothing. It's so hard to talk to him at times.

[00:14:08]>> Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

[00:14:14]Yeah, but he's always in a really foul mood. I try to find out what's bothering him or get him to talk about his day, but he he always shuts down and brushes me off.

[00:14:25]>> Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge. And the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

[00:14:34]>> I guess you're right. What do you think I should do? He wasn't always as grouchy, you know.

[00:14:39]>> Talk to him. Try to cheer him up when he's down. And if that doesn't work, I say get rid of them and get a new one.

[00:14:46]>> You are something else. You know that.

[00:14:54]>> So, Catherine, are you a grouchy person?

[00:14:56]Are you happy? Do you have a bad temper?

[00:14:59]>> Oh, these are Well, very interesting questions, Marco. Thank you for asking.

[00:15:02]No, the first the first time, am I grouchy? No, not very. Only before 9:00 a.m.

[00:15:06]>> You're not a morning person.

[00:15:08]>> Not a morning person. So, I'm very grouchy in the morning, but uh I'm generally pretty good about losing my temper. It doesn't happen very often.

[00:15:15]>> Um but I do get frustrated with things like tapping or when people eat with their mouth open.

[00:15:20]>> Oh, yeah. That's terrible. I hate that as well.

[00:15:23]>> Yeah, I can't stand it.

[00:15:24]>> Or uh I really don't like when people bite their nails.

[00:15:27]>> It's kind of uh it also makes me lose my temper. I don't know. It more than makes me lose my temper. It's kind of annoying, right? So, >> it is annoying. So, what makes you really lose your temper? We say, "What makes you blow your top?" Think about it. A volcano >> really grinds my gears.

[00:15:40]>> Yeah.

[00:15:41]>> Um I would say the worst is uh when somebody lies to me like straight in my face. Like I know they're lying. I know you're lying and you still just lie straight at me.

[00:15:52]>> I agree. So what's something that really cheers you up? Because we talked about like going out with a friend maybe helps you helps you cheer up. But is there one thing some kind of >> remedy?

[00:16:02]>> I have actually I like to go shopping when I'm playing. Yeah. I mean, I won't buy anything like clothes or anything like that. Usually, I'll get maybe something for somebody else or for the house or something like that. It's very strange.

[00:16:14]>> Helps you like clear your mind.

[00:16:15]>> Yeah. It's just like uh walking around and spending a little bit of money. I don't know. It's kind of a good remedy.

[00:16:20]>> Yeah, I think so.

[00:16:21]>> What about you? What What cheers you up?

[00:16:23]>> I kind of like to organize things.

[00:16:25]>> Really?

[00:16:26]>> Yep. So, if I'm really angry or really upset about something, I'll um alphabetize all of my books.

[00:16:31]>> Oh, wow.

[00:16:32]>> Yeah. So, A to Z.

[00:16:34]>> Wow. See, everyone has different remedies. So, come to our website, englishpot dog. Come tell us what makes you angry, what makes you lose your temper, or what really cheers you up, what makes you happy.

[00:16:44]>> Who cheers you up. So, tell us who is someone you like to talk to when you're upset and how do they cheer you up.

[00:16:50]>> All right, we'll see you guys there. And also, if you have questions, comments, suggestions, you can also leave them there in our comment section.

[00:16:56]>> Please do that. So, that's all for today. Goodbye, everyone.

[00:16:59]>> Bye.

[00:17:09]The English Pod audio review.

[00:17:12]Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

[00:17:16]Feeling sad. Not happy.

[00:17:21]Down in the dumps.

[00:17:25]Sad or unhappy.

[00:17:29]down.

[00:17:32]Having sad feelings or emotions.

[00:17:36]Have the blues.

[00:17:39]To feel very worried or anxious.

[00:17:44]Stress out.

[00:17:47]To fluster. Unnerve.

[00:17:51]Rattled.

[00:17:54]Causing a person to feel very nervous.

[00:17:59]Nerve-wracking.

[00:18:02]Makes me angry. Upsets me.

[00:18:06]Grinds my gears.

[00:18:10]Refuse to talk about something with someone.

[00:18:15]Brush me off.

[00:18:18]Upset. Very angry.

[00:18:23]Pissed off.

[00:18:26]to make someone happier.

[00:18:30]Cheer up.

[00:18:33]>> Let's try that faster.

[00:18:36]Causing a person to feel very nervous.

[00:18:40]>> Nerve-wracking.

[00:18:43]>> Sad or unhappy.

[00:18:46]>> Down.

[00:18:48]>> Having sad feelings or emotions.

[00:18:52]Have the blues.

[00:18:54]Refuse to talk about something with someone.

[00:19:00]Brush me off.

[00:19:02]>> Upset. Very angry.

[00:19:06]Pissed off.

[00:19:08]>> Feeling sad. Not happy.

[00:19:13]Down in the dumps.

[00:19:15]To fluster. Unnerve.

[00:19:19]Rattled.

[00:19:21]Makes me angry. Upsets me.

[00:19:25]grinds my gears to make someone happier.

[00:19:32]Cheer up to feel very worried or anxious.

[00:19:39]Stress out.

[00:19:41]>> Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

[00:19:46]Down.

[00:19:51]Ben is feeling a bit down today since his girlfriend broke up with him.

[00:19:57]Down.

[00:20:02]Are you okay? You seem down today.

[00:20:07]Down.

[00:20:14]Whenever I'm feeling down, I go out with my friends and then I feel much better.

[00:20:21]Stress out.

[00:20:29]David has been really stressed out lately. His boss is putting a lot of pressure on him in his new job.

[00:20:37]Stress out.

[00:20:46]I can't talk right now. I'm stressed out about this exam I have tomorrow. If I don't pass it, my dad is going to kill me.

[00:20:55]Stress out.

[00:21:03]Are you okay? You seem to be really stressed out lately. What's going on?

[00:21:10]nerve-wracking.

[00:21:17]I think being a doctor is one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the world.

[00:21:23]Nerve-wracking.

[00:21:32]Skydiving was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I almost had a heart attack.

[00:21:40]nerve-wracking.

[00:21:47]The final match between Brazil and Italy was incredibly nerve-wracking.

[00:21:53]Brush me off.

[00:22:02]When she told me my project would be a better television film than a feature film, I thought she was brushing me off.

[00:22:10]Brush me off.

[00:22:19]I asked her out on a date many times, but she always brushed me off, making up some excuse.

[00:22:27]Brush me off.

[00:22:36]Carolyn went to the doctor without an appointment and the receptionist brushed her off and told her to come back the next day.

[00:22:44]Cheer up.

[00:22:52]I hate it when people try to cheer me up when I feel sad. I just want to be left alone.

[00:22:59]Cheer up.

[00:23:08]I don't know what else to do. I've tried everything to cheer Mandy up, but she won't stop crying.

[00:23:16]Cheer up.

[00:23:22]You know what really cheers me up when I'm sad? Shopping.