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Shadowing practice: Why are we all so stressed? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
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Full transcript

  1. 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English .com.0:00
  2. Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.0:08
  3. I'm Neil.0:12
  4. And I'm Becca.0:13
  5. Worrying about work or exams, war and climate change in the news?0:14
  6. It's no wonder that modern life is stressful.0:19
  7. What makes you stress, Neil?0:22
  8. Oh, good question.0:23
  9. I think not having enough time to do something that really makes me stressed out.0:25
  10. How about you?0:30
  11. When I'm trying to do something that I've never tried before and I'm not very good at it, that makes me feel really stressed.0:32
  12. I find that stressful too.0:40
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  1. And how do you cope with stressful situations, Neil?0:43
  2. Well, I try to slow down, pause, take a breath and think that at some point, probably later today, everything will be okay again.0:45
  3. How about you?0:56
  4. Yeah, same.0:57
  5. But in my mind, I'm telling myself that I will be better at what I'm doing.0:58
  6. I just need to practice more.1:03
  7. Many young people who feel stressed about the modern world use the word overwhelm to a recent BBC World Service programme, What in the World?1:05
  8. Here's Ikra Faruk and Claudia Hammond.1:18
  9. So overwhelm is an emotional state where you are struggling with your current situation.1:21
  10. So you might feel overloaded.1:26
  11. You might feel you can't cope.1:27
  12. And that might be a temporary thing, hopefully.1:29
  13. But if it's not in the longer term, if that becomes more of a kind of chronic kind of stress, then that might lead to burnout in the end.1:31
  14. Feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with life can become chronic, meaning that it lasts for a long time.1:38
  15. Overwhelm can lead to burnout, mental or physical exhaustion caused by working too hard.1:46
  16. So how can we manage the stress in our lives and feel happier and healthier?1:51
  17. That's what we'll be discussing in this episode, along with some useful new words and phrases.1:56
  18. You'll find all the vocabulary from this episode on our website, bbclearningenglish .com.2:01
  19. But before we start, I've a question for you, Neil.2:06
  20. One simple way of combating stress is taking time to rest.2:11
  21. So, according to research conducted by BBC presenter and psychologist Claudia Hammond, which activity is thought to be the most restful?2:15
  22. Is it A.2:25
  23. reading for pleasure, B.2:26
  24. walking in nature, or C.2:28
  25. listening to music?2:30
  26. Well, I think they're all quite relaxing, but I'm going to guess B.2:31
  27. walking in nature.2:36
  28. I'm surprised, Neil.2:37
  29. I know you love music and we'll find out the answer later.2:39
  30. One of the most stressful things facing many young people is exams.2:43
  31. Here, Claudia Hammond offers some advice for managing exam stress to BBC World Services What in the World.2:47
  32. Particularly in the exam itself, if you feel stressed, then just knowing that you may well perform better while you're stressed, that this it concentrates the mind, it sharpens and2:54
  33. you know, nerves sharpen your thinking and allow you to really do your best.3:05
  34. It's normal to feel nerves before an exam.3:09
  35. Nerves is an informal word for worry or anxiety.3:12
  36. But according to Claudia, nerves aren't necessarily bad.3:16
  37. Yes, nerves can help concentrate the mind.3:20
  38. The phrase concentrate or sharpen the mind means to think more clearly about something.3:23
  39. Like an actor or an athlete, feeling nerves before a big performance can help them do their best.3:29
  40. Claudia recommends other ways to reduce stress as well.3:34
  41. These include slowing down and accepting that it's okay to be good enough, rather than always trying for perfection.3:38
  42. Here, she shares more tips with Iqra Farouk of BBC World Services What in the World.3:46
  43. And I guess there's no one size fits all as well when it comes to this.3:52
  44. So if someone's listening and thinking I want some top tips on just feeling overwhelmed generally in my life, what would you say to them?3:56
  45. So first I would say accept that your to -do list is never going to end.4:03
  46. It is always going to be there.4:06
  47. So even I know that might sound defeatist, but even if you get to the end of it today, tomorrow there will be something else on it.4:07
  48. And that is just life.4:13
  49. And that is just signs of a busy life.4:14
  50. There are many ways to combat stress, not a one size fits all solution.4:16
  51. The phrase one size fits all describes trying to apply the same solution to many different problems.4:21
  52. Claudia's final piece of advice is don't worry too much about your to -do list, the list of all the items you have to do.4:28
  53. Why?4:36
  54. Because it never ends.4:37
  55. Every day there will be something new to add to the list.4:39
  56. So why stress?4:42
  57. Some good advice there Neil.4:43
  58. I think I'll try these techniques next time I feel stressed.4:45
  59. And speaking of ways to do stress reminds me of my question.4:49
  60. I asked you earlier, according to research conducted by BBC presenter and psychologist Claudia Hammond, which activity is thought of to be the most restful?4:53
  61. And you answered B, walking in nature.5:03
  62. Unfortunately Neil, the answer is A, reading.5:06
  63. Ah, well reading is really relaxing as well.5:10
  64. Okay, let's recap the vocabulary from this episode, beginning with the adjective chronic, which means continuing for a long time.5:13
  65. Burnout is a feeling of physical or mental exhaustion caused by working too hard.5:20
  66. If you say that a difficult situation sharpens or concentrates someone's mind, you mean that it makes them think clearly.5:26
  67. Nerves are an informal word for worry or anxiety.5:33
  68. A one size fits all approach tries to apply the same solution to all problems, rather than solving them individually.5:37
  69. And finally, a to -do list is a list of all the tasks you have to do.5:45
  70. Of course, another way to beat stress is doing something you love.5:49
  71. And if that's improving your English, then why not visit our website, bbclearningenglish .com, where you'll find loads more activities for doing just that.5:53
  72. See you again next time, but for now, it's goodbye.6:02
  73. Bye.6:05

