Learning Vocabulary: Good Causes

Learning Vocabulary: Good Causes

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English. 

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: In this week’s roleplay we are talking about giving to good causes and collecting money for charity.

Jack: We start this week’s roleplay by talking about the Manchester United player, Marcus Rashford and some of the amazing work he has done and money he has collected for different good causes.

Rowan: I then decide to organise an event to collect money for a good cause but I need to persuade Jack and Rich to get involved as well.

Rich: You’ll hear the roleplay in three parts and after each part, we will look at some language. This week we’re going to focus on vocabulary. 

Jack: First we’ll look at some words and common collocations connected to collecting money for good causes and then we’ll also look at some phrases that are used to persuade people to do things.

Rowan: Your task this week is to use some of this vocabulary to persuade other listeners to do something for a good cause.

Rich: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Jack: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll find  the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete with other listeners.

Rowan: Before we do the roleplays let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Jack: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rowan: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: Thanks for all your answers last week. The first listener with the correct answer was MoBeckham from Turkey but as it was his phrase I’m also going to say a big well done to Luibomyr from Ukraine who was second with the correct answer!

Jack: MoBeckham and Luibomyr weren’t our only listeners with the correct answer and congratulations also go to: HSN from Turkey, WSanta from Argentina, Hayato from Japan, Musheli_04 from the USA, and Jacek from Poland.  

Rowan: There were quite a few wrong answers last week so we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. And later on, at the end of the podcast, we’ll tell you the answer. Are you ready?

Rich: Last week’s football phrase was ***** ******. The phrase describes a person who supports a team that is currently successful. A ***** ****** might change the team they support if another club becomes more successful.
These fans support successful teams so they can gloat at the end of the season.

Jack: Last week’s podcast was about DIY - do it yourself - decorating your house and we asked you whether you like DIY or you prefer to get other people to do things in your house.

Rowan: WSanta from Argentina is a DIY expert and in fact, it’s something that runs in his family. His son and father-in-law as well as himself are all handy when it comes to DIY projects in the home

Rich: Vic from Mexico is the opposite. Vic says that’s he’s not Bob the Builder and he’s had a few DIY disasters involving paint getting everywhere.

Jack: Maybe you should get Wsanta from Argentina to give you a hand, Vic.

Rowan: Thanks for all your comments and answers. If you haven’t heard this podcast it’s called Understanding Grammar: Causative Forms and Reflexive pronouns ... and you can find it on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Introduction to roleplay 1

Rich: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay we’re talking about Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and we’re doing something for a good cause. After each part, we will look at some language for you to learn or revise. 

Jack: You’re about to listen to the first part of the roleplay. I’ve just arrived at a cafe to meet Rich and Rowan.

Rowan: While you listen we want you to answer two questions.

Rich: Question one is: What has Marcus Rashford done?

Jack: Question two is: What has Rowan organised?

Roleplay: Part 1

Jack: Just a mineral water for me, thanks. How are you doing? Sorry, I’m late.

Rich: You’re all right.

Jack: Look at you two on your phones. Have you fallen out or something? What are you looking at?

Rich: Last night’s match report.

Jack: No surprise there. Rowan?

Rowan: I’m reading about Marcus Rashford. 

Jack: Why? I didn’t even think he was in the Manchester United team last night.

Rowan: He wasn’t playing, no. I’m reading about him and what’s he’s done, his campaigns and the money he’s raised.

Rich: Oh, yeah. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? I’m impressed and I’m a Liverpool fan! I read the other day that he’s donated loads of money to charity.

Rowan: I’m reading about that now - he’s top of something called the giving list which is a list of rich people and how much of their wealth they give to or raise for good causes and charities.

Jack: And how much has he given?

Rowan: It says here that Marcus Rashord’s raised more money than he’s worth and proportionally he’s raised more money for good causes than any other person in the UK - in fact, three times more than anyone else.

Rich: Like I said it’s pretty amazing. He’s campaigned for free school meals for underprivileged kids that are from similar backgrounds to him and he’s even got the government to change policy a couple of times.

