“They say, that you should always avoid talking about three things in polite conversation,” Donnie tells Katie at the start of this episode. Sex, politics and religion. Katie’s reply: “Makes for a very boring conversation though doesn’t it?” So we ignored the advice. Over two unscripted English conversations, Katie talks with Donnie and then with Kim about nudity, abortion, euthanasia, cloning, blood sports, immigration and capital punishment — and about how you say any of it politely in English.
What you’ll hear in this episode
The first conversation starts light and gets heavier. Katie and Donnie compare what counts as shocking in different places — “what’s acceptable in…on a Spanish beach is not going to be the same as what’s acceptable in the British high street” — and wonder whether the British attitude to nudist beaches is partly down to the weather. Katie suggests there’s a prejudice at work, “an assumption that they must be, somehow…strange or…er…weird,” and Donnie supplies the word she’s reaching for: “Not conventional.” From there they move to abortion and to euthanasia, including a story Katie half-remembers about a clinic on a boat, moored outside any country’s territory. Donnie ends the segment with a very dry line about buying a one-way ticket.
In the second conversation, Katie asks Kim about cloning first — “do you disapprove of it, approve of it, and why?” — and gets a careful answer about medical research and cures for cancer or Alzheimer’s. Blood sports gets a much blunter one: the idea of using an animal for sport is “completely abhorrent to me.” Katie tries out the usual defence of fox hunting, about “keeping the population of the, naughty foxes down,” and gets a reply that concedes “it’s not a black and white issue” while refusing to budge. They finish on immigration, discrimination and capital punishment, where Katie says straight out that she’s strongly opposed and predicts agreement. “I think you might be right yes,” comes the answer. “I mean we’re not living in the dark ages are we?”
Quick facts
| Episode | 3.23 – Controversial Issues |
| Pack | Vocabulary and Pronunciation 3 |
| Level | 3 |
| Length | 21 minutes 20 seconds |
| Audio | Free |
| Vocabulary | 15 words and phrases |
| Workbook | Included in the all-in-one pack |
What you’ll learn
This is a vocabulary and pronunciation unit, so after each conversation we stop and work the words. You’ll hear the nouns for the issues themselves, then the language for taking a position on them, and you’ll repeat each one after the beep.
The pronunciation work is specific. Euthanasia has four syllables with the stress on the third, /neI/ — a place learners rarely put it. Unacceptable also stresses the third syllable, and conventional the second. Capital punishment has two stressed places, /kæ/ and /pʌ/. We break prejudice down sound by sound, /pre/ /ʤə/ /dIs/, and point out the /ʃən/ ending that turns up in both abortion and immigration.
The most useful bit for fluency is the weak forms. In opposed to the preposition reduces to /tə/; in disapprove of it reduces to /əv/. Say them strong and you sound like you’re reading; say them weak and you sound like Katie and Kim do in the recording. You’ll also hear the difference between prejudice and discrimination put plainly — one is the idea, the other is the action.
The vocabulary
- nudity /njuːdəti/ (noun) — the state of wearing no clothes; the first topic Katie and Donnie land on
- conventional /kənvenʃənəl/ (adjective) — not new or different, but the way things are normally done by most people
- anti- /ænti/ — against, not in favour of, opposed to; as in “She is completely anti-abortion”
- euthanasia /juːθəneIziə/ (noun) — killing someone who is very old or very sick, so that they do not experience any more pain
- prejudice /predʒʊdIs/ (noun) — having negative ideas about a person or group of people, when there is no fair reason for this
- to disapprove of /dIsəpruːvəv/ (verb) — to feel negative about something, to feel that it is not right or correct
- opposed to /əpəʊzd/ (adjective) — against something, think it should not happen
- blood sports /blʌdspɔːz/ (noun) — things done for entertainment that involve killing animals, for example fox-hunting or dog fighting
- to conform /kənfɔːrm/ (verb) — to do what people think you should, to obey rules or follow expectations
- discrimination /dIskrImIneIʃən/ (noun) — treating a person or people unfairly because of their religion or race etc
The workbook glossary has all fifteen entries, including abortion, acceptable / unacceptable, cloning, capital punishment and immigration.
The workbook
The workbook for this unit gives you the full transcript of both conversations, so you can go back and see exactly how Katie phrases her questions and how the answers hedge. Then there’s the glossary with phonemic transcription, followed by three practice sections.
Practice 1 is a matching task: pair each issue with a related word — nudity with skin, euthanasia with illness, old age, cloning with copy. Practice 2 is gap-fill in full sentences, so you have to choose between the grammar patterns as well as the meanings: disapproves of, opposed to, conform to, anti-. Sentence four wants unconventional, which means noticing that the negative prefix is needed. Practice 3 is pure pronunciation: match words with the same stress pattern, so conventional goes with acceptable and immigration with euthanasia. Answers are at the back.
This workbook comes with the all-in-one pack — every Zapp! English episode, every workbook, one price, €39.
Common questions
Is the audio scripted?
The conversations are completely unscripted — that’s why you get the false starts, the overlapping and the half-remembered stories. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.
Do I need to agree with the opinions?
No. The workbook asks you to listen for useful words and see whether you agree. The point is the language for saying where you stand, not the positions themselves.
What level is this episode?
Level 3, from the Vocabulary and Pronunciation 3 pack. You’ll cope if you can already follow two people interrupting each other at natural speed.
How long is it?
21 minutes 20 seconds, split into two conversations with a pronunciation section after each.
Is the audio free?
Yes. The audio is free to download. The workbook comes with the paid pack.
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