English speaking practice with a fast British conversation about stress

This clip gives you english speaking practice with two BBC presenters, Neil and Becca, talking through what stresses them out and how they cope. It is rated B1, and at 186 words per minute it moves faster than half the recordings in this catalogue, so treat it as a stretch target once the easier clips feel comfortable. The accent is a clear, standard British broadcast voice, which makes the clip solid material for british english pronunciation practice.

The conversation opens as small talk, Neil says he gets stressed when he does not have enough time, Becca says the same about trying something new she is not good at. Then the format shifts: a clip of Ikra Faruk and Claudia Hammond defines the word overwhelm and explains how it can turn into burnout. That switch from casual chat to a short explainer gives you two registers in one recording, useful for english listening practice as well as speaking.

The words and phrasing worth studying in this recording

A few lines carry more than they first appear to. Reading them once before you speak them will help you shadow this line with the right stress, since B1 broadcast English still leans on word stress to carry meaning even without heavy reductions.

  • "I think not having enough time to do something that really makes me stressed out." Neil stacks two clauses before the main verb, keep your breath going and land the stress on stressed out, not on time.
  • "Well, I try to slow down, pause, take a breath and think that at some point, probably later today, everything will be okay again." A long run of short verbs, slow down, pause, take a breath, each one gets its own tiny beat when spoken well.
  • "So overwhelm is an emotional state where you are struggling with your current situation." A definition sentence, notice how the pitch stays level and only drops at the end, that is how a presenter signals this is the key term.
  • "Overwhelm can lead to burnout, mental or physical exhaustion caused by working too hard." The comma introduces an appositive that restates burnout in plainer words, useful if you want to speak english fluently when explaining a term yourself.

How to work through the stress episode line by line

This clip rewards working it twice, once for the chat, once for the explainer, since the pace and the register both change partway through.

  • Start with line 9, Neil's line about not having enough time. Say it once slowly, then three times at speed, since it is the clip's first full sentence and sets the rhythm for the rest.
  • Take line 11, Becca's answer about trying something she is not good at, and compare it to line 9. Both use the same makes me stressed pattern, so practising them back to back is efficient english speaking practice.
  • Move to line 14, Neil's slow down, pause, take a breath line. This is the longest sentence in the opening section, break it at the commas first, then run it whole.
  • Finish with lines 21 and 27, the two overwhelm and burnout definitions. Read them for meaning first, then again for delivery, this pair is where the clip turns into an everyday english explainer worth repeating for listening as much as for speech.
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