Understand and learn to speak about COVID-19 in English. In this important session where I’ll explain the most common vocabulary related to the coronavirus.
You’ll learn: nouns such as symptoms, outbreak, pandemic, transmission, and social distancing; verbs and expressions such as to ban gatherings, to protect the vulnerable, to restrict travel, and to flatten the curve; adjectives such as contagious, symptomatic, mandatory, and unprecedented. This lesson is for anyone who wants to follow the news and discuss this important topic more confidently in English.
Tom, Sarah, and their daughter Neesa live in a 20sqm off-grid tiny house on a property on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand. Instead of paying rent, they share the work of looking after the land with the owners, and both families share in the farm’s abundant produce. We were inspired by how much happier they’ve found themselves by living with less.
Tom is a medical doctor and Sarah is an illustrator but both have chosen to reduce their work to almost nothing in order to have more time to focus on living well – a lifestyle choice that is more possible for many of us than we might think. This little 6-minute film has been one of our most popular to date – perhaps because it describes a lifestyle so many of us would love to be living.
** More about Happen Films **
Support us in making more films – HERE
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video :
Living Simply
This is my wife Sarah
The house is 20 square meters
This L shaped space
A bit of a deck at the back
Mobile broadband
Hot water is from a gas cylinder
Keeping an eye on her
We need to radically rethink how to live
A healthy step for us
Be okay with the downsizing
Look out to trees and green
I don’t know the term for it
Working in the vegetable garden
Building, digging so that’s most of my work
Part-time I work as a GP (General Practitioner)
Our costs are fractional to what they were in town
I don’t have any stress about money
Which is a huge benefit
Emotionally I’m healthier
I’m much more in touch with sense of well-being
Maybe there is another way of being secure
Working in exchange for rent
Sharing and gifting of what we have
A more affluent lifestyle
Listen to what their hearts tell them will make them happy
Having the courage to act on it
For me this turns out to be what I love
Everybody would want to live this way
What happened? Why did life go from a place of wonder to a place of routine and predictability? Can we bring it back again?
To live an adventurous life, you just have to define it. It’s different for every person. Figure out what lights you up inside? What did you do for fun as a child? Go do those things again. It’s as simple as that. Stop waiting for life to happen to you. Make life happen for yourself.
To be part of our film making journey – CLICK HERE
Who is Green Renaissance? We are a tiny collective of passionate filmmakers (Michael and Justine). We live off-grid and dedicate our time to making films that we hope will inspire and share ideas.
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video :
I always wanted to be an explorer
One day sooner or later
I wanted to be free
Travel to the unknown
It’s good for our soul
To become more tolerant
The different values, cultures, religions, different habits
If you open up your soul
Conscious about the present
Everything can change
The backpack gets heavier and heavier
Throw it away
Don’t look back too much – look forward
We can influence our lives
It’s like a gift
The last great exploration
Just keep on walking, just keep on walking
Filmed with Isabella, in East London, South Africa.
An Address by Her Majesty The Queen – Coronavirus – BBC
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II delivers a special broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.The Queen has promised the nation that better days are ahead, during a special address on Sunday.In a rare speech, she acknowledged the grief and financial hardships Britons are facing during the coronavirus pandemic.Echoing the words of the Vera Lynn wartime song, she said that “we will meet again”.
FULL SCRIPT OF SPEECH CAN BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST
Vocabulary in chunks to learn from video :
An increasing challenging time
Enormous changes to the daily lives of us all
Care workers
Those caring out essential roles
Day to day duties
In support of us all
What you do is appreciated
Return to more normal times
Those who have lost loved ones
We are tackling this disease
We will overcome it
In the years to come
Take pride
Those who come after us
The pride in who we are
It defines our present and our future
An expression of our national spirit
Heartwarming stories
Delivering food parcels and medicines
Checking on neighbors
Converting business to help the relief effort
Self-isolating
It presents an opportunity to slow down
A sense of separation from their loved ones
Face challenges
Join with all nations across the globe
A common endeavor
Better days will return
I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all
Full Script of Speech
Addressing the nation, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II said: “I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time.
“A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.