Rowan: Marcus Rashford got me thinking about what I could do to give back so I’ve been organising a sponsored event. I was thinking I could get you two involved as well …

Jack: I did a sponsored run once. Ten miles - I got people to sponsor me for every mile I did - it was more of a walk though because I was dressed as a turtle - the shell weighed about 10 kilos - it nearly killed me but I got lots of sponsors.

Rich: Dressed as a turtle? I’m not even going to ask. Sponsored things can be great fun … you could do a sponsored skydive - I’d sponsor you to do that.

Jack: Or what about a sponsored cake eating contest - I’d give you a pound for every cake you ate, or a sponsored winter swim in Scotland - I’d give you 50p for every minute you managed to stay in the water or a maybe a sponsored sitting down competition - nah maybe not that one.

Rowan: Yeah, thanks for the ideas but it’s all organised already. It’s going to be a charity football match.

Language Focus 1

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: What has Marcus Rashford done?

Jack: Well, from what we said in the roleplay the answer is that he has raised lots of money for good causes or charity and campaigned for free school meals for underprivileged children. 

Rowan: Raise money, good causes, charity and campaign for something - lots of vocabulary there that we’ll look at in just a minute.

Rich: But first the second question we asked you. It was: What has Rowan organised?

Jack: Well, she has organised something for good causes too - a charity football match. We’ll find out how that goes in the next part of our roleplay but first, let’s look at some of that vocabulary.

Rowan: In this podcast, we’re talking a lot about charity and good causes so let’s start by looking at these words.

Rich: The word charity can be a countable or uncountable noun. When it is countable we’re talking about a specific organisation or institution that collects money to help people.

Jack: One of the charities that Marcus Rashford supports is called Fareshare which is a charity that fights hunger and tackles food waste.

Rowan: When the word charity is an uncountable noun we’re often talking about a general sense of doing good and helping others who are in need.

Rich: Here charity means the same as a good cause. A cause can mean an idea that people support. People often do things for charity or for a good cause.

Jack: We use the preposition for here - we talk about raising money for charity or raising money for a good cause.

Rowan: Raising money is a strong collocation - it means to collect money usually with a specific objective in mind. Charities such as Fareshare raise money for good causes.

Rich: Listen to how we used this vocabulary in the roleplay:

Rowan: It says here that Marcus Rashord’s raised more money than he’s worth and proportionally he’s raised more money for good causes than any other person in the UK - in fact, three times more than anyone else.

Jack: Let’s look at a bit more language. We mentioned that Marcus Rashford campaigned for free school meals.

Rich: If you campaign for something you do things to achieve some kind of social or political change. You might talk to politicians, organise protests or take direct action to achieve your aims.

Rowan: Another word we used a lot in the roleplay was sponsor. 

Jack: Sponsor can be a verb or a noun. Football clubs have lots of sponsors - these are companies that pay to advertise their name on things like club shirts.

Rich: Chevrolet is Manchester United’s shirt sponsor; Emirates sponsor Arsenal’s shirt and Arsenal’s stadium which is called the Emirates Stadium.

Rowan: In the roleplay, we use the word sponsor in a slightly different way. To sponsor something also means to give money to charity if someone does a specific task.

Jack: In the roleplay, we spoke about a few silly things like sponsored cake eating contests, sponsored swims and sponsored skydives. 

Rich: The idea of these sponsored events is that you tell people that you are doing one of these events for charity and ask people to give you money - to sponsor you for doing it. 

Rowan: Sometimes you might just ask for an amount of money and sometimes people might sponsor you for every kilometre you run, or minute you swim or cake you eat!

Jack: Listen to this part of the roleplay again and listen to how we use the word sponsor.

Jack: I did a sponsored run once. Ten miles - I got people to sponsor me for every mile I did - it was more of a walk though because I was dressed as a turtle - the shell weighed about 10 kilos - it nearly killed me but I got lots of sponsors.

Rich: Dressed as a turtle? I’m not even going to ask. Sponsored things can be great fun … you could do a sponsored skydive - I’d sponsor you to do that.

Rowan: You can find more activities connected to the language of charity and good causes on the Premier Skills English website but now I think it’s time to move on to the second part of our roleplay.

...

