English Listening Practice With London News Stories
In today's British English listening practice: Did you know that nearly half of Gen Z workers in the UK would rather travel the world than work a traditional 9-to-5 job? Or that London commuters have invented a new word 'bare backers' to shame people who dare to look around on the Tube? Welcome to Adept English, the podcast where you learn real, modern English through fascinating stories about culture, work, and life in the UK.
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In today's English lesson, we've picked some London's Metro newspaper stories, yes, the free one you grab on the Tube so we can explore Gen Z's rebellion against office life, the very British art of ignoring strangers, and even how some commuters try to find love on their morning train. You'll pick up essential English vocabulary, like 'ditch the 9-to-5' and 'rush hour crush', while getting a peek into the quirks of British society.
“Remote work is not just a trend—it's a fundamental shift in how we think about productivity and life.”
▪️ Arianna Huffington
So if you're ready to improve your English with stories that are as entertaining as they are educational, let's begin. After all, the best way to learn a language isn't just through textbooks—it's by understanding the people who speak it. Press play, and let's get started!
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More About This Lesson
Have you ever felt stuck in the "9-to-5 grind" or, let’s be real, more like 8-to-6 these days? What if you could just… ditch it all for a permanent holiday? That’s exactly what Gen Z is doing—or at least trying to! In this episode of Adept English, we dive into London life, from "bare-backing" on the Tube (no, not that kind—wait, let me explain!) to why young people are rejecting traditional work. Plus, ever had a Rush Hour Crush? (Spoiler: It’s not as creepy as it sounds... or is it?)
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Listening to this English lesson will help:
- You learn modern vocabulary like "GenZ" and "bare backers" used in real conversations.
- You understand cultural trends and generational labels in English-speaking societies.
- You practice listening to natural English with clear explanations of idioms like "ditch the 9-5."
- You pick up conversational phrases like "frowned upon" and "rush hour crush."
- You hear pronunciation of terms like "nomadic" and "monotony" in context.
- You grasp grammar patterns from sentences like "GenZers are finding this unacceptable."
- You engage with current topics (work trends, travel) to boost speaking confidence.
- You learn to describe social behaviors, e.g., "packed like sardines."
- You recognize humour in English through playful terms like "bare backers."
- You discuss urban life using phrases like "annual leave" and "commuter types."
“Gen Z is redefining success—it's not just about money, but about freedom and experiences.”
▪️ Simon Sinek
Why is this great for English learners? Well, you’ll pick up:
- Trendy vocabulary (Gen Z, ditch, bare-backing, crush)—perfect for chatting about modern life.
- Cultural insights—understand British work culture, slang, and social norms (like never making eye contact on the Tube!).
- Real-world debates—could you live a "permanent holiday" lifestyle? How? (Great for discussion practice!)
So, ready to upgrade your English while exploring London’s quirks? Let’s go!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
-
What does the term "GenZ" mean in British English?
GenZ, or Generation Z, refers to individuals born between the late 1990s or early 2000s and around 2012. This generation is known for its distinct social and cultural trends, such as valuing flexibility over traditional work structures. Understanding generational labels like GenZ helps you engage in conversations about modern societal shifts in British English. -
What does "ditching the 9-5" mean in the context of British work culture?
"Ditching the 9-5" means rejecting the traditional work schedule of 9 AM to 5 PM, which many GenZers find restrictive. Instead, they prioritize experiences like long-term travel or remote work. This phrase reflects broader changes in British work culture, where flexibility and work-life balance are increasingly valued. -
How can I learn British slang and cultural terms like "bare backers" from the London Underground?
To pick up British slang like "bare backers" (people who people-watch on the Tube), immerse yourself in authentic sources like the Metro newspaper or podcasts about London life. Listening to native speakers and noting context helps you understand and use these terms naturally in conversation. -
Why is the "Rush Hour Crush" feature in the Metro significant for understanding British social norms?
The "Rush Hour Crush" section highlights a quirky British social norm: commuters rarely interact on the Tube, but this feature lets them anonymously express romantic interest in strangers. It’s a fun way to observe how British people navigate privacy and connection in public spaces. -
How can I discuss generational differences like GenZ vs. GenX in British English?
To talk about generational differences, learn key terms like "GenX" (born 1965–1980) and compare their work ethic (e.g., career-focused) with GenZ’s preference for flexibility. Phrases like "submit to the 9-5" or "nomadic lifestyle" will help you articulate these contrasts fluently in British English.
Most Unusual Words:
- Ditch: To get rid of or throw away something.
- GenZ: People born between the late 1990s and early 2010s.
- Backpacking: Travelling for a long time with only a backpack.
- Frowned upon: Disapproved of or seen as bad by others.
- Monotony: Boredom from doing the same thing repeatedly.
- Nomadic: Living a life of moving often, not staying in one place.
- Bare backers: People who watch others instead of using phones on the Tube.
- Crush: A sudden romantic liking for someone you don’t know well.
- Gap year: A year off between school and university or work.
