📕 Part 1: Reading

This episode's vocabulary

On the go (idiom) – busy and active. → I've always got at least one or two books on the go throughout the year.

Work one's way through (phrasal verb) – to finish something that is long or difficult. → I'm rereading something that I've already worked my way through.

For hours on end (idiom) – for many continuous hours. → Looking at a screen for hours on end isn't ideal for me.

Portable (adjective) – easy to carry or move. → I understand an e-reader or a phone is more portable, but they're the last things I want to look at.

Haphazard (adjective) – lacking any obvious principle of organization. → Before I'd read a lot, but it was pretty haphazard.

Consistent (adjective) – acting or done in the same way over time. → Now I'm much more consistent, so I can read two books a month.

Avid reader (collocation) – a person who reads a lot and with great enthusiasm. → I'm not an avid reader, but I try to read every day.

In the know (idiom) – to have knowledge or information that most other people do not. → I love reading because I like to be in the know about new things.

Self-help book (noun) – a book written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. → Self-help books about managing stress are very popular these days.

Get through (phrasal verb) – to finish or complete a task or a part of it. → I'd get through loads of chapters in one go.

In one go (idiom) – all at once. → If I read a detective novel, I get through many chapters in one go.

Page-turner (noun) – a book that is so exciting that you want to read it quickly. → If it's a page-turner, I can spend my whole evening reading one book.

In-depth (adjective) – comprehensive and thorough. → Social media posts are probably not very in-depth reading, are they?

Up for discussion (idiom) – open to be talked about; not yet decided. → Whether self-help books actually work or not is up for discussion.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Do you like reading?

Rory: I love it, actually. I've always got at least one or two books on the go throughout the year, even when I'm busy. It's great finding out new ways to do things or being entertained by a new story, or an old one if I'm rereading something that I've already worked my way through.

Maria: How often do you read books?

Rory: Oh, all the time, at least once a day, or I try to, anyway, unless I'm feeling really tired and I can't quite manage it.

Maria: When do you usually read books?

Rory: These days it's before I go to sleep, so just after I get into bed I'll sit or lie for a bit and try and read at least a chapter a night. When I have more free time, sometimes I read in the afternoon, too.

Maria: Do you prefer to read on paper or on a screen?

Rory: Oh, definitely on paper. Looking at a screen for hours on end isn't ideal for me, and I think I read somewhere that it hurts your eyes or at least damages your sleep in some way. I understand an e-reader or a phone is more portable, but they're the last things I want to look at when I'm trying to focus.

Maria: Are your reading habits now different from the past?

Rory: Well, while I read a lot of books as a child, I definitely read more now, even though I have less free time. I think it's because I'm better with time management, or at least that aspect of it. Before I'd read a lot, but it was pretty haphazard, so I'd get through loads of chapters in one go and then leave the book for a bit. Now I'm much more consistent, so I can read two books a month and that's fine.

Discussion

Maria: Yay! Reading. Dear listener, are you a book person? Are you into reading?

Rory: A reader.

Maria: A reader. Are you an avid reader, an enthusiastic reader? You can be, you can listen to books, like audio books. Kind of it also counts as reading. I listen to audiobooks. Why not? You can say I love reading. I hate it. I love it. I enjoy it. I'm a big fan of books. I'm a big fan of sci-fi novels, poetry, what do you like? I always have one or two books on the go throughout the year. So kind of I read one or two books. So I pick one, I read, then another, so I read two books at the same time. It's great finding out new things. So I love reading because I enjoy being entertained by a new story.

Rory: I like to be in the know.

Maria: In the know of new things, yeah, or I like having fun with new stories. Sometimes I reread books. I read books, the same book again.

Rory: That's an interesting word to say though. Reread.

Maria: Reread. Yeah, relisten, reread. I read once a day, I read every day, often, sometimes, twice a week, right? I try to read every day. But if I'm feeling tired, I don't usually read. Or I enjoy listening to books, I prefer audiobooks to paper books. So we say kind of traditional books, paper books, or printed books. Online books, e-books, on a computer, yeah? Or audio books. Me, for example, I listen to audiobooks more often than I read paper books. Rory, what was the last book you read?

Rory: Oh.

Maria: Oh, it's gonna be something about science, something space.

