Why Weather Talk is a Must-Have Skill for Speaking British English | English Lesson Podcast
Looking to take your English skills to the next level? Learn English Through Listening latest podcast episode is your ticket to unlocking one of Britain's best-kept secrets: how to talk about the weather like a pro! Engage in conversations with confidence, learn the most essential phrases to navigate weather talk, and understand why this tradition is so beloved by the British. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced English learner, this podcast episode is perfect for improving your listening skills and expanding your vocabulary. Start mastering British English today!
#BritishEnglish #LearnEnglish #WeatherTalkUK
Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will also have a limited vision.
ā Maya Angelou
Learning British English vocabulary is like carrying an umbrella on a rainy day. It may seem like a burden, but it will keep you prepared and protected from the downpour of confusion in communication.
āLesson transcript:
More About This English Lesson
Talking about the weather is a quintessentially British tradition
. In the UK, conversing about the weather is considered a polite way to engage with others in shops or at work. So, today we'll explore some phrases to help you navigate these interactions, and examine why weather talk is such a common pastime for British people.
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Listening to and practicing British English phrases with this lesson will help you become more familiar with the language and better understand what people are saying to you.
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Learning and practicing English vocabulary and phrases with this lesson will help you become more confident in your ability to communicate effectively with native speakers.
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Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process, and practicing with this lesson will help you improve your English speaking skills and gain the confidence you need to speak fluently.
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Building your vocabulary and practicing your speaking skills will help you feel more confident when communicating in English. Focus on learning useful phrases and expressions related to your interests and work, and practice speaking with native speakers or language exchange partners.
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Fluency is a long-term goal that requires consistent effort and practice. Focus on making small improvements every day, whether it's learning a new word or practicing your pronunciation. Celebrate your progress and remember that every step counts towards achieving your goal.
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Most Unusual Words:
- Quintessential: The perfect example of something.
- Meteor: A piece of rock from space that makes a bright line in the sky when it falls towards Earth.
- Meteorological: Related to the study of weather.
- Ocean: A very large area of salt water.
- Gust: A sudden, strong blast of wind.
- Breezy: With light, gentle winds.
- Drizzle: Light rain with very small drops.
- Blizzard: A heavy snowstorm with strong winds.
- Overcast: Covered with clouds; no clear sky.
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
The mp3 audio and pdf transcript for this lesson is now part of the Adept English back catalogue . You can still download and listen to this lesson as part of one of our podcast bundles.Transcript: Learn British English Weather Phrases And Vocabulary For Engaging Conversations
Letās be very British and talk about the weather!
Hi there. Today letās do a very British thing and talk about the weather. If youāre in the UK, and you want to make conversation with people in shops or at work - talking about the weather is regarded as a good conversation starter. So letās have a look today at some of the phrases youāll need. And at āwhy do British people like to talk so much about the weather?ā
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Why do British people talk about the weather? Meterological reasons!
So why are British people so in the habit of talking about the weather? Well, one reason is that our weather is very variable - that means āit changes all the timeā. Itās not easy to predict. And itās hard for theā¦.British Meteorological Office - I find that hard to say! Letās just call it āthe Met Officeā for short. Thatās where the British weather forecast comes from. We do have seasons - autumn is different to winter and thatās different to spring which is different to summer. But there can be a wide variation in the days within each season. So although our weather forecasts are more accurate than they used to be - thankyou, Met Office - they are still wrong sometimes!
And there are proper meteorological reasons why this is so. Gosh, thatās hard to say! METEOR - like āmeteorā, āologicalā - OLOGICAL. āMeteorologicalā. So there are āproperā scientific reasons why our weather varies so much. Britain is located beneath what we call āthe jet streamā - or often āthe jet streamā is over the top of us. Thatās ājetā, JET and āstreamā, STREAM. The ājet streamā is a wind, high up, about 10km above the earth and the jet stream circles the earth. It flows at around 400 kilometres an hour - so pretty fast sometimes. And the jet stream sits at the junction of the warm air to the south - and the colder air to the north. The jet stream moves around - it flows from west to east - but quite far north or south it is - well thatās what varies. So in the summer in the UK, we may have a period of cool or rainy weather, just because the jet stream is sitting south of us, over France. Or the jet stream could be way north of the UK - meaning that we get warm air or hot air from southern Europe. And in the winter, if the jet stream is south of the UK, then we get the icy arctic air coming down from the north.
