📘 Part 3: Getting lost

This episode's vocabulary

To look something up (phrasal verb) - to try to find a piece of information by looking in a book or on a computer.

To panic (verb) - to suddenly feel so worried or frightened that you cannot think or behave calmly or reasonably.

Leisurely (adverb) - used to describe an action that is done in a relaxed way, without hurrying.

Stroll (noun) - a slow relaxed walk, especially for pleasure.

To shrug (verb) -

To stumble across/on/upon something/someone (phrasal verb) - to discover something by chance, or to meet someone by chance.

Spacial awareness (noun) - a cognitive skill that allows individuals to understand and navigate the physical space around them.

Upbringing (noun) - the way in which you are treated and educated when young, especially by your parents, especially in relation to the effect that this has on how you behave and make moral decisions.

Layout (noun) - the way that something is arranged.

Landmark (noun) - a building or place that is easily recognized, especially one that you can use to judge where you are.

To navigate (verb) - to direct the way that a vehicle, esp. a ship or aircraft will travel, or to find a direction across, along, or over an area of water or land.

Screw-up (noun) - a situation in which you do something badly or make a big mistake.

To call something up (phrasal verb) - to find and show information on a computer screen.

To wither (verb) - to slowly disappear, lose importance, or become weaker.

Questions and Answers

M: How can people find their way when they're lost?

R: Most of the time they check their phones and look up some directions on a map like Google Maps or something like that. If that doesn't work, they can always stop and ask for directions, though I think that's less common these days.

M: How do people react when they get lost?

R: That'll probably depend on whether they're in a rush or not, I think. If they need to be somewhere or are in a very difficult situation, then they might panic. But if they're just taking a leisurely stroll, then they might just shrug their shoulders and keep going in the hope of stumbling across a way out.

M: There are some people who never get lost. Why?

R: They're superheroes. No. You'd probably have to ask them. But at a guess, they might have good knowledge of their local area, or have a really good sense of spatial awareness that allows them to navigate based on intuition alone. I couldn't say, I'm not this kind of person.

M: Why do some people have a good sense of direction?

R: Well, that could be a product of their upbringing. I mean, if you were brought up in a place where finding your way around is a crucial skill, or strongly encouraged, then you're bound to be better at getting around compared to people who haven't had that experience. I suppose in short they've just had a lot of practice.

M: Do you think it's easy or difficult to find your way in a new city?

R: Well, it's often difficult to grasp new things, even if the layout and landmarks are roughly similar. For example, if you grew up in a small town, then you might not have a great memory for street names and signs, but be great at using landmarks to navigate, which is pretty hard to do if you're surrounded by skyscrapers in a major city.

M: Why do some people dislike asking others for directions?

R: It would be a bit embarrassing to admit your screw-ups, I suppose, in any circumstance. Some people also have issues with relying on others. And it could even be a scary thing if people are quite shy, especially around new people.

M: How do you think technology has changed the way we find directions?

R: Well, where it works, it's made things a lot easier for us, since you can just call up your position on a screen and follow instructions. However, it's also made people who use it a lot more, well, or at least often, rather dependent on the tech involved. So intuition and related skills have probably withered somewhat. And there's less of a sense of fun and adventure in getting lost, though I imagine many people are fine with that.

M: Should children be taught to read paper maps at school?

R: That's a good question, actually. I'm not sure. Not because I don't know how to describe it. But it's complicated. I mean, if technology fails, then people should know how to cope. So in this sense, it's useful. On the other hand, how often does tech actually completely fail to the point you only have a paper map to rely on. And we can't prepare for every single possibility, in this sense, can we? So it's hard for me to say for sure, to be honest.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: Hopefully, you didn't get lost in all of the amazing vocabulary!

Discussion

M: So people do get lost. So they are lost, they get lost. They usually check their phones. I check my phone, I look up some directions on a map app. Application. So we just check the directions on Google Maps.

R: Yes.

M: Or people can ask for directions. So the phrase is to ask for directions. When people get lost, they should ask for directions.

R: Usually, a part of the wider expression like stop and ask for directions.

M: When people get lost, they react to getting lost, right? So some people might panic. Some people might start worrying.

R: Would you panic?

M: No, no. No, like if for example, I'm in a forest, it's dark...

R: No, I'm Maria, I never panic.

