📙 Part 2: Describe a wild animal that you want to learn more about

This episode's vocabulary

Capybara (noun) – a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America. → The capybara is known for its calm and friendly nature.

Unappealing (adjective) – not attractive or pleasant. → The dish looked unappealing, but it tasted great.

Disposition (noun) – a person’s or animal’s general attitude or mood. → The dog has a gentle and friendly disposition.

Wander around (phrasal verb) – to move about without a clear purpose or direction. → We spent the afternoon wandering around the old town.

Wildlife sanctuary (noun) – a protected area where animals live safely in their natural environment. → The elephants were rescued and brought to a wildlife sanctuary.

Au fait (adjective, formal) – having good knowledge of something. → She’s not really au fait with the latest technologies.

In the know (phrase) – having special or secret information about something. → Only a few people in the company were in the know about the merger.

Herbivore (noun) – an animal that eats only plants. → A cow is a classic example of a herbivore.

Carnivorous (adjective) – feeding on other animals. → Lions are carnivorous predators that hunt in groups.

Passing curiosity (phrase) – a temporary interest in something. → His interest in astronomy was just a passing curiosity.

Habitat (noun) – the natural environment of an animal or plant. → The panda’s natural habitat is the bamboo forest.

Ecosystem (noun) – a community of living organisms interacting with their environment. → Pollution can damage the entire ecosystem.

Endangered species (noun) – a type of animal or plant that is at risk of disappearing. → The tiger is one of the world’s most famous endangered species.

Conservation (noun) – the protection and preservation of nature and wildlife. → Conservation efforts have helped increase the number of sea turtles.

Captivity (noun) – the state of being kept in a confined place like a zoo or cage. → The lions seemed restless in captivity.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say what it is, when and where you saw it, why you want to learn more about it, and explain what you want to learn more about it.

Rory: Well, there are lots of animals I could afford to learn a bit more about. But the one that sticks out for me in particular is the capybara, which I suppose is best described as something like a big rat. It makes it sound a bit unappealing, but they're actually very friendly and quite cute. I think so. In fact, I think they might be my favourite animal. I realise the irony of that, given that I'm talking about an animal I don't know much about.

When it comes to when and where I've seen it, I think scarcely a day goes by that I don't see something about them or involving them on the internet. They're quite popular in memes, just for their general look and disposition. I have actually seen them in real life when I was younger, though, at a zoo or wildlife sanctuary in the English countryside. They were just wandering around freely, and that was really sweet.

With regards to why I'd like to learn more about them, I know I said they were my favourite animal, but I'm not exactly au fait with the ins and outs of the finer details of their lives and habits and things like that, though I could guess at them. I don't know anything for certain, and it's always better to be in the know about these things, even if it's just to, I don't know, clear them up in your mind or to talk about them casually, like now.

In terms of exactly what I want to learn, I think I should probably know a bit more about their diet. I don't actually know what they eat, although I assume they are herbivores. I think if they were carnivorous, then I doubt they'd be allowed near people. That could be pretty dangerous. I also don't know very much about how they live in the wild. You see them often in zoos, but I'm not sure that's an authentic representation of how they actually live. That being said, if I never find out any of this, I won't feel too hard done by. I mean, it's not like it's essential for my job or anything, it's just a passing curiosity.

Maria: And what about your friends? Would they like to learn more about this animal?

Rory: I don't know, I've never talked to them about it.

Discussion

Maria: Dear listeners, if you don't know what a capybara is, Google it now, c-a-p-y-b-a-r-a. Capybara is a South American animal that looks like a large guinea pig. If you don't know what a guinea pig is, also Google guinea pig, g-u-i-n-e-a pig.

Rory: Well done, Maria. I don't know how to spell guinea pig, so good for you.

Maria: Capybara. I love capybaras. What a nice choice.

Rory: But do you know what they eat?

Maria: What do they eat? They are herbivores. That means that they eat, well, they eat plants and grass. And also they eat their own faeces in the morning. So faeces, dear listeners, that means poo. They eat their own poo. Because their poo is protein-rich, because they eat a lot of plants and grass. So their poo contains a high number of microbes, you know.

Rory: We can't talk about that.

Maria: Why can't I say they eat their own faeces? That's nationalgeographic.com, Rory, come on. They also eat their own faeces. Faeces is an academic word.

Rory: I don't care. Politicians, politicians also talk a lot of faeces.

Maria: Excuse me, you've just asked me what capybaras eat? I tell you, plants, grass, and they also eat their own faeces.

Rory: Yes, I know. I wasn't expecting an honest answer.

Maria: Yeah, capybara, dear listeners, the largest rodent on earth. And here, dear listeners, this topic is very specific, so you have to talk about an animal. And to talk about an animal, you should Google it. A tiger, an elephant, I don't know, a leopard. But if I were you, I would talk about a capybara, because you can steal Rory's vocabulary. Even if you hate capybaras for some reason, just talk about them, okay?