Rich: Rowan is going to try to persuade us to take part in the charity football match she is organising. I’m well up for it but Jack is less keen.

Jack: While you listen we want you to answer a question.

Rowan: The question is: Why doesn’t Jack want to take part? 

Roleplay 2

Rowan: So my idea is a sponsored event … like I said, I’ve already organised it. It’s going to be a charity football match - a 24-hour 5-a-side match. Teachers against students and we need more teachers.

Rich: That’s where we come in I suppose. It sounds like fun - I’m definitely up for it.

Rowan: People will sponsor us for every hour of five-a-side we complete. The match will start at three in the afternoon and finish at three the next day.

Jack: 24 hours? I can’t manage that. 

Rowan: You’ll get some breaks - not many but enough to stop you from collapsing from exhaustion!

Rich: Oh come on! You can do it - what’s stopping you? I doubt you have anything better to do.

Rowan: And it’s all for a good cause, you know.

Jack: Yeah, I know but 24 hours.

Rich: It’s not something I usually do but I’m giving it a go. What have you got to lose?

Jack: My dignity?

Rowan: And you’d really be helping me out - I need more teachers for the teacher’s team.

Jack: Couldn’t you ask someone else? 

Rowan: You’re the only teachers I know!

Jack: But what about sponsors? I haven’t got any sponsors.

Rich: I’ll help you get some - there are loads of people we could get to sponsor you.

Rowan: Come on  … please! I guarantee you won’t regret it!

Jack: OK, then I suppose I can give it a go.

Rowan: Great. It’s on Saturday.

Jack: This Saturday. Oh, come on!

Language Focus 2

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: Why doesn’t Jack want to take part in the charity football match?

Rowan: Well, the main reason he gave was the length of the match - it’s going to last 24 hours but he also mentioned losing his dignity.

Rich: Your dignity is like your self-respect. It’s based on how you think other people see you. I think Jack was worried about the teachers getting beaten by the students. 

Jack: In the end though, Rowan managed to persuade me to take part - to participate - to play. 

Rowan: Both Rich and I did lots of persuading in this part of the roleplay. To persuade means to tell someone to do something often by giving them reasons why they should do it.

Rich: Yes, we did lots of persuading - we were very persuasive and in the end persuaded Jack to take part.

Jack: Persuasion involves convincing someone else to take a certain course of action.

Rowan: In the roleplay, we did this by explaining why it would be a good thing for Jack to play in the match and that there were no good reasons not to play in the match.

Rowan: Listen to this part of the roleplay again and think about the persuasive language we used.

Rich: Oh come on! You can do it - what’s stopping you? I doubt you have anything better to do.

Rowan: And it’s all for a good cause, you know.

Jack: A lot of being persuading is in how we say something - listen how Rich says come on - the second word is stressed and is longer than normal to show disbelief that I don’t want to play. Listen:

Rich: Oh, come on!

Rowan: We then say ‘What’s stopping you’? This phrase is short for What’s stopping you - what’s preventing you from playing.

Jack: But it’s not a real question - it’s a rhetorical question. Rich doesn’t want me to answer it.

Rich: I then follow up this up by telling him that I doubt that he has anything to do. When you doubt something you are saying that you are not certain about something.

Jack: But what Rich is actually saying is that I will be sat at home doing nothing so I should play in the match.

Rowan: So Rich is saying that there are no good reasons not to play the match and then I tell him a good reason for playing the match.

Rich: Rowan says the match is for a good cause. Jack is starting to be persuaded but we carry on trying to persuade him to play.

Jack: Rich says that he’s going to play and then Rowan says that if I play it would be helping her. Listen:

Rich: It’s not something I usually do but I’m giving it a go. What have you got to lose?

Jack: My dignity?

Rowan: And you’d really be helping me out - I need more teachers for the teacher’s team.

Jack: And they don’t stop there. To make sure I finally agree to play, they more or less beg. To beg is when you ask someone to do something in a way that shows that you really really really want it and they also tell me what a great time I will have.

Rich: Yes, I don’t think Jack had any choice but to agree to play in the end. Listen:

Rowan: Come on  … please! I guarantee you won’t regret it!

Jack: OK, then I suppose I can give it a go.