M: I never get lost for starters. But if a person is taking a leisurely stroll. So to take a stroll is to take a walk, just go for a walk, but in a kind of a lazy way. You don't know where you're going. You just take a stroll, right? On a Sunday afternoon. They might shrug their shoulders. Shrug their shoulders, the shoulders, right? And then they're kind of like whoa, okay. Like okay, I'm lost, so whatever. I keep calm. Usually, we shrug our shoulders when we don't know, somebody asks you a question and then like I don't know. And then you shrug your shoulders, and they keep going in the hope of stumbling across a way out. So if I stumble across something, what happens?

R: You just... I want to say come across, you just find it by accident.

M: Yeah, I stumble across a way out, or I stumble across a forest like I was taking a leisurely stroll, I was taking a walk, and then oh, wow, I came to a forest. And then we find a way out. So we get lost, and then we find our way back. Some people never get lost. So they have a good sense of direction, for example. They might have good knowledge of their local area, to have good knowledge of something, and have a really good sense of spatial awareness, spatial awareness, like space.

R: The space you are in, you understand it very well, where you are, where you are located in it.

M: So they have a really good sense of spatial awareness. They know the space very well, they know where they are. And they can navigate well, so kind of to navigate, to move around, to use directions, right? And they navigate well based on intuition alone. So even if you don't have a phone, you don't have any maps, you navigate well. You move around well based on intuition, yeah? So to navigate is our verb here.

R: What is intuition?

M: Well, it's the, the seventh sense, it's the intuition, it's the voice within you, that tells you go left, go left. Usually, it whispers only once and very often, we just don't hear it, yeah. But some people usually get lost. And, dear listener, there is a very interesting article. The link to the article is going to be in the script. So, dear listener, I'd like you to read this article, and a very interesting title is Direction Dyslexia, dear listener. So some people suffer from this topographical disorientation.

R: Oh my god, what does that mean?

M: Those people with topographical disorientation suffer from their navigational skills being impaired. Oh, yeah. Fascinating.

R: That is insane.

M: Yeah, dear listener, for the sake of this topic, getting lost, because it's speaking part two and three, use this article, use some of the language from this article, just to talk about people who always get lost. And you can kind of tell the examiner that, oh, I have a cognitive disability, I'm always lost. Yeah. Really cool stuff. So some people have no sense of direction. So they always get lost. But some people have a good sense of direction. And Rory told us, maybe it's because of their upbringing. Upbringing? How parents brought them up, how they took care of the children, how they educated children. And you can say like, that could be a product of their upbringing. This is due to their upbringing.

R: Upbringing is just how they're parented. That's all.

M: Ooh, yeah, how they are parented. Yeah, from parents, the verb is parented. It depends on the way they were parented. Find your way around. So get lost, and an antonym is find your way around. So maybe finding your way around was a crucial skill when you were growing up. And now you have a good sense of direction. And getting around. So it's easy for me to get around, wherever I am. And actually, for me, it's easy. Like I travelled to South America, I lived in Bangkok, in Brussels. And it was always easy for me to get around a new city. So maybe it's kind of I have this innate ability to find my way around.

R: You have a city sense.

M: I have a city sense. Yeah, I feel the city and the city feels me. Yeah, the same is true about the forests, and fields. Yeah, you put me anywhere, I just find my way around, but not... Maybe not true about Kamchatka, or Altai or some places, you know, in the middle of nowhere in Russia. They're quite scary. They're just massive, too big. It might be difficult to find your way in a new city. Again, to find your way in a new city. And then Rory, you said it's often difficult to grasp new things.

R: Well, yes, that's just to understand new things. So getting or making your way around the city is something that can also be difficult to do because it's new.

M: You might have a great memory for street names. To have a memory for something. Like I remember street names very well. So I have a great memory for street names. Some people use landmarks to navigate. Landmarks? Like sites, like cathedrals, so like Red Square, they are landmarks. So you could use landmarks to navigate, to find your way around a new city. Asking for directions. Some people really find it embarrassing. So you can say, okay, it could be quite embarrassing to ask other people for directions. And also, many people don't want to admit to say that they screw up. Screw up. Like they messed up. They made a mistake. Rory, do you think I can use this phrasal verb? Because it's very informal. It's like slang. Screw up.

R: To screw up? No, it's to make a mess of something. It's to... I don't think it's that big of a deal. Is it? Or have I screwed up?

