How British People Talk About Drinking: Pints and Shots

Ask for a half in an English pub and, as Stuart describes it, you get "A half, what's wrong with you?" — to which Katie adds the standard follow-up, "You big girl." He calls the whole thing "a bit pathetic", then admits he gives in anyway: "I end up toeing the line." That is where this unit on alcohol and drinking begins: not with a word list, but with two people arguing about glass sizes and warm beer.

What you'll hear in this episode

There are two unscripted conversations, both with Katie. In the first, she and Stuart talk about what they actually drink. He explains why he'd rather have a smaller, colder glass than a pint that goes warm, and why beer on tap matters to him. They move on to spirits — a gin and tonic now and then, single rather than double shots of tequila at a fortieth birthday party, and Katie's confession that she can only manage whisky if she drowns it in coke. Stuart's verdict on that is immediate: "Ooh that's sacrilege." One of the speakers describes a whisky night with a connoisseur friend, tasting medicinal and peaty styles after cava and wine, which prompts Katie's "Oh God, talk about mixing your drinks." They then discuss going teetotal, and whether long stretches without alcohol count.

In the second conversation, Katie asks Alec straight out whether he's a heavy drinker. His answer — "I would never admit to that" — is followed by an honest map of his own stages: relaxed, then "a bit too chatty", then "and then eventually annoying". On coordination he points out that he doesn't have far to fall: "I'm very clumsy when I'm sober". And on ageing, he notices "hangovers creeping into two days, rather than one day". His friends' attempts at homebrew get a short review: "Always been awful." He finishes with a rule of thumb — "when the bad, outweighs the good", it's time to stop.

Quick facts

Episode	3.18 – Alcohol & Drinking
Pack	Vocabulary and Pronunciation 3
Level	3
Duration	15 minutes 58 seconds
Speakers	Katie, with Stuart and Alec
New language	15 words and phrases
Workbook	Included in the all-in-one pack (€39)

What you'll learn

This is a vocabulary and pronunciation unit, so after each conversation you answer questions and repeat the target words after the beep. Several of them are traps. Pint is one: the audio stops to say "Remember the sound is not /I/ /pInt/ but /aI/ /paInt/", because learners regularly turn it into something closer to print or pinned. Brewery is handled as three syllables with the stress on the first. Then there are the stress shifts: a hangover and hungover, addicted and an addict — same family, different stress, and the recording puts the pairs side by side so you can hear it.

You also get the practical language of ordering. "Which beers do you have on tap?" is drilled as a question you can use as it stands, and the classic model sentence "Two pints of lager and half a shandy please." shows how the sizes work in a real order. Beyond that, you learn to talk about quantity and behaviour rather than just drinks: the difference between a single and a double, between a shot and a neat spirit, and between a heavy drinker and an alcoholic — a distinction Katie and Alec spend some time on. And because both conversations are full of hedging (in moderation, every once in a while, not at the best of times), you get useful practice hearing how English speakers soften an admission.

Vocabulary from this unit

a pint / a half – a pint is a UK measure equal to 0.57 of a litre; a half is half a pint. This is the argument Stuart and Katie have in the first minute.
on tap – we can get it in any quantity we want through a pipe. Stuart uses it about cold beer.
a single / double – a measure used for drinks like vodka and whisky; a double is twice as big. Stuart thinks the tequilas were singles.
a shot – the same amount as a single, with no mixer, drunk in one go.
neat – a strong alcohol with no mixer added. Katie can't face neat whisky.
spirits – strong alcohol such as vodka, whisky, gin, tequila.
teetotal – describes someone who never drinks any alcohol.
to brew / a brewery – make alcoholic drinks / the place where they are made. Alec's friends tried it, with poor results.
a hangover / to be hungover – how you feel the day after drinking a lot.
a heavy drinker – someone who drinks a lot of alcohol regularly.
under the influence – behaving differently because you've drunk alcohol.
coordination – the way you move different parts of your body in relation to each other.

In the workbook

The workbook for 3.18 gives you the full transcript of both conversations, so you can go back and see exactly how Stuart and Alec hedged and hesitated, plus a glossary with IPA for all fifteen items. Then there are three practice sections with answers. Practice 1 is a set of quick sense-checks — Can you get vodka on tap?, Does your coordination improve or get worse when you drink? — the kind of question that shows immediately whether you've understood a word or only recognised it. Practice 2 is error correction on the mistakes learners really make: "I've got a really bad hungover", in tap instead of on tap, spirit instead of spirits. Practice 3 is pronunciation: five pairs where you decide whether the underlined sounds are the same or different, with the phonemic answers supplied — including the one that catches everyone, the /ʃ/ hiding in coordination.

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

Get the complete courseAll workbooks and audio — €39

Common questions

Are the conversations scripted?

No. Katie's chats with Stuart and Alec are unscripted — hence the false starts and the laughter. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.

Is this episode suitable for me?

It's Level 3, from Vocabulary and Pronunciation 3. If you can follow two natives talking at normal speed with some support, you'll cope.

Do I need the workbook to use the audio?

No — the audio is free and works on its own. The workbook adds the transcript, the glossary and the written practice with answers.

How long does it take?

The recording runs 15 minutes 58 seconds, and the three practice sections add maybe fifteen minutes more.

Who are Katie, Tom and Mark?

We're the people who make the recordings and write the workbooks. In this unit you'll hear Katie doing the interviewing.

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