Dating Apps & English Vocabulary Skills!
Today we have an English lesson that will help you date smarter while learning a lot of UK English dating terms! Explore real-world British vocabulary, the psychological aspects of dating apps, and hear about some innovative alternatives to online dating 💖 in 2024. Don't miss out! Follow and subscribe to Adept English now for a more engaging #EnglishLesson !
Learn the lingo of love, from Tinder to IRL meetups, and navigate the British digital dating scene like a pro.
- 🔑 Unlock essential dating vocabulary & phrases
- 💡 Discover insights on British dating culture
- 🗣️ Boost your English speaking & listening skills
- 🌐 Learn about the psychological tactics of dating apps
- 🎧 Exclusive tips from the Adept English podcast
✔Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-phrases-dating-apps-vocabulary-uk-2024/
The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.
⭐ Audrey Hepburn
Today's English lesson is about expanding your English vocabulary, especially around dating and personal relationships. Imagine how this broadens your understanding, not just of language, but of British culture and the nuances of social interactions.
We like to think of our approach to learning to speak English fluently like holding a map in a new city; you travel to an interesting place and you navigate conversations with confidence, discovering connections and cultural insights with every step. Keep listening, and you'll find this journey enriches your English, making each word a bridge to new experiences.
The course of true love never did run smooth.
⭐ William Shakespeare
Elevate your English & your love life! 💖📚 Dive into dating app vocabulary on Spotify, YouTube, or adeptenglish.com. #LearnEnglish #Vocabulary
More About This Lesson
Join Adept English as we explore the intriguing world of dating apps! Learn how they change love, understand their impact, and significantly expand your English vocabulary. Discover the secrets behind swiping right and maybe find a new way to connect with that special someone.
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.
⭐ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What's in it for you? This lesson packs a punch, offering key benefits to boost your learning journey:
- Learn dating vocabulary - Boosts your English skills.
- Understand British dating culture - Expands cultural knowledge.
- Discover online dating's impact - Enhances awareness.
- Hear real-world application - Makes learning relatable.
- Explore alternative dating ideas - Broadens perspective.
- Gain insight into psychological effects - Increases understanding.
- Practice with complex English phrases - Sharpens language proficiency.
- Engage with modern societal trends - Keeps you informed.
- Hear from a psychotherapist's view - Offers expert insights.
- Learn to express opinions in English - Improves communication skills.
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
⭐ Lao Tzu
Here's what we'll cover:
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The British Dating Apps That Matter: The digital landscape of love in the UK 2024.
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Cultural Insights: Unravel the nuances of British dating culture.
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Dating Vocabulary: Learn the language of love and connection.
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Avoid Making Dating Mistakes: Tackle concerns head-on, from misunderstanding cultural nuances to expressing yourself clearly.
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Help us make more content with a donation https://adeptengli.sh/donate
So are you ready to enhance your English and navigate the world of dating apps with ease? Follow and subscribe to Adept English now. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to enrich your language learning journey with relevant, real-world topics!
Frequently Asked Questions about Dating Apps and Learning English
Today's English lesson is all about the world of dating apps in the UK. The lesson talks about the ups and downs of the British cultural dance of finding love in the digital age, and maybe, just maybe, discover a groundbreaking alternative to the swipe.
- What are dating apps and why are they popular? Dating apps are tools that help people find romantic partners. They are popular because they make it easy to meet people you might not otherwise encounter, offering a vast choice of potential matches. This is especially useful in a world where many of us have busy lives and meeting people traditionally can be challenging.
- Can using dating apps help with learning English? Yes, using dating apps can provide a unique opportunity to practice English in a real-world setting. You'll encounter new vocabulary related to dating and personal relationships, and engaging in conversations can improve your fluency and confidence in using English daily.
- What are some concerns associated with dating apps? While dating apps can connect people, they also have a darker side. Issues such as addiction, disrespectful behavior, and the psychological impact of constant searching for a "better option" are significant concerns. These platforms often use psychological tactics to keep users engaged, which can lead to unhealthy usage patterns.
- How can one avoid the negative aspects of dating apps? To mitigate the negative aspects, it's essential to use dating apps mindfully. Set boundaries for how often you use them, be respectful to others, and remain aware of the psychological effects they may have. Focusing on genuine connections rather than constant searching can also improve the experience.
- Are there alternatives to online dating for meeting people? Yes, there are many alternatives to meet people outside of dating apps. Engaging in hobbies, attending social events, or even joining clubs or groups with like-minded individuals can offer opportunities for in-person connections. Additionally, initiatives like the "pear ring" social experiment seek to facilitate real-life interactions among singles.
Most Unusual Words:
- Smörgåsbord: A wide variety of choices. This word is used to describe having many different things to choose from.
- Addictive: Something that is so interesting or enjoyable that you cannot stop doing it.
- Ghosting: When someone suddenly stops all communication with you without explanation.
- Hook up: Meeting someone for the purpose of having a sexual relationship.
- Share: Telling someone else about something interesting, like a podcast.
- Estate agency: A business that sells houses and land for people in the UK.
- Recruitment agency: A company that helps people find jobs and helps companies find people to work for them.
