📕 Part 1: Relaxing

This episode's vocabulary

Switch off (phrasal verb) - to stop giving your attention to someone or something.

Into the bargain - in addition to other facts previously mentioned.

Rewind (verb) - to go back, or to make something go back, to an earlier time.

Investment (noun) - the act of putting money or effort into something to make a profit or achieve a result.

Recharge (verb) - to get new energy or to give new energy to something.

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Questions and Answers

R: Ready, Brandon?

B: I am.

R: Okay. What do you do to relax?

B: Um, well, first, I should say I don't have much time to relax nowadays with a new baby. But when I do, I love cycling. And any opportunity I get, I get out on the bike. And it just helps me to switch off and get some good fitness and conditioning into the bargain.

R: Do you think doing sports is a good way to relax?

B: It depends on the sport. When I was younger, I used to do a lot of combat sports and possibly not the best way to relax. But nowadays I'm a bit older. I like more general forms of exercise such as cycling, which yeah, absolutely help me to relax.

R: Do you think vacation is a good time for you to relax?

B: Personally speaking, I'm not the most relaxed person when I go on holiday. I'm constantly thinking about all the airport stuff that you have to do. Checking in, making sure you have all your tickets, you haven't forgotten anything. And then it takes me three or four days to rewind. And then I'll realize I've got about four days left. So I'm not the most relaxed person when it comes to holidays. Some of my friends are, they find it easy to just switch off and lie on a beach. I'm not really one of those people.

R: Do you think students need more time to relax?

B: Yeah, I mean, you know, studying is a heavy investment, you know, financially, emotionally. And yeah, it can get quite stressful. So I think yeah, they do need time to switch off and recharge.

R: Brandon, thank you for your answers.

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Discussion

R: And Maria was taking some notes while we were doing that. Right?

M: No, I'm just, I was posting stuff on Instagram. I was liking Brandon's Instagram profile. Yeah, daer listener, if you want to check out Brandon on Instagram. And Facebook, right, Brendon?

B: Yeah.

M: Yeah, you can just go on Facebook or Instagram. Brandon what's your name? Brandon, what's your name?

B: McEvoy.

M: Could you spell McEvoy? Nice. Yeah, I was also liking Brandon's posts and taking notes on his fabulous language.

R: Being productive.

M: Yeah, Rory, did you notice anything?

R: On Brandon's Instagram?

M: No. In his answers.

R: Well, I quite liked the opening parts, personally speaking, like I always say, to tell the truth, speaking honestly, this kind of thing. So it's a good opening part. But the other one was when you said any opportunity I get I go on a bike.

M: Yeah, that's a nice one. And also Brandon used lots of synonyms. to like, relax. For example you said switch off.

B: Yeah.

M: So we should relax. We should switch off.

B: Recharge.

M: Recharge. There we go. Yeah, but you don't have to say recharge my batteries.

B: No.

M: Yeah, it's a bit strange. Oh, I need to recharge my batteries.

B: Reboot.

M: Reboot?

B: Yeah, just some people say that. It's quite common.

M: How can I use it in a sentence?

B: Well, sometimes you just have to switch off and reboot.

M: You see, Rory, are you taking notes? Sometimes you have to, Rory, you personally. Rory is beavering away night and day.

R: It's a phrasal verb.

M: Wow. Oh, Brandon, did you know that we have created a Podcourse on phrasal verbs.

B: I wasn't aware of that.

M: No. Rory, tell him.

B: I should check it out.

R: Oh, it's another phrasal verb. And now I have to say the website address again. No, I'm not gonna do it. That's like, that's way too high an investment in terms of advertising. And on the subject of investment, I think you said that something was a heavy investment. Right?

B: Yeah, I said, you know, being a student, there's a heavy investment both financially, emotionally.

M: Nice. That's why you have to recharge and reboot.

R: Yes, because you put so much into being a student that you like, well, you're just basically setting yourself and you have to spend a lot of time studying, you have to, well, take the time and put together the resources. So it's a big investment. It's like, imagine your resources are money, you invest them.

M: Yes, true. Also, another one is rewind. You said rewind. The same as relax, right?

B: I think sometimes if I'm using the word rewind, I'm saying you know, things are going on and on and on a constant loop, just rewind, sit back and relax.

R: Oh, I took that totally different way. I thought you were meaning like to get yourself back into the mindset of working because like unwind is relax and rewind is the other one.

B: Yeah. I think you know, you can probably use them interchangeably.

R: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

M: Also another one is unwind. You need to unwind. We need to unwind. Let's go to a bar, a bar.

B: Yes, let's.

R: Let's not it's only 12 o'clock in the afternoon.

