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English Speaking Practice: Some Quirky Slow News English Comprehension
What if smart glasses could tell you everything about the strangers you see? Today we we improve your English skills while we learn about AI glasses, chickens and how the British people rebel against the system! An English language listening lesson that will keep you wanting more as you listen & learn yourself to better English fluency.
Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.
⭐ Christian Lous Lange
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You’ll get a lot out of out English lesson. By exploring offbeat news stories with us, you’re not just learning English – you’re absorbing it naturally through real-world context. You’ll pick up authentic British vocabulary and expressions that native speakers actually use, making your language skills more relevant and practical.
And you’re training your ear to understand different accents and speech patterns. This approach keeps you engaged and curious, which is key to long-term language learning success. Remember, the more interesting the content, the more effortlessly you’ll learn.
✔️ Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-speaking-practice-idioms-offbeat-stories/
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More About This Lesson
In this lesson, we explore unusual news stories to help you learn useful English vocabulary and phrases. These real-world events will keep you curious and make learning fun, while giving you a deeper understanding of British English and culture.
The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.
⭐ Sydney J. Harris
Start listening and learning and you will:
- Expand your vocabulary with real-world terms like “interface,” “stalker,” and “authentic.”
- Learn useful idioms such as “off the beaten track” and how to use them in context.
- Practice listening to native British English, improving comprehension and fluency.
- Get exposure to various accents and pronunciations, enhancing your listening skills.
- Understand current events, helping you discuss relevant topics in English conversations.
- Learn new phrases like “hype” and “passive-aggressive” and their real-life applications.
- Improve your ability to follow longer sentences and grasp complex information.
- Reinforce learning by hearing words used in multiple contexts throughout the lesson.
You’re not just learning English, you’re learning how people really talk in the UK. You’ll hear about interesting topics like technology, art, and even funny British protests. These stories give you a chance to grow your vocabulary and understand British culture. Plus, learning with fun stories makes it easier to remember new words and phrases.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How can learning offbeat news stories help improve my English fluency?
Listening to offbeat news stories exposes you to unique vocabulary and phrases not commonly found in standard lessons. By learning these terms, you expand your understanding of real-life conversations, improving your ability to speak naturally in British English. - What kind of vocabulary can I expect to learn from this lesson?
You will learn advanced vocabulary such as “interface,” “stalker,” and “authentic.” These are words commonly used in British English, especially when discussing technology, culture, and everyday life, helping you sound more fluent. - Why is it important to learn idioms like ‘off the beaten track’ in British English?
British idioms are used in daily conversations and media. Understanding them allows you to follow conversations more easily and sound more fluent when you speak. “Off the beaten track” is just one of many useful idioms in this lesson. - How can this lesson help me improve my listening comprehension?
This lesson is spoken in clear, slow British English, allowing you to practice listening to authentic speech. You can sharpen your skills by hearing new vocabulary in context and understanding how words and phrases are used in everyday conversations. - Is this lesson suitable for both intermediate and advanced learners?
Yes, the lesson covers real-world events and advanced vocabulary, making it ideal for intermediate to advanced learners who want to improve their fluency and comprehension through engaging, real-life content.
Most Unusual Words:
- Interface: When two apps or systems talk to each other and share information.
- Stalker: Someone who follows or watches another person in a creepy or unwanted way.
- Hype: Too much excitement or attention given to something, often exaggerated.
- Wealth: The total amount of money and valuable things someone owns.
- Authentic: Real or true, not fake or copied.
- Constraint: A limit or rule that controls what you can do.
- Protest: To show you are against something, usually in public.
- Stereotype: A simple or unfair idea about a group of people, often not true.
- Poultry: Farm birds like chickens, raised for eggs or meat.
- Passive-aggressive: Acting in an indirect, quiet way to cause problems or show anger.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| People | 17 |
| About | 12 |
| Their | 11 |
| Painting | 10 |
| Chickens | 9 |
| There | 8 |
| British | 8 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Why Slow English News Comprehension Is Easier Than You Think–If You Do This
Odd News items – ‘Off the Beaten Track of News’
Hi there and welcome to this podcast from Adept English. Today, let’s do news. However, I’m not going to talk about mainstream news. I find myself not even wanting to look at mainstream news, though I do keep up to date with what’s happening. But today, let’s find some news stories that are a bit more ‘off the beaten track’, as we say in English. That idiom, ‘off the beaten track’ means ‘on less used paths’, ‘more difficult to find’. Imagine, for example, if a pair of these gave you much more information about people passing on the street. Is that the stuff of sci-fi movies or not? Let’s find out and let’s talk about some news stories that are more unusual, ones you perhaps haven’t seen. But don’t forget, this is an English language learning exercise. That’s what this podcast is for. So see how much you can understand first time through and then repeat, listen. That way, you’re more likely to remember any new words or phrases. It works much better than other methods of learning. And stick around to the end. You’ll hear a surprising story about how British people protest in their own unique way. It’s a perfect example of the British character in action. So stick around to the end for that.
