English Listening Practice Fascinating End-of-Life Experiences
English listening practice on a topic that will matter to all of us at some point in our lives. Even though we are all going to die at some point we rarely think about this or discuss it, very few scientists investigate it and only a few rare and special people work with people who are dying. So today we take a look at the end of our lives while we improve your English comprehension and listening skills, a topic that should keep everyone listening, press play and enjoy!
🎧 Why listen to this lesson?
- Prepare to see your final moments in a different way.
- Engage in immersive English Listening Practice.
- Enhance your English Speaking with practical Conversation Tips.
- Improve your understanding of Idioms and Pronunciation.
Want to improve your English comprehension? Head to Adept English and view our video to find out how our method can boost your listening skills.
✔️ Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-listening-practice-life-death-experiences/
We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.
⭐ Chuck Palahniuk
Ever wondered what life's final moments reveal about our true priorities? In our latest English lesson, we delve into touching stories from palliative care nurses.
Discover the comforting visions that ease the end-of-life journey and improve your English while exploring this profound topic. Ready to learn more?
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.
⭐ Norman Cousins
Listen now and start working on your English skills now! 🌟 Visit Adept English for more Courses and Study Tips. Don't forget to follow and subscribe to our FREE English language podcast, wherever you listen or watch your podcasts.
More About This Lesson
Improve your English skills while exploring the comforting visions and experiences shared by palliative care nurses and patients in their final moments.
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To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.
⭐ Thomas Campbell
What we learn from the dying: enhance your English listening:
- Expand Vocabulary: Learn words like 'palliative' and 'delirium'.
- Real-Life Context: Understand English through real-world topics.
- Listening Practice: Improve listening skills with engaging content.
- Pronunciation Tips: Hear correct pronunciation of complex terms.
- Cultural Insight: Gain knowledge about customs and experiences in different cultures.
- Discussion Engagement: Use new words in comments and discussions.
- Scientific Insights: Learn about studies and findings from Dr. Chris Kerr.
- Emotional Topics: Engage with sensitive and meaningful content.
- Interactive Learning: Apply new vocabulary in your own sentences.
- Continuous Improvement: Access additional courses and materials.
Ready to discover the secrets of life's most profound moments? In this captivating lesson, we dive into the unique experiences of palliative care nurses and the life-changing insights they’ve gained.
Death is nothing else but going home to God, the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.
⭐ Mother Teresa
You'll learn new vocabulary effortlessly while exploring this deep, moving topic. Listen now and improve your English as we unravel the mysteries of end-of-life care. Don't miss out—immerse yourself in this thought-provoking lesson and share your thoughts using your new words!
So start listening now and improve your English as we explore the mysteries of end-of-life care. Don't miss out—immerse yourself in this thought-provoking English lesson and share your thoughts using your new words! Subscribe to our podcast for more lessons and insights.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What will you learn from this English lesson about palliative care experiences? You'll improve your British English skills while exploring fascinating end-of-life phenomena. You'll learn vocabulary related to palliative care, practice listening comprehension with real-life stories, and enhance your speaking ability by discussing profound human experiences.
- How does this lesson help you improve your English fluency? This lesson immerses you in authentic, context-rich language. You'll hear natural British English speech patterns, learn idiomatic expressions, and practice discussing complex topics. This combination of engaging content and language practice accelerates your journey to fluency.
- Is this English lesson suitable for all proficiency levels? While the content is more advanced, learners at various levels can benefit. Beginners will expand their vocabulary and listening skills. Intermediate learners will enhance their comprehension and speaking abilities. Advanced learners will refine their fluency and cultural understanding.
- How can you apply the language skills from this lesson in real-life situations? The vocabulary and expressions you learn are applicable in healthcare settings, discussions about life and death, and conversations about human experiences. You'll be better equipped to express empathy, discuss sensitive topics, and understand nuanced conversations in English.
- What makes this English lesson unique compared to traditional language learning materials? This lesson combines language learning with profound human experiences, making the content more memorable. You're not just learning English; you're gaining insights into life, death, and cultural perspectives. This approach, inspired by polyglot techniques, helps you absorb language more naturally and deeply.
Enhance your English fluency with our unique tutorial on end-of-life experiences. This advanced listening and speaking lesson explores comforting visions shared by palliative care nurses and patients. Ideal for intermediate to advanced learners, it combines vocabulary, pronunciation, and conversation practice. Improve your language skills while delving into profound human experiences. Perfect for exam prep or daily English practice. Learn, review, and grow your English proficiency with this thought-provoking lifestyle and news-focused lesson.
Most Unusual Words:
- Palliative: End of life care.
- Phenomena: Unusual or remarkable events.