M: Oh, yeah, we're recording in the afternoon. So yeah, I need to rewind, I usually rewind at the weekends. And rewind is an interesting word because it's like, w i n d, but we don't say wind, we say rewind, or unwind, right? A nice one was when it comes to sports. Right. When it comes to, I don't know, relaxing. And when it comes to vacation, I'm not a relaxed person. So that's a synonym, right? So relaxing, to relax, and then I'm not a relaxed person. And then I really enjoy this one. I prefer a gentle form of exercise. Yes, Rory?

B: Because I'm old.

M: Oh, you're not. How old are you? Is Rory older than you?

B: I doubt it.

R: I just look older, which is almost as bad.

M: Yeah, but Brandon is in a good shape. So he cycles everyday.

B: I try.

M: He tries to cycle. Yeah, everyday. So this is like a gentle form of exercise. But you said like I used to do combat sports.

B: Combat sports.

R: What kind of combat sports?

B: Karate mostly. I messed about with boxing and judo.

M: Dangerous.

B: No. I am a pussycat.

R: How many like, well, I don't know what they're called, grades in jujitsu, but I guess it's dans in karate. Right?

B: Yeah. I'm a desperate dan.

M: Do you have a belt? Like a black belt?

R: What belt do you have?

B: That one.

R: You have a black belt? Oh my god. Really? That's cool.

M: Wow. We have a professional what, karateka?

R: Apparently if you if you have a black belt, do you not have to register yourself as being armed or something like that?

B: Let people know where I live? No, thank you. No. I think it's an apocryphal kind of story.

R: Really?

B: Yes.

R: Oh, I had a friend who had a black belt and he said he had to like registered with the police or something like that. No, you don't have to do that? I've been lied to. That's not cool.

M: So, Rory, if we go out at night with Brandon, we should feel absolutely safe.

R: Well, unless we're on the wrong side, then I won't feel safe.

B: Karate makes you fit enough to run away.

M: Okay, cool. Dear listener, now you know. All right, you know, I've been doing some research on relaxation and how to relax and did you know that some chocolate helps you to kick back? Kick back - relax.

R: How much chocolate?

M: Some chocolate.

R: How much is a some?

M: Dark chocolate.

R: Oh, I don't like dark chocolate.

M: You have to eat dark chocolate and dark chocolate boosts your brain health. And it reduces stress. Brandon, do you believe in all this nonsense about dark chocolate?

B: I think there's a quote, let food be your medicine. So I don't necessarily know about chocolate, but I do know that some foods make me feel much more relaxed.

M: Which foods? McDonalds?

B: Apparently turkey helps you to sleep at night.

M: Turkey like the country?

R: I knew you were gonna say that. In my head. I was like, is she...

M: Well, it's football now. Yesterday Turkey played Italy and Italy won.

R: Well. They spend their days playing football.

B: Yeah.

M: Well, Italians or Turkish?

R: Italian people.

M: Oh, okay. All right, back to Turkey. Yum, yum, yum.

B: Yeah, apparently it's the food releases some kind of chemical that helps you to sleep at night.

M: Are you joking?

B: No. If you think about, if you've ever had Christmas dinner in a British home, you know, half an hour after dinner, everybody's just laid out flat on the sofa snoring with James Bond on the TV. So we put that down to the turkey and don't tell everybody about the 20 cans of beer you've had.

R: Is that not just food in general, though? Doesn't eating lower your blood pressure?

B: I suppose it depends what kind of food or something.

R: Although, like you're right about Christmas dinner , everybody falls asleep after that.

M: Cool. So turkey for Brandon, Rory for you?

R: For Christmas dinner?

M: No, no, not Christmas dinner. Which food relaxes you? And do you agree that dark chocolate could help you to relax, to kick back?

R: I don't know. I thought it was just any food you ate lowered your blood pressure. I guess the only thing that wouldn't do that would be anything with caffeine in it. Like if you have a coffee cake for example.

B: I've got a theory about it. I think you can eat all the most unhealthy rubbish you want.

M: Yeah.

B: And if it makes you feel happy, you're gonna feel relaxed.

M: Yes. Exactly. I totally agree. Brandon, yeah.

R: Is that where we're going to McDonald's after this?

M: We're going to McDonald's, Rory's favorite place now, by the way. Rory, do you still work out?

R: Ah, yeah. Well, I have to because I eat so much McDonald's.

M: Rory eats at McDonald's and then he works out.

B: I worked in Mcdonald's as a teenager.

M: Oh, I worked at KFC. Wow, how long?

B: Two years. Wow.

R: Oh my god.

M: Did you have free food?

B: Every day.

R: I applied for a job McDonald's, but I didn't get accepted.

M: Why?

R: I'll tell you it's a long, long story, but there's a specific reason why I wasn't hired. I will tell you later.

M: Back to like kick back thing. So do you use the verb to kick back?

R: Um, yeah, you do.

M: Brandon, give me a sentence. Kick back.

B: Sorry. Let Rory.

R: I was gonna say kickback has got two meanings like you kick back and relax. Like, but it also, is it not connected to corruptionas well?