Rowan: You can find more activities connected to persuasive language on the Premier Skills English website but now I think it’s time to move on to the final part of our roleplay.

...

Rich: We’ve just finished the charity football match and we’re talking about how it went.

Jack: While you listen we want you to answer a question.

Rowan: The question is: How much money does Rich have to give Jack? 

Roleplay 3 

Rowan: I’m absolutely knackered but I managed just over 22 hours of five-a-side in the end. How are you feeling guys?

Rich: The same - exhausted. I did just under 22 hours. I thought my legs were going to go a couple of times - I got a bit of cramp about five in the morning.

Jack: That pizza they brought us all for breakfast was a lifesaver! I took a 20-minute break then but I hit the 23-hour mark.

Rich: Impressive, Jack. So what was the final score? I think we got hammered!

Rowan: It finished 92-68 to the students but I think we put up a brave fight.

Jack: I’m really glad you talked me into it. It was well worth it in the end.

Rowan: Well, you took some convincing but I’m happy you came round to the idea and we’ve raised loads of money.

Rich: Jack got lots of sponsors in the end.

Jack: I did. I think a lot of people thought I wouldn’t manage it.

Rowan: I’m glad you convinced so many people to support you and everyone else. I think we’ve raised over £1000 for good causes.

Rich: That’s amazing!

Jack: And Rich sponsored me £5 an hour! So that’s 23 hours times five - time to cough up Rich!

Language focus 3

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: How much money does Rich have to give Jack? 

Rowan: Well, Rich sponsored Jack £5 for every hour of football he did. Jack managed 23 hours so that’s …

Jack: £115!

Rich: Wow, really, er … it’s all for a good cause I suppose … will you accept installments?

Rowan: Let’s move on to a bit of language from the final part of the roleplay. Let’s start by looking at a couple of phrasal verbs connected to being persuaded.

Jack: I was happy that I played in the end and I said I was happy Rowan and Rich talked me into doing it.

Rich: To talk someone into doing something is a phrasal verb which means to persuade someone to do something that initially they don’t want to do.

Rowan: Jack didn’t want to play in the match but we talked him into it. We could also have used the phrasal verb to talk round. We talked Jack round - we persuaded him.

Jack: Yes, I came round to the idea. This is another phrasal verb we used with a similar meaning. To come round to something means to change your mind about something - often because someone else has persuaded you.

Rich: Listen to how we use these phrasal verbs in the roleplay again:

Jack: I’m really glad you talked me into it though. It was well worth it in the end.

Rowan: Well, you took some convincing but I’m happy you came round to the idea and we’ve raised loads of money.

Jack: The final phrasal verb I want to look at is a bit different and unusual. It’s to cough up.

Rowan: Ah, yes. To cough up is a very informal way of saying to hand over some money when you don’t really want to.

Jack: Rich probably didn’t realise that he’d have to cough up quite so much but it’s time Rich - time to cough up.

Rowan: He’s gone, Jack. Maybe to the bank if you’re lucky! 

Jack: Ah, well, I’ll catch up with him later. If you want to learn more about the language we have used in our roleplay we have lots of extra materials on the website to help you study and understand. We also have the transcript if you want to read and listen at the same time so we hope to see you there.

TASK

Rowan: In this week’s task, we want you to tell us about a good cause that you often give money to or raise money for.

Jack: What is this good cause or charity? It might be an international organisation, a local charity or just giving money to someone less fortunate than yourself.

Rich: We want you to tell us about this good cause and why you support it and we want you to try to persuade other listeners to support it, too.

Rowan: Try to use some of the language we have learned in this podcast when you write your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Football Phrase

Rich: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Have you got one Rowan?

Rowan: I have. This week’s football phrase is ******* ********. The phrase describes what happens when the scores are level in a cup competition after full-time and extra-time. Five players from each team take part in a ******** ******** if the scores are still level the other players have to take part - even the goalkeepers!

Jack: Oh, this might be a bit too soon for some Manchester United fans - we’re sorry.

Rich: Let’s see if a few more of you can get this football phrase right and who is first this week. And if you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was glory hunter.

Rowan: If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast. 

Rich: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rowan: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Jack: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!