- Delirium: A state when someone's brain is not working properly, often causing confusion.
- Hallucination: Seeing or hearing things that are not real.
- Reunion: Meeting again after being apart.
- Insight: Deep understanding of a person or situation.
- Fulfilment: Feeling satisfied and happy because of achieving something.
- Vigil: A period of keeping awake to watch or pray, often used to describe family staying by a dying person's bedside.
- Privacy: Being alone, away from other people.
- Lucidly: Clearly and easily understood, with full awareness.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| People | 18 |
| About | 17 |
| These | 15 |
| Nurses | 13 |
| Dying | 13 |
| Person | 11 |
| Their | 9 |
| Other | 8 |
| Experiences | 8 |
| Family | 7 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: English Listening Practice-Your FINAL Moments In Life
Can ‘end of life experience’ show us valuable lessons about our lives?
Hi there and welcome to this podcast. Today let’s talk about a more challenging subject - in terms of content, not vocabulary. I saw an article published this week on the ABC news network Australia. Its title? ‘Palliative care nurses see us in our final hours - these are the life lessons that they’ve learned’. Vocabulary here? What does ‘palliative’ mean? That’s PALLIATIVE - it means ‘end of life’. So ‘palliative care’ means ‘the care that people receive towards the end of their life’. Really important that it’s sensitive in other words. And when we say ‘life lessons’, what we mean are ‘valuable life lessons’. What are people’s priorities? For example, there are not many people who at the end of their life, wish they’d spent more time in the office or at work! That’s a piece of insight perhaps that most of us need to bear in mind in the middle of our lives?! It’s worth thinking about. And these nurses had some fascinating things to share.
📷
A white dove with wings spread in an aqua blue sky. Deathbed English.
The nurses that were interviewed also talked about ‘things happen that are difficult to explain’ towards the end of someone’s life. And some of the strange experiences, strange phenomena associated with ‘end of life care’, I’ve heard about in my psychotherapy work too, when a client speaks about the death of a family member. I also came across a scientific study into this, by Dr Chris Kerr of Buffalo, New York. He’s a palliative care doctor. So let’s talk today about this fascinating, but difficult subject and about experiences which probably happen all over the world. While your brain is engaged with this fascinating topic, you’ll also be improving your understanding of spoken English - what could be better than that?! So listen to this podcast, discover new words while immersing yourself in a compelling topic. And don’t forget to leave us a comment on this subject, in English, using the new words that you’ve learned, of course!
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.
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Fascinating insights - what’s important and what happens psychologically at ‘end of life’?
So let’s talk first about what the Australian palliative care nurses described. And how about 80% of dying patients, interviewed in Dr Chris Kerr's study reported seeing visions of dead relatives, dead family members. And these experiences - they were not distressing - instead they brought immense comfort, a sense of reunion. And they made the process of ‘passing away’ - dying, in other words - much less frightening. What are we to make of all this?
So the palliative care nurses first of all. All three nurses in the article had been in nursing for a long time. I think it takes a very special type of person to be a palliative care nurse. I’m not sure I could do that. But these three nurses obviously find the work really fulfilling - that means ‘satisfying and meaningful’. One of these nurses has in fact been working in palliative care for 26 years - so I guess she will have seen a few things.
Can you imagine having conversations with loved ones who passed away long ago?
One of the phenomena or experiences that all the nurses agreed on and which I’ve heard about in psychotherapy too. Quite often when a person is dying, they seem to have visions, VISIONS. They ‘see’ in other words, ‘visions’ of relatives, family members who perhaps died long ago. They have conversations with them. Often it’s as though that person is in the room. It gets dismissed medically as ‘delirium’, that’s DELIRIUM - meaning that the person’s brain ‘is not working properly’. Or we’re told ‘it’s a hallucination’ - meaning again that it’s not real and it’s ‘down to certain brain processes’ - people offer theories for, anyway. But it’s a very particular type of vision. Normally ‘delirium’ - that’s something you might experience when you’ve got a very high temperature - ‘delirium’ is random. But these visions seem very similar to one another and are experienced by many people. It’s almost as though people who died long ago are returning to collect the person who is about to die. The nurses reported that people of 90 years old will suddenly believe that they’re having a conversation with their mothers or sisters or brothers, who died long ago. To the family in the room with the dying person, these apparent visions can be worrying, disconcerting perhaps. But the nurses say it is important to ‘go with it’, don’t dismiss it or to argue against what the person says they see. Most dying people find these experiences really comforting - it’s helpful in other words. And it can make the dying person less anxious. And who is to say? Who is to judge these experiences? Obviously medical science is likely to dismiss anything spiritual or anything that cannot be scientifically explained or measured. It’s similar to the ‘near death experience’ reports, that I’ve spoken about before, where people see their ‘loved ones’, the people they love that have already died. And they say ‘Go back, it’s not your time yet!’ Who is to say what the explanation is? And who has a position where they can dismiss this? To say it‘s delirium feels dismissive. Dismissive of an experience that sounds important and which seems to happen to a lot of people.
