📙 Part 2: Describe a leisure activity near or on the sea that you want to try

This episode's vocabulary

Aqua zorbing (noun) - an activity in which someone rolls down a hill or along the surface of water in a large transparent plastic ball.

To flounder (verb) - to move awkwardly or to be in an awkward or difficult situation.

Harness (noun) - a piece of equipment with straps and belts, used to control or hold in place a person, animal, or object.

Life jacket (noun) - a piece of equipment, like a jacket without sleeves, that is filled with air or light material and is designed to help you float if you fall into water.

Finesse (noun) - great skill or style.

Drawn to sth. - attracted to something.

Outbreak (noun) - a time when something suddenly begins, especially a disease or something else dangerous or unpleasant.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory is gonna say what it was, what he needs to prepare, how easy or difficult it is, and explain why he wants to try this particular activity. Rory, fire away.

R: Well, I've always wanted to go aqua zorbing, which is a very unusual kind of sport. So I'll explain it in a bit more detail. That's when you get into a clear plastic ball, and you roll around on the water. Sometimes it's done in order to navigate a course. But lots of people just like to have fun sort of floundering around, in or on the water. And I think it looks like a lot of fun. And it's not a professional sport or anything. I don't think it could be even classed as a hobby since it's more of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It doesn't take much preparation beyond possibly not eating a big meal beforehand, because the motion sickness you could suffer might have a rather bad or disgusting outcome for you. I haven't tried it myself yet. But I've seen pictures and videos. And it seems like a relatively uncomplicated process. You just climb in and roll around. I don't think there's much risk of drowning since the ball floats on the water. And you're in a harness and I think you have to wear a life jacket too. Maybe moving with any degree of finesse might be hard. But that's about it, to be honest. I've been drawn to it since I taught a lesson about sort of extreme or unusual sport a few years ago. And this is one of the things that was there. So I always wanted to try it. And actually, in fact, I had tickets booked for my friend and I had to go but then there was the COVID outbreak and that stopped that from happening. But hopefully this summer, I'll get a chance to try it again. And I'm really enthusiastic about that.

M: Will you do it sometime in the future?

R: Um, well, like I say I hope to do it this summer when I go back home.

M: Thank you very for your zorbing answer.

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Discussion

M: Oh, how lovely is that! We can have zorbing on the ground. Zorbing. Actually born in New Zealand, this activity and we can have water zorbing. Aqua. Aqua?

R: Aqua absorbing, which just means like in the water.

M: Yeah, yeah. And actually not in the water but on the water. Because you go like on the water?

R: Well, I guess you could say it's partially in the water as well, depending on how heavy you are.

M: If you have no idea what zorbing is, you can just google zorb. So it's a kind of like adventure thingie adventure experience. You roll downhill, usually in this specifically designed zorb. Or you can do aqua zorbing, which isn't currently fun, thrilling, and unforgettable. Yes. Nice. Rory, what topical vocabulary have you used about this activity?

R: Well, we talked about getting into a clear plastic ball.

M: Yep.

R: So again, that describes the nature of the plastic. Roll around - a phrasal verb. And then saying it's not a professional sport or anything. But there's this phrase, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So it means just you only do it once in your whole life. And then, of course, for rolling around in a clear ball, you might suffer motion sickness, which is just like, you've probably had this in a car before if you're looking down at your phone and you're not looking up and it confuses your senses and makes you feel a bit sick.

M: You wear a life jacket.

R: Yeah, I was gonna say since this involves water and being on the sea or near a river then you need to wear a harness to hold you in place and a life jacket in case you get caught in the water.

M: And this zorb, this ball, where you are inside. You're inside this zorb. It floats. Right, so it floats on the water.

R: It floats on the water.

M: On the water, yes, nice. What other water activities can our listener talk about? Because here you can talk about any activity by the water, like near the sea actually.

R: I guess the most obvious ones are like surfing and sailing. I wouldn't want to do either of these things and it said something I want to try.

M: Yeah. Yeah, so you can talk about scuba diving. Right. So...

R: I've been scuba diving, and I've talked about that before.

M: Yeah. with sharks.

R: Yes. So check our episode about that in order to learn a little bit more about scuba diving,

M: Scuba diving, yeah. Snorkeling. If you don't want to wear this oxygen tank. Snorkeling is when you have a snorkel, a mask. And then you swim on the surface. Right, and enjoy different fish or feeding different fish on the surface. So what else? Yeah, windsurfing, sailing. You can do kayaking on like inside the kayak. Kayak? Do you say kayak?

R: Canoe, but they're kind of the same thing.

M: Nah, there's a kind of difference they say. Anyway, yeah, canoeing. I've done some kayaking. I didn't like that. Kayaking thing. What I really enjoy is stand up paddleboarding.

R: Oh, so many people in Russia absolutely love paddleboarding.

M: Yeah. It's catching on now.

R: It is. Well, wait, it's not catching on, it's sort of caught on a while ago. But every time I talk to students about different sports they're always like, what about paddleboarding? And I'm like, what about paddleboarding?

M: So it's called like, stand up paddleboarding. So you can talk about that, right. So you have this board and you have a paddle and you paddle standing up. It's amazing. I love that. I love that. Seriously. You can do it in Moscow. Have you ever done it?

R: No.

M: It's amazing. So, dear listener, now you should choose an activity that again, you can talk about. If you can't talk about this windsurfing if you can't name any of the kind of what?

R: Topic-specific vocabulary words that go with it.

M: If you can't name any topic-specific vocabulary about this activity, don't go for it. Choose something like a banana, right?

R: A banana boat.

M: Banana boat. Yeah. Let's take a banana ride with our family. Oh, God. The point is, dear listener, is know that you should choose an activity that you can talk about, right?

R: Not like us.

M: Not like us. Yeah. What about the structure of your answer?

R: So we should point out and say like, I didn't say an activity near or on the see that I always wanted to try. I started saying I have always wanted to go.

M: Present perfect.

R: Nice and very easy to introduce. I've always wanted to go zorbing I always wanted to go surfing. Something like that.

M: Yep.

R: Then I go into more detail about what it is. Like say it's not a professional sport or anything. And then just say like, Oh, you but you probably need this, this and this.

M: I haven't tried it myself yet. A very good one.

R: And then to describe how easy or difficult it is I didn't say it's easy because or it's difficult because. I said it's relatively uncomplicated. So if something is relatively uncomplicated, that just means like, it's quite simple. It's quite easy.

M: Then you've finished off with I've been drawn to it since...

R: And that's just another way of saying I want to try it.

M: Yeah. Nice. Okay. You can talk about like swimming or sunbathing cause near the sea. So sunbathing.

R: Although I don't know if there's a topic-specific vocabulary for sunbathing.

M: No, actually, there are like I enjoy sunbathing. I usually put sunscreen on. Then I took some towels with me, I read a book. It's therapeutic.

R: Oh, there we go. Therapeutic. There's a band nine piece of vocabulary.

M: Yeah. Okay, so it helps me to distress. Right. So I really enjoy lying under the sun. Like soaking up this atmosphere of the sea and rays and sun rays. Something like that.

R: Exactly. And you should join us in part three, where we're going to talk about some more leisure activities that you can do.

M: Thank you for listening!

R: Bye!

M: Bye!

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