Weāre also next to a very large piece of water called the Atlantic Ocean. And weather āsystemsā flow often from West to East. This makes it rainier on the western side of the British Isles and drier in the east. A tip - if youāre thinking of visiting the county of Devon, thatās DEVON in the UK. Nice place for a holiday in the summer. But Devon has a south-facing coast and a west-facing coast. If you want the likelihood of more sunshine and warm weather - then I suggest you visit the south coast of this county. But if you donāt mind a bit of summer mist and drizzle up on Dartmoor, you might enjoy the west-facing coast of Devon. It doesnāt rain there all the time, of course but the two coasts of Devon can be quite different, even on the same day!
Learn British English Weather Phrases And Vocabulary For Engaging Conversations Ep 620 Article Image
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Variation in British Weather
In the summer in Britain, there can be what we call āa heatwaveā - 30C, 35C perhaps on occasion. But āthe British summerā can also mean 12C and rain. If youāre trying to organise a picnic or a barbecue or a day out, you just hope that luck is on your side. The weather is generally better in the south rather than the north and as I said, drier in the south and east, wetter in the north and west. The Lake District or Cumbria is the wettest part of England and Kent, right down at the bottom, near France is the driest part.
We also have very different lengths of day, depending upon the time of year. In the winter, it can be dark by 4pm in the afternoon. And daylight until 11pm in the evening in May and June is quite normal in the north. So as you can imagine, the weather affects what we do so much - and the weather can be surprising, not what we expect, not what we hope for. So all of that makes it worth a conversation. Itās just a polite way to start to talk to somebody, especially somebody you donāt know!
Useful British phrases for talking about the weather
Here are some phrases that you might want to use to talk about the weather.
British phrases for windy weather
If itās windy, you might hearā¦...
āItās blowing a galeā - thatās a āgaleā, GALE. If thereās a āgaleā that means āvery strong windsā. Or you might talk about āstrong gusts of windā. Thatās a āgustā, GUST. Or you might even hear āItās gustyā - that means that there are sudden strong winds, which then drop again. Another adjective for this type of wind, which suddenly blows strongly - itās āblusteryā, thatās BLUSTERY, āblusteryā. And you can just say āItās blowyā, BLOWY - from the verb āto blowā.
If the wind is less strong, you might hear people say āItās ābreezyā, BREEZY. Or even āThereās a gentle breezeā, which means just a little movement of air.
British phrases for rainy weather
If itās rainy, we sayā¦.
āItās raining cats and dogsā! We donāt usually say that unless itās really heavy rain. Thatās a proper idiom, isnāt it? We also say āItās pouring downā. Thatās the verb āto pourā, POUR which we also use for when youāre āpouringā water from a jug. Or āpouring a cup of tea from your teapotā, perhaps? If itās a proper storm, you might get āthunder and lightningā.
If the rain isnāt so heavy, we might call it ālight rainā or if itās on and off, āpatchy rainā. Thatās PATCHY. If the rain is hanging in the air, rather than falling in droplets, we might call that ādrizzleā, DRIZZLE. āDrizzleā is often what you get on the top of a hill or high ground - where youāre partly in the clouds and the weather is wet. We also say āmistā, when itās a bit more like a cloud.
And if itās hardly raining at all, just a tiny bit - this oneās my favourite - we say āItās spittingā. Thatās a particular use of the verb āto spitā, SPIT. āSpittingā - not very nice - thatās usually when you eject whatever is in your mouth, possibly just saliva - a bad habit that footballers have! But of very light rain, we say āItās spittingā.
Listening Lessons
British phrases for cold weather
What about when the weather is icy and cold?
Well, āItās snowingā might be an obvious phrase sometimes. And if the snow is coming down really heavily, we might call it āa blizzardā - thatās BLIZZARD. And if you really canāt see, a āwhite outā.
And if itās not snowed, but itās very cold and everything is white in the morning, we would say āitās frostyā. Frost, FROST is when the water covering grass, pavements, tree branches etc. freezes and makes everything look white. And if thereās a lot of frost, weād say there was a āheavy frostā.
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British phrases for cloudy weather and for hot weather
Often in the UK, itās just plain ācloudyā - especially in spring and autumn. A grey sky, no sun, but no rain. So thatās ācloudyā, CLOUDY - or if youāre being a bit more formal, like on the weather forecast, you might say āItās overcastā, OVERCAST.
What about when itās hot?
āItās bakingā or āitās scorchingā or just āItās very hotā! Or even āOh, what beautiful weather!ā āHotā doesnāt happen for us all the time, so people are often very enthusiastic about a bit of hot weather and we rush out and try to fit all kinds of summer activities in when the sun shines. As it just might be raining tomorrow. Who knows? Those are just a few weather phrases to get you started. Listen this podcast a number of times until you start to remember them. And then you can be āall Britishā and talk about the weather with people that you donāt know!
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
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- Why is British weather so unpredictable?
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