B: I think chill out is more common than kickback in terms of relaxation, but yeah, you can offer kickbacks as a bribe.

R: Not in Russia, though. That would never happen anywhere.

B: In McDonald's we accepted kick backs.

R: What about what is a kickback in McDonald's?

B: Well, you give me free food...and you know...

R: I won't to tell you about the unsanitary health and safety practices?

M: Have you ever heard the word chillax?

R: I heard it before but ironically...

B: this is a portmanteau word. I'm just trying to sound clever, right? Combination of two parts of a word.

M: Yeah. So like, relax and chill. chillax. Breakfast and lunch.

R: Brunch?

M: Yeah, podcast and course - Podcourse. Okay. Right, one more thing that I have for you, saying your ABCs backwards helps you to relax and stop worrying things.

R: Is that because your worried?

M: And it ships your focus from worrying. Do you agree?

R: That's because you're worried about something else.

B: I would imagine myself getting very stressed trying to do that. Just stopping and starting and getting frustrated.

M: I can do just like abcdefg but like backwards.

R: We probably could do it backwards, if we had enough time and a piece of paper.

M: Okay, people, so Brandon and Rory, tell me, if you had to choose a new activity to relax. What would it be? But it should be something that you've never done before. And you think that it might relax you.

B: I can imagine sailing being quite relaxing. Yeah, I've always wanted to try it. I mean, I've been on very, I can remember being in Greece and going from Athens to two of the local Greek islands. And I just thought it's so relaxed and so...

M: Soothing.

B: Yeah, there was something soothing about it.

M: Water soothes you. This is a very good word. Sooth - to calm you down, right. So the water and the colors of the water are soothing. Nice. Brandon the sailor. Nice. Okay, cool.

B: I can imagine it being really relaxing.

R: Well, I've had it on my to do list for years now to learn how to meditate and I never quite get around to it.

B: Well, I've got an app about that. And it's very helpful. It's called 10%. happier.

R: How much were they paying you for the sponsorship?

B: It's very good, really good.

R: I don't know why I never get around to it. Well, I know exactly why don't get around to it. Because there's always so much else to do.

B: But this this app is really good. Big in that, you know, it says you can just take 10 deep breaths, you know, and that's...

R: That's enough.

M: Yeah. So, Rory, you've never got around to it. Which means like, you haven't started it, but you wanted to.

R: Yes.

M: And Brandon, you're saying that he has just to take 10 breaths.

B: Yeah, that's a start. Just you know, sit down, relax. Take 10 deep breaths and then you, you know, you feel rejuvenized.

M: Mm hmm. Rejuvenized. Okay, so kind of like young again. Okay, but do you think like 10 breaths is going to be enough for this Scottish face who's yawning right now? Okay, cool. So meditation for you, Rory and then sailing for you.

R: Sailing is cool.

B: What about you, Maria?

M: Eating.

R: You've never eaten before.

M: Eating exotic food that I've never eaten before relaxes me and going to some fancy restaurant.

R: Haggis?

M: No.

R: Why wouldn't you eat haggis?

M: For example, yesterday I went to a restaurant and they have this artificial intelligence, which creates food. Dear listener, have you ever heard that? That artificial intelligence creates food.

B: Genetically modified food.

R: That's the one. There's one in Moscow. Yeah, I've heard of it.

M: Yes, in Moscow we have this place it's called she now it's a promotion of this place. Yeah, it was amazing. So these thing is relaxing.

R: Cool.

M: You don't understand that Brandon, right?

R: There's so much I've got to do before I leave.

M: Okay. Anyway, thank you very much Brandon. Thank you for your English nativeness "speakkiness". Thank you. Rory, thank you for aking questions and just being with us.

R: It's okay.

M: Dear listener, we hope that you've enjoyed this episode. And now you know, some nice synonyms. You can read the script and find out even more. Brandon is all over Facebook and is on Instagram. So the link to his profiles is going to be in the description. Right, Brandon? And now Rory is gonna talk about our social media, dear listener.

R: Yes, you can find us on Telegram and Instagram and Facebook as well, actually, we're on Facebook.

M: Yeah, we are everywhere.

R: We are everywhere. And we also have our own social media pages. It's important to point out Brandon's all over his Instagram. But he's also on my Instagram. We mentioned doing a mock exam, but we didn't actually say where it was and it's on my Instagram. It's one of the videos.

B: He was a very good exam candidate, I have to say.

R: I did as I was told.

M: Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Dear listener, you can watch this video when Brandon is examining Rory. And it's like a full IELTS speaking test.

B: Band nine.

R: That was so fun. Yeah.

B: Yeah.

M: Okay.

R: What do you mean are you sure?

M: I'm just checking if it's correct.

R: Rude.

M: Okay, shall we say goodbye all together?

R: Yes, hopefully everybody enjoyed our relaxing answers.

M: 1, 2, 3.

M,B,R: Goodbye!

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