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
News story 1: One of many alarming possibilities with Artificial Intelligence
So our first news item. And this one is in the category of ‘alarming AI news’. So this week, there was news of a frightening project set up by a couple of college students. I didn’t know these existed, but apparently in combination with Ray Ban, the sunglasses company, Meta have already developed smart glasses. They look a bit like these. Fancier than mine, of course. Mine aren’t Ray Ban’s. But this is truly like something from a sci-fi movie. That’s sci-fi or science fiction. The smart glasses from Meta and Ray Ban allow you to take photographs or videos of what you’re seeing. They can also scan QR codes and they give you reminders of certain events in your life. Just like a phone. Kind of useful, I suppose. And an extension of your smartphone. But they have, and you’ve guessed it, an AI or an Artificial Intelligence interface. And the plan is to extend the functions of these models later this year. Later in the year, they will be able to translate languages for you. English, French, Italian and Spanish. No need to learn a language then, apparently! And you can listen to music on them. The glasses now work with Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible. And they’re available to buy on Amazon at around the price of $300. But – and this is the scary part – two university students, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardeyfio, are reading Computer Science at Harvard. So they’re Harvard University students. And they’ve designed a tool which interfaces with the smart glasses. The tool uses photographs taken by the smart glasses and uses facial recognition software to identify where else that person’s face can be seen online. ‘Facial recognition software’, that’s a computer program that recognises faces. I’m sure you’ve seen that orange box around someone’s face on a photograph? And your phone will group photographs of the same person together because it recognises their face. Well, this tool linked to the smart glasses can find the person that you were speaking to or the person who just walked past in the street, someone you don’t know. The tool finds their details online with a powerful search and can find information like the person’s address, their name, their phone number, their occupation or job, where they work and perhaps even names of their family members. Can you imagine if this sort of thing was in widespread use? You don’t even need to speak to someone. You can just take a photograph secretly of them with your smart glasses and then find out all about them online. That’s heaven for stalkers! That word S-T-A-L-K-E-R.
AI – Making rich people richer, but where is it taking us?
Don’t misunderstand though. This tool has been written by two college students. It isn’t something that you can buy yet. But how long I wonder before this sort of thing becomes available to buy? AI is scary. I know there’s a lot of hype. That’s H-Y-P-E. Hype means ‘exaggerated publicity’ and ‘exaggerated feeling and reaction’. But I think there are genuine and sensible concerns, certainly about people’s privacy. That’s P-R-I-V-A-C-Y as well as people’s creativity being stolen from them. But also there are concerns because the rise of AI, the rise of Artificial Intelligence is being driven by people making lots of money from it. Another frightening statistic I read this week, and this was reported in February this year, 2024. 96% of the increase in wealth in the last year for the top richest people – well, it all came from investment in AI. The word wealth, W-E-A-L-T-H, means ‘how much money someone has’. So AI is currently making billions of pounds, billions of dollars for rich people, for powerful people in the world. I don’t know that there’s going to be a way of stopping it. Or that there’s going to be much morality or constraint in its use if companies and people are making so much money from it. In the past, governments of particular countries would have made laws to control its use. But how can this be possible in an online world where international boundaries don’t matter? Doesn’t matter what country you’re in. International boundaries aren’t relevant, and power comes from billion-dollar stocks and shares. It’s frightening stuff if you think about it that money is driving something so dangerous and so capable of disrupting our lives. Rant over! Let’s move on to another news item. That’s Rant, R-A-N-T.