- Liberal: Being open to different ways of living and not judging others.
- Full of themselves: When someone thinks they are very important or better than others.
- Pear ring: A ring that shows others you are single and looking for a partner. It is part of a social experiment to help people meet in real life instead of using dating apps.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Dating | 39 |
| People | 39 |
| About | 19 |
| There | 10 |
| English | 9 |
| Which | 9 |
| Online | 9 |
| Apps | 8 |
| Their | 8 |
| Quite | 8 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Why Dating Apps Are Changing Love-A British English Guide
Navigating Dating Apps: A Language Guide
Hi there. Let’s talk about something interesting today - have you tried dating apps? That’s DATING APPS. Let’s look at the world of dating apps, learn some key English vocabulary, which is good to know whether you’re going dating or not. And let’s talk about how dating apps are used, what’s wrong with them. If you’ve tried them, do you like them or are you one of the growing number of people who has grown to hate dating apps? As a psychotherapist, I get to hear about trends in dating - how people find a partner, how people ‘find love’, if you like. And I have a ‘front-row seat’ for what’s going on with dating apps. So many difficulties, so many things that can go wrong. And one of the things that people find a problem - and hate sometimes are the dating apps themselves!
There’s a whole movement towards IRL or ‘In Real Life’ dating. So join me today in some interesting English language learning. Hear about the problems people have with dating apps. And stay with me until the end, where I talk about a possible new solution. A social experiment which aims perhaps to take the place of those dating apps and make ‘meeting someone’ that bit easier. Interested? Listen on! Oh - and of course, there will be lots of lovely English language vocabulary covered - vocabulary for dating and personal relationships. And if you want more, there’s a podcast specifically on the vocabulary we use in the UK for dating - that’s Adept English podcast number 633. So today, you’re learning English language, a bit about British culture and how it may be very different from your own!
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.
Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder lead in the UK. Tinder gets the 'argh’!
Worldwide, an amazing 323 million people use online dating apps, hoping to find their match amidst the vast number of dating profiles. In the UK, apps like Hinge, Bumble, and, uh, the notorious Tinder, are the most used. I say ‘argh - Tinder’ because that’s probably the one with the worst reputation. And have you heard of Badoo? Outside of the UK, another very popular app, Badoo, BADOO. It operates in 190 countries and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network. 400 million registered users of Badoo, though it is also social networking site, meaning you can use it simply to meet people with similar interests, not just for relationship and dating. And these apps are actually big business.. How much money do these companies make? Well, apparently the dating app market made $5.34 billion revenue worldwide in 2022. So that’s big business. You can be assured, wherever big business is involved, making a profit and answering to shareholders is priority number one. That’s just a reality!
📷
A couple, in love, sitting on a park bench near water with the sun shining through green leaves.
323 million people use dating apps worldwide. Big business and psychological tactics at work!
But the purpose of dating apps is essentially a positive one. They’re used just to connect people, who wouldn’t otherwise meet, who then meet up in person and take it from there. It’s really like going to an estate agency when you want to buy a house - or a recruitment agency if you want to get a job. You’d probably think of doing those things as sensible. And logistically, dating apps make it easier. And this can be especially so if you’re ‘gay’, GAY meaning you would like a same-sex relationship. You’ve got a smaller pool of people - so going online makes sense. But dating apps can be useful for anyone. You might be young and starting out or you may have been in a relationship for many years. Dating apps certainly can work and be a good way to meet people.
However, is there a darker side to online dating? Georgina Lawton, writing in the British newspaper The Guardian recently, certainly thinks so. She says that just like with many computer games, psychologists have been consulted in the design of dating apps, in how to make them more addictive, ADDICTIVE. That means that the companies use psychological tactics to keep people using the apps. Georgina Lawton thinks it’s quite easy to become addicted - meaning you can’t stop using dating apps. And the ‘psychological roller coaster’, meaning ‘the ups and downs of feelings’, which you might experience using these apps - well, they make them more addictive too. Here’s a quote from Georgina Lawton, so you can practise more difficult English. She says ‘Having a digital smörgåsbord of global partners at our fingertips convinces us there’s always a better option if we just keep on looking.’ Does this mean perhaps that people don’t always treat each other with respect? And does it meant that we’re ‘never quite satisfied - there might be a better option?’
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UK's multi-cultural society respects family influence in dating
Now let me scope out the range of use for online dating apps. At one end, the UK is a multi-cultural society, so there are also people who for religious or cultural reasons accept that their parents and their families want to have some input, some influence over their choice of partner, especially choice over their eventual husband or wife. And there exist websites specifically to enable suitable people to be found, often someone with the same background and religion. And the two people involved usually do have some choice. There’s a dating process so that you can decide whether you want to go ahead or not. So it’s not that dissimilar.
In the UK, 'hooking up' is accepted. How does your country compare?
And at the same time the UK is quite a liberal society and it’s generally seen as OK by many people if you want to just ‘hook up’ with someone. That’s the verb we use ‘to hook up’ HOOK, when it’s just for sex. It’s generally regarded that as long as the two people involved are adults and no one gets hurt, then it’s up to them, it’s OK. I realise this may be very different from your country, but this liberal stance is there in many parts of Europe and North America too. And I make no judgement about that, but what I’m talking about today is people who use dating apps because they actually want to find a partner, a relationship.