Rory: It's not. It's, hold on a minute. I've got them behind me. I read a book called, I just looked there at my bookcase. It's a book called Fierce Medicine. It's by a lady called Ana Forrest, who created a system of yoga. And so I was reading about her life and her thoughts on various yoga practices.

Maria: There we go, see, very sophisticated.

Rory: No, some of the language in there is not sophisticated. Ana Forrest is a very plain spoken woman. She tells it how it is and she swears a lot.

Maria: Okay. Swears, she uses bad language.

Rory: Yes, she says words like...

Maria: And Rory, what do you call books, you read them and they can help you develop certain skills or they kind of...

Rory: Oh, well, I suppose that could just be reference books, but maybe self-help books, if it's skills for life.

Maria: Self-help. Yeah, skills for life, communication skills, and self-help books are very popular these days. How to get rid of depression, or, I don't know.

Rory: Whether that works or not is up for discussion.

Maria: How to be this or that.

Rory: How to be depression-free. That's up for discussion.

Maria: I prefer reading on paper or I prefer e-books. I don't enjoy looking at a screen for hours. I don't enjoy e-books, I prefer traditional books, printed books. Or you can say that I usually download books on my phone. I read from my phone. It's quite portable, you can carry it everywhere, right? Some books are really heavy. And you can say that I have an e-reader. So if you have a special device. I don't know how many people these days have an e-reader, a special device only for books. As a child, I used to read a lot. Or as a child, I didn't use to read much, but now I read much more. I read almost every day. Or I'm better with my time management. I can manage my time more effectively. I get through lots of chapters. A book has a chapter, maybe 10 chapters, 10 parts. It's called a chapter, a part, one part of a book. And you can read two chapters in the evening, or get through two chapters in one go at once. In one go, at once. For example, if I read a detective novel, I get through many chapters in one go. So I read ten parts. And then I can leave the book for a bit. So kind of you just stop reading. What do you call a book that's is impossible to put down? You keep reading and reading...

Rory: Page-turner.

Maria: So if it's a page-turner, I can spend my whole evening reading one book. And I can read two books a month, for example. And dear listener, you can say that I dislike reading, I don't read a lot. I don't read much. I'm not an avid reader. So, I used to read a lot of books at school, but these days I just use social media, TikTok and Instagram, that's enough reading for me. I read news, or journals, right, magazines, scientific articles, perhaps, news stories, that's also reading. Posts on Instagram? That's reading. Yeah, maybe why not?

Rory: It is, but it's probably not very in-depth reading, is it?

Maria: Do you think people these days read a lot? Because of this social media?

Rory: It depends on how you define a lot, doesn't it? I mean, people read more than they did maybe a hundred years ago because they have more free time to read, and there are more jobs that require reading. But are they reading in the same depth and volume as before because the messages are usually shorter, for example. So it's up for discussion, I think. I want to believe that people are reading more and that we are more intelligent, but if you turn on the news, you will understand why some people are skeptical about this.

Maria: Yeah, and audiobooks are becoming really popular. Yeah, and audio books count as reading.

Rory: But they're not as popular as paper books.

Maria: Oh, I don't know, that's the thing, because there are a lot of book stores still. Yeah, also there are reading clubs, right? Dear listener, have you ever visited a reading club? You read a book and then you discuss it with people. Yeah, and lots of people say that, okay, just, read for at least 10 minutes a day just to get you going. Ten minutes a day, that's your reading time.

Rory: Oh, not the time. Read a chapter, like a complete unit of reading and then call it a day.

Maria: Yeah, and dear listener, and reading is a kind of meditation practice.

Rory: Ooh.

Maria: Right. We are ready for a wrap-up joke about reading. Right, so, the joke is, I wrote a book about falling down the stairs. It's a step-by-step guide.

Rory: Oh, god. Obviously stairs have steps. And a step-by-step guide tells you how to do things one step at a time or one part of the procedure at a time. So, that's the overlap and I have just died on the inside explaining this joke.

Maria: Right, dear listener. So I wrote a book about falling down the stairs. You know, you go up the stairs and if you go down the stairs, you can just fall over. So I wrote a book about falling down the stairs. It's a step-by-step guide. Yes, stairs have steps. So it's a step-by-step guide. Ha ha ha ha ha. Thank you very much for listening. We love you, we hug you, stay with us, and we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye.

Rory: Bye.