M: Yeah, it's very informal, but I think here it's in the correct context, dear listener. Remember, we don't use slang and f-words. Yeah, like rude words. But here, like many people don't want to admit they screwed up. They messed up, they made a mistake. And they feel embarrassed. It's embarrassing for them. And they don't want to rely on others, rely on others, to be dependent on others. It could also be a scary thing for them to just come up to a stranger and ask like, oh, I'm lost. Where do I go?

R: Especially in Glasgow.

M: In Glasgow, yeah, Scottish hooligans all over the place. Excuse me, could you tell me where the library is?

R: Is that how Scottish people talk in your understanding?

M: Yeah, Scottish people talk... Like this.

R: Must be why we're such a leading world power.

M: Scottish freedom.

R: Too much freedom.

M: Technology has changed the way we find directions. We have what? We have smartphones, we have Google Maps, we have different applications for maps. Maybe you have your local app for a map. We follow the instructions on the screen.

R: Some of us better than others.

M: What did you mean by withered? This nice verb.

R: Oh, if a skill or a sense withers, it just means that it's not as strong as it used to be. It's weaker.

M: For example?

R: Well, your sense of direction will wither if you rely on maps too much.

M: Yeah, wither, or wither away. To become weak, dry. We can use it for skills, like slowly disappearing. For example, your interest in English could wither away, and could kind of disappear. Hopefully not. There is a sense of fun and adventure in getting lost. Really, Rory? You think so? It's fun to get lost?

R: I think so, I had a great time getting lost. Well, when I talked about my part 2 answer. I got lost. But I had a better time finding my way back because I got to see all the animals and things.

M: Yeah, but some people really do freak out. So they get lost and, for example...

R: It's an adventure. Why freak out? Life is an adventure.

M: Yeah, but some people want to control everything.

R: Oh, God, no. I don't have time for that.

M: Paper maps, dear listener. Some questions could be about paper maps. Yes. Maps on paper. Have you ever seen them, dear listener?

R: I have, like decades ago.

M: Yeah, when was the last time you just held a paper map and like looked at it?

R: I did it when I was teaching. But when was the last time you did it?

M: Oh, I think like two weeks ago. I went to Altai and I took this map from the information centre. I looked at it and enjoyed it. Like a paper map, you know? When I went travelling by bicycle, we had a lot of paper maps of Italy, of Greece. So yeah, paper maps.

R: Nice. We never had this much in school. We should have had more.

M: So the question is about school, right? But also some other questions could be about paper maps. Are they necessary? Are they useful? Or not? So yeah, paper maps. And Rory told us if technology fails, then people should know how to use paper maps. People should know how to cope. How to cope? How to deal with it. Like deal with like okay, no phone. The situation is I don't have a phone. No internet.

R: I'm trying to think though, like in that sort of situation, you're probably... The biggest issue will not be finding a map. It will be like the world is ending.

M: Yeah. So we don't rely on a paper map. We shouldn't rely on our phones. So rely on something. But it's a good idea to prepare ourselves for anything. Yeah. So the answer is yes. Why not? Children should be taught to read paper maps.

R: That's your answer. I had no idea. No, you said it's a good question, actually. Well, yes, the question is good, because, you know, like, on the one hand, yeah, okay, it's good to read maps, because technology will fail. But on the other hand, how often does that actually happen? And you can't really prepare for every single negative situation that might happen.

M: But do you think that people buy paper maps, or do they have them on themselves when they go travelling? Or they kind of they...

R: I don't think so, not these days. They just buy a SIM card.

M: Yeah, everything is on our phone.

R: Worrying.

M: But they do sell paper maps in shops. And in like... You can take it from the tourist information office, or maybe in a hotel, you know, they have this map of the neighbourhood.

R: They have them, it's nice, but I don't know how useful it is, and whether you should be taught to do it in school or not.

M: Yeah, maybe in an English lesson, you know, when you are taught directions, in your English classes, like, excuse me, could you tell me where the library is? And then in such lessons, the teacher might use some paper maps, just for role plays.

R: Yeah.

M: Yeah. But it's kind of old school, dear listener. So it's okay if you say no, paper maps are a thing of the past. We use smartphones, everything is online, Google Maps, Google Docs, everything Google. So yeah. Right, dear listener, thank you very much for listening! Don't get lost, we hope you always find your way out. Okay? Take care. And we'll see you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

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