Ever been ‘ghosted’?
So problems that people looking for a relationship report with general online dating apps? Well, some of the people on there just don’t behave nicely. Sorry if you’re a man, but my experience as a therapist is that much more of that ‘bad behaviour’ comes from men towards women! Or maybe that’s just the people I see in my practice! But top of the list in terms of ‘bad behaviour’ is ‘ghosting someone’! That’s ‘to ghost’ as a verb - GHOST and it means ‘to disappear, like a ghost’. To have some sort of dating interaction with someone and then just ‘hang up the phone’, meaning you’re ‘never seen or heard from again’ and you don’t reply to messages. This ‘ghosting’ can happen online when people are just ‘talking’, getting to know one another - much less harm done there. But ‘ghosting’ can happen after dates too. If you’ve met someone a couple of times and you’ve decided they’re not for you - be polite. Let them know. Ghosting is horrible, inconsiderate, rude and hurts people’s feelings!
Try to avoid those Narcissists!
Another thing that people complain about - those who are ‘full of themselves’. On a first date, the person may manage to seem OK, but on the second and third dates - do they ask about you? Or do they just talk about themselves? And if they ask about you, do they actually listen and remember what you say? This is quite telling. Can they ‘sustain interest in another person’s world’?
Another thing - people who seem content to be on online dating apps and talk to other people, but then who never quite agree to meeting up. A dating app isn’t supposed to be an end in itself! But apparently there are quite a lot of people who are secretly on dating apps, but also in long-term relationships. What they seem to get out of it is that they can flirt, be admired, be reassured that people still find them attractive - all behind their long-term partner’s back! And probably these people say to themselves - ‘I’m not doing anything wrong - I’ve not actually met anyone!’. Can you see why people think dating apps bring out the worst behaviour in people?
Not so fast, sir!
Another complaint - again, this tends to be from women - men who want to make it sexual too soon. Respect is required. And making assumptions around sex is probably one of the worst things. But above all, the complaint I hear most often about online dating - it’s just hard work! People can feel this particularly when they’ve been pursuing a connection with someone for several weeks or months and it just doesn’t work out. They have to start over again. And it can feel like the same old ‘getting to know you’ conversations, which are tedious and repetitive.
The Manchester Evening News interviewed people, asking what ‘turned them off’ using online dating apps. What made them go ‘uck’?! Well, the list included ‘people who are slow texters’, where you have to wait days for their reply! Another complaint - ‘not enough information on the profile page’ or the alternative ‘too much information’, which might make the person seem ‘big-headed’! A whole podcast could probably be written on the subject of people’s profile photographs. Which ones do they choose and what does it say about them?
‘In Real Life’ meeting - preferred by most
Naturally people are seeking alternatives to dating apps.? If you meet IRL - In Real Life - you might meet someone at work.That’s fine if you work with people who are ‘eligible’ - the kind of person that you might want a relationship with. But if you don’t, it’s a problem. People sometimes have hobbies that bring them into contact with the group they’re interested in. But without that in your life, it really is just down to chance - who do you meet when you go out in the evening.
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There are some things you can sign up for, which mean you meet people, possibly to date, In Real Life. Cooking classes for instance, singles holidays - and of course speed dating. That’s SPEED. This is an organised event, where two groups of people who may be matched meet and have a timed conversation with others, say 3-5 minutes. For assessing whether you find someone attractive or not, I guess that probably works. But the ones I’ve heard about in London say, heterosexual speed dating - the problem has been ‘many more women than men’, which doesn’t work quite so well!
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Pear rings signal you're single. Would you wear one?
So amidst all of this, a social experiment is going on. Have you heard about pear rings? That’s ‘pear’, PEAR - like the fruit and a ‘ring’, RING - that you wear on your finger. A social experiment - for a one-off price, you can become one of a community of pear ring wearers. It actually seems quite expensive in a way for what you get - three little turquoise rings. But really what you are purchasing is a membership of a worldwide community, which will be become more useful as the number of people grow. You wear your ‘pear ring’ when you’re out and it signals to other people that you are single and looking for someone to date. Pear say ‘If the 1.2 billion single people around the world wore a little green ring on their finger to show they’re single, we wouldn't need dating apps. IRL connection is the mission.’ How well this works I guess is still becoming apparent. It needs a fair number of people to sign up to work - and it needs more people to recognise the ring and understand its meaning. I’ve yet to meet anyone yet who has found a relationship through wearing a pear ring, but it’s an interesting idea. Whether or not that works, I do understand the wish people have to go back to ‘meeting people In Real Life’.
Goodbye
Let us know what you think. This is an interesting topic and there is probably much more to say about it. I’ve covered some really useful vocabulary today if you’re going dating in English! Anyway….
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
Links
- People are suing a dating app company
- Pearring
- Podcast number 633
- What is the Pear Ring?
- Dating App Statistics (2024)
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