Why do some people 'hold on' before passing away? What are they waiting for?
Something else that the nurses talked about, which I’ve also heard too. When people are dying, sometimes it takes much longer than expected. It’s as though the person is ‘holding on’ for some reason. In the article, one of the nurses talked about a young man who was dying from cancer - but who just seemed to be holding on. They asked ‘Has he seen everybody that he needs to?’ And the reply was ‘Yes - all the important people in his life - he’s seen them’. ‘Has he got any pets?’ was the question. And it was then clear that there were two dogs that were really important to him. The nurse then had the insight, the understanding to say ‘Bring the dogs in’. When the dogs were brought, the man who’d had been partially conscious, not aware, seemed to put his hand onto the dogs’ heads. He died within half an hour!
And I’ve heard about this idea in therapy too. Sometimes people dying will wait for an anniversary, for Christmas or until a relative who needs to travel from far away has arrived. Or sometimes there’s a conversation that needs to be had. Once this has happened, it’s then as though the person dying can be at peace, PEACE and allowed to go, because something has been resolved. That seems a very common experience.
Have you ever heard about people dying when left alone by their family?
Another phenomenon, another experience I come across - this one upsets people when probably it shouldn’t. When there is what we call in English ‘a vigil’, that’s VIGIL and that means where the family sit round the bed. Where there is a vigil for the dying person, sooner or later normal human needs come. People get hungry. They need to sleep. So the relatives, the family members leave the room. And of course, that’s when the person dies. I’ve known this cause huge sadness - people who cannot forgive themselves for not being there. But perhaps they should! It seems sometimes as though the person dying actually wants privacy to do it! That’s PRIVACY - it means ‘being on your own’. They need to be on their own to do the necessary, to what’s needed! I’ve heard that one so often. And instead of being upset, perhaps the relatives should be pleased - that the person had some choice - and that’s what they chose and that’s OK!
English Listening Practice | Friends & Money
Is it disrespectful for medical science to dismiss what may be spiritual experiences as hallucinations?
Dr Chris Kerr is the physician in the US, who specialises in hospice care. ‘Physician’, PHYSICIAN is just the word the Americans use for ‘a doctor’. And ‘hospice care’? Well, a ‘hospice’, HOSPICE is a hospital for the dying, set up specially to take care of their needs. So Dr Chris Kerr, instead of being like most doctors, concerned only with the patient’s physical condition and trying to make them well again, he made it his work to be concerned with what happens for patients emotionally, psychologically when they’re dying. And his feeling is that to call these experiences that dying people have, of seeing their relatives as ‘delirium’ or ‘delusion’ is incorrect, disrespectful even. The experiences are meaningful, are often very similar to one another. They give great comfort. So Dr Chris Kerr has interviewed and videoed lots of dying people, who talk about these visions, these experiences, very lucidly - that’s LUCIDLY, which means ‘with much awareness’, ‘without confusion’. I’ve included a link to the TED talk of Dr Chris Kerr in the transcript. He’s collected 450 interviews with dying patients to collect their experiences. And 80% of the people interviewed described having a dream or a vision, where they saw dead family members and they interacted with them - they spoke to them and found this very positive. In other words very comforting. And a sense of reunion, being reunited, the feeling of ‘not being alone’ was comforting and important to them.
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Do you believe visions at the end of life are more than just delirium?
I think Dr Chris Kerr is ahead of much of western medicine in being able to recognise the importance of these experiences. Sometimes it helps dying people resolve what have been the big tragedies, the things that have given them most pain in their lives. I’m sure that actually it’s once again western medicine that is somewhat behind thinking in other cultures around the world. I’m sure the experiences I’ve described happen in other parts of the world too. And I imagine that these experiences are treated with rather more respect and understanding. Possibly there are customs and traditions around them. I tried to research this - and found material on different customs around death and loss around the world. But very little on the experience of people who are dying.
Let us know your experiences
So if you’ve experienced what I’m talking about today, or a relative of yours has, please get in touch and let us know - I’d be really interested. And especially if your culture gives meaning to these experiences. Get in touch. Let us know. And if you’ve got other things to say about the podcast, then also get in touch. We also value your suggestions for topics for us to cover.
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day, Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
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Links
- Palliative care nurses
- Dr. Christopher Kerr - YouTube TED Talk
- Dr. Christopher Kerr
- The Last Conversation
- What adults see before they die
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