- Prolonged: Lasting for a long time.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| About | 12 |
| Their | 12 |
| London | 10 |
| Metro | 9 |
| People | 9 |
| English | 8 |
| Which | 8 |
| Article | 8 |
| Working | 8 |
| Think | 7 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: English Listening-London Life With Gen Z Trends
Beyond Trump: A Different Kind of News
Hi there and welcome to this Adept English podcast. This week a 'newsy' podcast, but let's call it 'non-Trump news'. In recent weeks, every time I've tuned into the news, it has begun 'President Trump...' blah blah blah. Let's find some different news items to talk about today so that you can practise your English. One rich source of news about cultural and social trends, especially in London, which I enjoy, is the Metro. The Metro newspaper is the one that is distributed for free on the London Underground, on the Tube. You might pick up a copy when you're travelling on the Tube. So let's have a look at a couple of articles I saw last week, which I think speak of what London life is really like, especially if you're a young person in the capital. This podcast will give you lots of practice at understanding up-to-date English terms and vocabulary and topics.
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.
Learning English Through Current News
And it puts interesting news articles into language you can understand, while at the same time teaching you the original language used. What better way could there be to extend your English language capability? And if you keep listening, I also talk about my personal experience. So how about this one to start off? This article appeared in the Metro on the 2nd of April 2025, with the headline "Work wasn't for me: GenZ travellers ditch the 9-5 for a permanent holiday". What does this mean? Well, GenZ is one of the names we use in English for the different generations of people, different ages. So GenZ, or GenZ as Americans would say, they were born between the very late 90s or the year 2000 and about 2012. After that, it's Gen Alpha. And writers who observe social and cultural trends tend to write about people in terms of these 'generational labels', these generation names. There are quite a few of them. And if you want to understand better, then Adept English Podcast 743 is still available and takes you through all these different names for the generations and what they mean and talks about how each generation are seen. Very useful if you're an English language learner and you haven't come across these terms before.
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A GenZer commuting to work in casual clothes. Improve listening skills with clear, slow English—ideal for learners at any level.
Understanding GenZ Vocabulary
So GenZ are aged currently somewhere between their mid-teens and their late 20s. So the article headline again, "GenZ travellers ditch the 9-5 for a permanent holiday". So the verb 'to ditch', D-I-T-C-H - it means 'to get rid of'. Probably after the noun 'ditch', which refers to a channel at the side of the road or path, sometimes with water in it. So if you throw things into the ditch, you 'ditch' them, you throw them away. So they're 'ditching' the 9-5.
The 9-5 Work Life and Its Meaning
What does that mean? Well, if you know the very old Dolly Parton song, 9-5, there was a film to go with it. She's talking there about 9am in the morning and 5pm in the afternoon, the traditional working day. If you don't know the song, there's a link in the transcript to the YouTube video and some lovely 1980s hairstyles to look at and enjoy! 9-5 says the song, but in my experience, the modern workplace tends to expect people to work longer than that, perhaps 8 am in the morning until 6pm or 7pm in the evening. It's become a longer working day. And GenZ are ditching the 9-5 'for a permanent holiday'.
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The Rise of Travel Culture Among Young People
The article talks about the common choice that many of the GenZ age group make to go travelling. People often take a 'gap year' G-A-P between school and university or between finishing university and starting work, or they save their first few salary payments and fund an even longer trip abroad. And the problem they're finding? They don't want to come back. The Metro quotes research done by The Times newspaper, which says, "Unlike previous generations, many GenZers simply aren't satisfied with the working world in 2025. Just one in 10 want to work in an office, and more than half say that they're lazier than their parents' generation." I'm not sure that's true, but what the article also observes is that property prices, house prices, and pensions - that's the money you live off when you retire from work - well, both are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Economic Challenges Facing GenZ
GenZ won't be able to have those things. When I was young, buying a house was an immediate goal when you started work, and it was possible. And then you spent your time and money doing the house up, making it nice. Now, this is so far out of reach for many GenZers, that experiences, especially travel experiences, become even more important. And if you're in a job where you only get 25 days annual leave, 25 days holiday a year, you're not going to be able to travel very much. So GenZers are finding this working world unacceptable. GenZers often go 'backpacking'.
The Backpacking Lifestyle
This is when you travel around the world for quite a long period of time with nothing but a backpack or rucksack. If you've done this, it can be really hard to come back and meet the expectations, especially in a normal office job in London. Certainly my experience working with clients in financial services jobs in London, if they want to progress their career, they must give their all. And that includes all their time every day and not taking much holiday.
Corporate Expectations vs. GenZ Values
Prolonged times away from work would be 'frowned upon' in these jobs. I don't agree that those should be the values, and I have sympathy with GenZ. Life isn't about working. If, no matter how hard you work, it's still going to be nearly impossible to own your own home or do those normal things in life, no wonder they want to go on holiday! One traveller, quoted in the Metro article, said about her return from travelling, "For me, it was just the loss of freedom that hit me. I really struggled with the monotony of life and working five days a week, eight or nine hours a day, then to live for the weekend and get just two days off. They were gone so quickly and you had to do it all again.