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News story 2: Finding treasure in the world of Fine Art
A nicer story from the UK this week. Well, I say a nice story. Let’s see what you think of it. It’s a story from the world of art, A-R-T. There’s a popular BBC television programme called ‘Fake or Fortune’, and it’s a programme about antiques. Members of the public bring items they possess, items from their homes, to show to people who are expert in antiques. And the experts tell the person how much the item is worth. And sometimes there are some surprising finds, surprising outcomes. The word ‘antique’, A-N-T-I-Q-U-E, it’s both a noun and an adjective. And it refers to items of artistic merit usually that are over 100 years old. You can have antique furniture, antique artwork, antique silverware, antique china. I’m sure you’re familiar with this idea. Well, apparently an artist from Lincoln in the UK called David Taylor, bought a painting in a sale in his local area. He really liked the painting and he paid £2,000 for it. The painting is called The Bean Harvest, and it’s a painting of women collecting beans in a field. David Taylor took the painting to the TV programme Fake or Fortune, and the antique experts had a look at it. They were able to verify for Mr Taylor that this painting was in fact by a well-known and celebrated Canadian artist, a woman unusually, Helen McNicoll, who was painting in the early 20th century, the early 1900s in other words. And the amazing news for Mr Taylor, the painting is actually worth about £300,000! Imagine that, not bad when he paid £2,000 for it. The artist Helen McNicoll had a career which was cut short when she died in 1915 from complications of diabetes at the age of 35. That’s a sad story, but the artist David Taylor clearly knows a good painting when he sees one. The particular painting was confirmed as genuine or authentic, A-U-T-H-E-N-T-I-C, by experts. It had been missing for 110 years. What a find!
News Story 3: Have you ever thought that British people protest in ways you wouldn’t expect?
One last news story, and apologies that these two last ones are both from the UK. I do try to find news from around the world, but finding interesting, not depressing news stories at the moment is quite difficult. But this last news story shows something of the British character. While some may say that French people are very good at protest, the stereotype, and it probably is one, that’s S-T-E-R-E-O-T-Y-P-E, is that French people are great at protesting. They’re out on the streets. The urge for fairness when things are going wrong is in the culture, perhaps following the French Revolution and all that history. The verb ‘to protest’, P-R-O-T-E-S-T, sometimes pronounced ‘protest’, it means that you find a way of making known your unhappiness, your negative feelings about something. You protest. Typically, people might march in the street with a banner or a placard with a message held high above their heads. But British people are often more reserved in their way of making protest. British people are very good at what you might call being ‘passive aggressive’. That’s P-A-S-S-I-V-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. Quite a mouthful. ‘Passive aggressive’ means you take apparently innocent action, but which causes problems and stops things from happening. And it may not look intentional, but underneath it is. That’s ‘passive aggressive’. And passive aggressive is actually a type of personality. But here I’m describing it as actually part of the British character sometimes.
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Passive aggressive humour takes on government bureaucracy
So the story? The UK government recently brought in a law, LAW, about owning chickens. ‘Chickens’ C-H-I-C-K-E-N-S or ‘hens’ H-E-N-S, those are the birds from which we get the eggs that most of us eat. The law says that if you own chickens in the UK, you must register them with the UK government. Previously, this law was only in place for farmers. Chicken farmers are known as ‘poultry farmers’ in the UK. P-O-U-L-T-R-Y, ‘poultry’. So previously, if you owned 50 or more chickens in the UK, you would have to register, but not if you owned fewer chickens than this. It sounds kind of sensible. There do need to be checks done on how people keep chickens to make sure that the conditions are good and humane. H-U-M-A-N-E, that means ‘kind’. And it’s also to keep track of avian ‘flu or bird ‘flu. H5N1, in other words. So the law changed on the 1st of October and people had to register even if they just had one chicken. So some British people have been online making a protest.
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They’re saying, “This is silly. We don’t want this.” I sort of get their argument. There are plenty of wild birds flying around, perhaps communicating avian ‘flu. Three chickens kept in an isolated area who don’t fly around probably aren’t that much risk. So what did people do to protest? Well, they protested by registering on the UK government website chickens of all kinds. This included frozen ones from the supermarket, chicken nuggets, toy chickens, even rubber chickens were registered. In fact, so many chickens were registered that the site crashed. It no longer worked. Humorous, a bit childish, perhaps. It’s probably not going to stop the law, but it is one way of protesting. People are asking, “What comes next? Are we going to have to register our budgies and canaries?” I get both sides. Controlling bird ‘flu is important. But I’m not sure that one or two chickens in someone’s backyard are that much of a threat. As I say, given wild birds fly around freely. Anyway, whichever side of the argument you’re on, this is protest, typically British style, I felt.
So there you are. Quite a lot of vocabulary here. It may take a bit of work to understand this podcast completely, but repeat listening will help you do that. And let us know your thoughts on these news stories. We love to hear from you.
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
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