“I want to thank everyone on the NHS front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all.
“I am sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times.
“I also want to thank those of you who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.
“Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.
“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.
“That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.
“The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.
“The moments when the United Kingdom has come together to applaud its care and essential workers will be remembered as an expression of our national spirit; and its symbol will be the rainbows drawn by children.”
She added: “Across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbours, or converting businesses to help the relief effort.
“And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.
“It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister.
“We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones.
“But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.
“While we have faced challenges before, this one is different.
“This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.
“We will succeed -and that success will belong to every one of us.
“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.
“But for now, I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all.”
We explore one of the most widely used phrases of the past couple of weeks, social distancing. What does it mean? Is it important? Should we care? These kids will explain!
We also give you 6 tips on how to navigate this unique period we are all facing.
***UPDATE: At the time of filming, 3 feet (1 metre) was the recommended distance for Social Distancing. It has since been updated to 6 feet (2 metres) .***
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video
Should we abide by it
Minimizing the contact we have with other people
Reduce the spread of the virus
The intent behind social distancing is to slow the rate of the epidemic
To flatten the curve
It will help the health care system
Overcrowding our hospitals
Get control of the virus
Professional sporting events are being suspended for a period of time
We are being asked to socially distance ourselves from other people
It can save thousands of lives today
You are doing your part
Help flatten the curve Use this time to explore, discover and create
6 Simple tips
Wash your hands often
Cover your cough
Don’t touch your face
Stay at least 2 metres away from people
Get outside – Avoid close contact with people in public
Connect remotely, thanks to technology you can still interact with them remotely
View a recording of a webinar that presents an overview of the listening skills needed for MET Go! as well as some teaching strategies for developing and practicing these skills in the classroom. See examples of classroom activities for practicing active listening, and learn about available resources.
The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of intense emotions. All of us, all over the world, have had to start to change the way we do things. Many have cut back on travel plans, some are avoiding crowded spaces, and most have dropped handshakes and hugs for elbow bumps and foot shakes.
As hard as it might be for some of us right now, it seems that what we need is more empathy, understanding, and compassion for one another. Most of us are some version of scared – this is a change and a big change. Like with any change, we don’t know what will happen and how it will turn out. But what we do know for sure, is that we can’t really do too much without each other.
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video :
The conductor is not just a time beater
It has different elements to it
We are going to make music
It’s not a shouting match
Taking the rubbish out
It’s a calling
Infectious energy
Your fellow musicians
A positive vibe
We need positive vibes these days
Ode to Joy
Everybody knows the tune
I could not imagine the world without music
I would like to be a fly on the wall
There you go
Nature is such a powerful force
Belting down with rain
An amazing show of power
The purpose of life
To live life that is full of interesting things
Not stuck in a rut
Read about new things
Be interested
Have you heart open for new ideas
Seeking perfection
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video :
What on earth is it?
They’re so tiny we can’t see them
They’re invisible to us
Viruses can make you sick
Under a microscope
Attach to different parts of our body
A day or week off school
The common cold
A stuffy nose
They make you feel really really sick
You can rest for a while
This type of coronavirus
A shortness of breath
They struggle to breath
A natural immune system
Severe symptoms
Not able to fight it
Stop the virus from spreading
Stop it from spreading
Wash your hands often
Don’t let people sneeze around you
Sneeze into your elbow
All sorts of nasties
Keep everybody safe
Vocabulary chunks to learn from video :
A global health emergency
A really simple experiment you can do at home
Dishwashing liquid or some soap
Viruses are obviously invisible
Viruses and bacterial
Wash those off by rinsing our hands in water
Why soap and water is so important
You can use regular soap
Wash away the virus
Wash your hands thoroughly
Rinse their hands in water
Pout some soap on the top
Make sure your palms are thoroughly rubbed together
The back of each hand
In between your fingers
Interlock them and rub your fingers together
Clean inside your nails
Make sure your wrists are also covered
Don’t forget your thumbs
Sing the song Happy Birthday twice
Rinse off all the soap
Rubbing your hands together
Final bit
Make sure that you dry your hands with a clean towel
And there you go
How to wash your hands nice a easy