The Cycle of Work and Weekends
It was just a cycle." One question you may be asking - and I was too - how do you fund, how do you pay for a permanent holiday? Well, the person quoted here set up her own business online, her own travel company for women, which allows her to fund her nomadic lifestyle alongside travel writing and content creation on social media. Great, very flexible as your own boss. I think many people's experience of being able to work online during the pandemic has changed everything. We're not as content to submit to the expectations around a 9-5 or possibly 8-6 job as we once were. If you watch the video of that Dolly Parton song, not only will you see some great 1980s hairstyles, but I think Dolly was ahead of the game. Her lyrics, the words to her song, say exactly what GenZ are complaining about.
My Personal Work-Life Experience
My own experience? Well, I'm GenX. So I submitted more to that expectation of 'work hard at your career and you'll be rewarded financially'. For me though, the problem came when I had children. I was lecturing at a college when my first daughter was born and found that I didn't want to be teaching until 9pm at night, which was the expectation at least two days a week. I also didn't want all that marking at the weekends. So I went back to working as a programmer in an insurance company, what I'd been doing before. And this enabled me to have flexible working. But even here, my 25 days annual leave a year didn't cover the school holidays, which are around 13 weeks in the UK. And this is a problem faced by many working parents. That's what led to my decision to set up my own business and work for myself instead. Another article I found in The Stylist magazine had the headline "Annual Leave 2025 - How to get two months off work with only 27 days leave". So in the same spirit, how to maximize your time off work.
Maximizing Time Off Work
The article advises on how you can use your 27 days of annual leave alongside the UK's bank holidays and public holidays like the Easter weekend or the bank holidays in May and August to give you a whole two months holiday. Quite clever and I think captures something of the spirit of the times. Another article in the Metro on a different topic, but which made me smile, was published 31st March 2025 and I think this also says something about GenZ and London life. The headline was "Bare backers are the commuters plaguing the London Tube Network". 'Bare backers' was not a term I knew either and one I think the writer has invented to make us smile. The writer Alice Giddings is referring to the fact that on the London Underground on the Tube when it's busy at rush hour everyone is packed in, like sardines in a tin so close to one another that eye contact looking at someone is very uncomfortable and therefore the rule on the Tube when it's busy is that no one speaks to anyone else or acknowledges one another. Everyone is politely on their phone. In fact whatever goes on in the carriage of a Tube train, the rule is that you politely ignore it and keep looking at your phone.
London Tube Etiquette and 'Bare Backers'
Reading a book is also permissible but a bit more unusual. So 'bare backers', the people that the writer is complaining about, well they're people who aren't on their phones and who are actually looking around at people nearby. This is seen as very unwelcome and antisocial. The writer says "There are plenty of irritating commuter types out there who disrupt the almost zombie-like journey to our desk. But one subset of London Underground passengers have been labelled worst of them all 'bare backers'". The article explains essentially, 'bare backers' are people who sit without any form of entertainment and people watch staring at other passengers to pass the time. This behaviour is seen as antisocial. The headline says "Plaguing the London Tube Network" - like a plague P L A G U E in other words!
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The Role of Metro Newspaper on the Tube
This is an unfair judgment in my opinion. But perhaps it's also part of the reason why the Metro newspaper is freely distributed. You can pick up a copy on most trains. So if your phone battery is flat there's still some free entertainment to rescue you. One podcaster on TikTok, Curtis Morton commented "I think it's completely reasonable to ask 'Pull out your phone, buy a book, God, even fall asleep! Just leave the bare backing to the privacy of your own home and don't be making eye contact with me on the 7:48 to London Bridge"! Far more 'creepy' - that's a real GenZ word - and concerning to me though - the Metro run a 'Rush Hour Crush' feature. A 'crush' in this context, C-R-U-S-H is 'a sudden romantic attachment to someone you see that you don't really know'. That's a 'crush'. You have a crush on someone or you might even say 'Oh my current crush is....' - substitute the person's name. So 'Rush Hour Crush' is a page on the Metro website where people can enter the details of a person they saw or talked to on their journey to work. And this is someone they'd like to date.
Rush Hour Crush: Finding Romance on the Tube
They leave their email address just in case the other person is reading and wants to get in contact. So it's things like this post addressed to "Girl with Red Hair". It says "Highbury and Islington, platform 2 to 3. The coffee run on Friday around 9am. We reached for the same bin and coffee spot on the platform. You politely offered to let me go first and then asked me whether I'd like a coffee but I was too shy to accept.
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Thanks for making my morning. Would love to offer you a pint in return". I wonder if the 'Girl with Red Hair' read this post and got in touch? You never know. But to me that seems far more questionable perhaps, open to abuse than someone who merely looks around the Tube carriage and isn't on their phone! But maybe lots of romances happen this way. Through the Metro's 'Rush Hour Crush' feature. So that's my Metro driven update on London life especially for GenZ. Let me know what you think.
Goodbye
I hope that gave you some entertaining insight into London life and some superb English vocabulary that you didn't already know. Enough for now.
Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
Thank you so much for listening. Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com
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