Rory: Well, you could talk about any animal in the same way as the capybara, to be honest with you, because all I said… I didn't say any capybara-specific words. I just said, I assume they're herbivores, that's a scientific piece of vocabulary, surely that is C1. Or if you want to talk about an animal that eats meat, you could say they are carnivorous. So really, none of these things are particularly capybara-unique words, capybara-sensitive.

Maria: That's true, yeah. Herbivore, an animal that eats only plants. So cows and sheep are herbivores, like herbs, plants. And you can start off with, I'd really like to learn more about the capybara. Or there are different animals I'd like to learn more about, but the one that sticks out for me in particular is the capybara. And now, Rory, tell us, why do we say the capybara?

Rory: Oh, just because it's the name of the species.

Maria: Like all capybaras, the tiger, the elephant, the capybara. So when you mention it for the first time, you can say, I'd like to learn more about the capybara. And then you just say capybaras, capybaras, a capybara lives, a capybara eats, or just use plural like tigers, elephants, rats. They are friendly and cute.

Rory: They are not unappealing.

Maria: They are not unpleasant. They might be my favourite animal. I see them in popular memes because capybaras are stars on the internet. So we have a lot of memes with capybaras because of their look and disposition. And by disposition, we mean like they're just like…

Rory: They're friends with everyone! It's about their personality, really, or how they behave.

Maria: Their disposition, their type of character. They're just sitting there munching on some grass with oranges, you know, in warm water. They're just cool, you know, like they're just, yeah, capybaras. And disposition is C2, band 9. So, for example, she's of a cheerful disposition, a cheerful character. I've never seen them in real life, or I've seen them in a zoo.

Rory: It's important to say in real life.

Maria: They were just wandering around. They were like walking around freely. They were wandering around freely. When we change the topic, you can say, with regard to why I'd like to learn more about them, it's because blah, blah, blah. Rory, what did you mean when you said, I'm not exactly, and then you used this French word?

Rory: Oh, au fait. It means extremely familiar with something.

Maria: Yeah, to be au fait, two words: au fait with something, to be familiar with or to know about something. So, for example, are you au fait with the rules of the game? Are you familiar? Do you know the rules of the game? So you can say that I'm not exactly au fait with the ins and outs of their lives. So I don't know much about their lives. I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of their lives and habits.

Rory: It's another binomial. We don't say outs and ins. We say ins and outs. And ins and outs are the important or the interesting details about something, the most important things to know.

Maria: And I don't know much about their habits, things like that. I could guess that… So I don't know much about them. That's why I want to learn more about them. What I want to learn about is that I should probably know more about their diet. Diet, what they eat. And here we change words, like I should probably know more about, not just I want to learn, but I should probably know more about their diet, about their habits, some interesting facts about some of these animals.

Rory: I say I should know, like it doesn't really matter. It's just a wild animal that I don't deal with too much.

Maria: And if you don't know something, you can assume, like make assumptions. So I can assume that they eat grass; they're herbivores. I can assume that they are not dangerous. And I don't know much about how they live in the wild, in the wild, like in nature, because I've seen them only in zoos or in, what did you call these places? Yeah, wildlife sanctuaries.

Rory: There are places where animals are kept safe. I'm not so sure if it was a wildlife sanctuary or a zoo that we were at. Maybe it was both.

Maria: And you can finish off with like, if I don't find it out, it's okay. So if I never find out any of this, if I never find out these details, I won't feel too bad.

Rory: I'll be fine.

Maria: So I'll be fine. I won't die if I don't find out such details about capybaras. It's not essential for my work. It's just, you know, it's a passing curiosity. What's a passing curiosity?

Rory: It's something you're interested in, but it's not a serious interest. It's just like, oh, that's interesting.

Maria: Yeah, it's interesting. It's a passing curiosity, really. Yeah, but you, dear listener, should know that capybaras don't mind being alone. They live in groups of up to 40 capybaras, but they're quite okay being alone, you know. In some areas, capybaras are threatened by people who hunt them for their skin. Can you imagine?

Rory: Oh, evil people. Where do we find them? How can we stop them?

Maria: It's just horrible. Jaguars, pumas usually eat capybaras. Hmm. Capybaras are strong swimmers, so they are very good at swimming, dear listener. Now you know.

Rory: Maria is finding out all the capybara facts.

Maria: Yeah, because, like, even if you don't know anything about this animal, you can know a couple of things. But then you can say, yeah, I want to learn more about capybaras. And when capybaras are threatened, they jump into water and hide beneath the surface. Oh, they can hold their breath.

Rory: What if they're threatened by crocodiles?

Maria: No, they beat up crocodiles. So, take a listen…

Rory: Is that a fact, or have you just made that up?

Maria: No, no, I'm just making it up. But this is a fact from rainforest.org. So capybaras jump into the water, and they can hold their breath, so they don't breathe, for five minutes.

Rory: That's crazy.

Maria: Right, dear listener. How are you doing? Are you okay? Are you full of capybaras now? Good. Thank you very much for listening. And we'll get back to you in our next episode about animals and wildlife. All right? Bye.

Rory: Bye!

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