Zapp! English Colloquial 2.8: Education & Learning Slang

Katie asks for the expression that means leaving the house for school and never arriving. Tom offers to play truant, then to skive off, then to bunk off — all correct, none of them the one she wanted. When to play hooky and to cut class are added, that's five ways to describe the same bit of bad behaviour. "Wow. Four different ways to say the same thing," Katie says. Tom's verdict: "It's obviously a very popular activity."

What you'll hear in this episode

This is a Colloquial unit, so the format is a game: Katie describes an informal expression, leaves a gap, and Tom guesses. Ten expressions about school, learning and education come up across two conversations, and the guessing goes off in useful directions.

In the first half, Tom defines a swot himself — "somebody that, studies a lot, that is very good at school" — and cheerfully accepts the label. Katie shows how it's actually used, as an accusation: "You swot!" Then teacher's pet, the school-skipping cluster, and to cram, where Tom adds the regional alternative to swot up and explains why cramming works only for the exam in front of you, not the long term.

The second half starts with to flunk out, which Tom identifies but flags as sounding "very...er...North American" to a British ear. Katie asks whether he's ever flunked anything, and one of the speakers admits to twelve percent in a university computer exam — prompting Katie's "You're Mr computer clever clogs". After that: to pick on someone, with unfashionable shoes and a child compared to a potato as examples; to learn something off by heart, which Tom narrows down with "Has this got a part of the body in it?"; and finally to learn the hard way and to live and learn, illustrated by a day on the beach with no sun cream.

Quick facts

Episode	Zapp! English Colloquial 2.8 - Education & Learning
Episode number	2.8
Pack	Colloquial 2
Level	2
Duration	22 minutes 11 seconds
Workbook	Included in the €39 all-in-one pack

What you'll learn

The most useful thing here isn't the list of expressions — it's watching two native speakers disagree about which one they'd actually say. Tom knows to play hooky but has never used it. He'd say skive. He recognises flunk from films rather than from his own speech. Katie hears flunk "a lot on movies" and finds the word itself funny. That's how idioms really work: everyone understands far more than they use, and regional and personal preference decides the rest.

You'll also get practice with the grammar patterns around these phrases, which is where learners usually slip. Teach someone a lesson, never learn someone a lesson. Pick on someone, not pick at. Flunk out of your first year, or simply flunk the test. Learn something off by heart — and note that Katie also says learn it by heart, without the off.

Because the conversations are unscripted, you're listening through hesitation, laughter and false starts: Tom's "Ahh, well there's two ways I can think of", the gaps Katie hums instead of speaking, the moment Tom simply answers "No." when invited to think about being at school. This is normal speed, normal mess, with a scripted review afterwards so nothing stays unclear.

Vocabulary from this unit

The workbook glossary rates each expression 1 to 3 for how informal it is — 3 means "Don't use this with your mother-in-law!!!"

a swot (2) – someone who loves studying and doesn't do anything else - negative
teacher's pet (2) – someone who the class thinks is the teacher's favourite
to play hooky (UK) / cut class (USA) (1) – to not go to your lesson
to cram (1) – to try and learn a lot in a short space of time, especially just before an exam or test
to teach someone a lesson (2) – to punish someone so that they don't do the bad thing again
to flunk out (USA) (1) – to fail a class, test or exam
to pick on someone (1) – to be unkind to someone, or say bad things to them, more than to other people
to learn something off by heart (1) – to learn something so that you can remember and say it without looking at the words
to live and learn (1) – we say this when we want to show that something in life is new or surprising, or that you learnt from a mistake
to learn the hard way (1) – to learn something through making a mistake

In the workbook

The workbook for this unit gives you the full transcript of both conversations, so you can go back and see exactly where Tom hesitates, which synonyms he throws in before landing on the target, and how Katie sets each gap up.

After each conversation there's a Meaning and Pronunciation task, written out in full: a question that defines the expression, then the answer and two example sentences to repeat — "He's cramming for his exam tomorrow", "She totally flunked out", "I know the words off by heart."

The Extra Materials add the glossary with its 1-3 informality ratings, then two exercises. Practice Exercise 1 is a seven-item gap-fill covering every expression in the unit. Practice Exercise 2 is error correction — five sentences with the exact mistakes learners make, including "That will learn him a lesson" and "I learnt the difficult way that it's important to pass your exams." Full answers follow, with the corrections marked so you can see what was wrong and what replaced it.

The workbook is part of the Zapp! English all-in-one pack at €39, which covers every episode across the series.

Get the complete courseAll workbooks and audio — €39

Is the audio scripted?

The conversations between Katie and Tom are unscripted — Tom doesn't know which expressions are coming. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.

Do I need the workbook to follow the episode?

No. The audio works on its own, including the review and repetition tasks. The workbook adds the transcript, the glossary and the written exercises with answers.

Is this British or American English?

Both appear, and the difference is part of the lesson. Play hooky and cut class are labelled UK and USA in the glossary, flunk out is marked USA, and Tom adds skive off and bunk off as his own British alternatives.

What level is this episode?

It's Level 2, from the Colloquial 2 pack, and runs 22 minutes 11 seconds.

Can I use these expressions with anyone?

Check the rating first. Most here are 1 — safe in most informal situations. A swot, teacher's pet and to teach someone a lesson are rated 2, so keep them for people you know well.

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