Learning English

Rob
Hi! I'm Rob…

Catherine
...and I'm Catherine. Hello! Welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Rob
Our subject for today is onomatopoeia. That means, words that sound like the thing they mean. And Catherine and I will be trying to demonstrate some of these words today.

Catherine
Yes, like that sound most people's phones make when you get a text messages. We call that sound a beep.

Rob
Beep!

Catherine
That's it Rob, yeah. That's onomatopoeia: the word sounds like the thing it means. Beep!

Rob
Beep beep! Yes, have I got a message? Hold on. Right, OK. There are lots of examples of onomatopoeia in the English language, and we'll take a look at some of them on today's show.

Catherine
So let's start with a clip of Oliver. And he's talking about living in the city.

Rob
While you listen, try to answer this question: How does Oliver feel about city life?

INSERT
Oliver
It's too noisy for me! All the cars zooming around and honking their horns, music blaring in shops, machines buzzing and bleeping… even at night, it isn't quiet, you can still hear the fridge humming, and the rumble of the traffic outside. Then I wish I was far away from the city, sleeping in a tent, with no sound except the rustle of the wind in the trees.

STING

Catherine
So that's Oliver. And we asked you how he feels about city life.

Rob
And Oliver said it's too noisy for him.

Catherine
I know how he feels – London: same. Anyway, here's another question: what words did Oliver use to talk about the sounds of the city in the daytime? Listen again.

INSERT 1 CLIP 1
All the cars zooming around and honking their horns, music blaring in shops, machines buzzing and bleeping.

Rob
Lots of lovely vocabulary there! Oliver talked about cars zooming around. Zoom, spelt z - o – o – m - is a verb, which means 'to move very quickly, making a zooming sound'. 

Catherine
Zoom, zoom.

Rob
Watch out!

Catherine
Then he mentioned the cars honking their horns. A honk – spelt h – o – n – k - is a short, loud sound – like a car horn makes. Honk honk!

Rob
OK, next, Oliver talked about music blaring. The verb to blare: that's b – l – a – r – e, means 'to make a loud, unpleasant sound' – like music that's much too loud. Blaring!!!

Catherine
You got teenage kids Rob?

Rob
Not yet, no.

Catherine
They'll be blaring their music soon enough. OK, and Oliver also mentioned machines bleeping and buzzing. Now a bleep…

Rob
Bleep bleep.

Catherine
That's one  b – l – double e – p - is a short, high sound, which electronic devices make. Something like this: Bleep, bleep, bleep. That sounds like a heart monitor.

Rob
Very good.

Catherine
And a buzz - that's b – u – z – z - is a low, continuing sound, like machines and insects make.

Rob
Yes. Buzzzzzzzzzzz….

Catherine
That's it Rob.

Rob
Like that, yes?

Catherine
Well done. Perfect.

Rob
Is there a bee in here? Now, the sounds of the city don't stop, even at night. Here's Oliver.

INSERT 1 CLIP 2
… you can still hear the fridge humming, and the rumble of the traffic outside.

Catherine
So he can hear the fridge humming. The word hum – h – u – m - describes a low, continuous sound. And a hum [HUMMMMMMMM] is different from a buzz [BUZZZZZZZZ]! Can we listen to your hum and your buzz, Rob?

Rob
OK, why not? Here we go. [HUMMM] and [BUZZZ].

Catherine
Is that your fridge and your bee?

Rob
That's right, yes, in that order.

Catherine
Oliver also spoke about the rumble of the traffic out in the street. Now, a rumble – r – u – m – b – l – e - is a bit like a buzz, but there's a difference – a buzz [BUZZZZZZZZZ] continues without changing, but a rumble goes up and down, like the wheels of a truck on rough ground going rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble.

Rob
Rumble. You carry on rumbling.

Catherine
OK.

Rob
Finally, Oliver spoke about the sound of the wind in the trees. Listen out for the word he used.

INSERT 1 CLIP 3
Then I wish I was far away from the city, sleeping in a tent, with no sound except the rustle of the wind in the trees.

Rob
Rustle describes the sound of the wind, A rustle is a soft, dry, moving sound. It's spelt r – u – s – t – l – e. And in pronunciation, the t is silent, so it's rustle. Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Catherine
Quite a nice sound really.

Rob
Thank you.

Catherine
Yeah.

IDENT
You're listening to BBC Learning English.

Catherine
And our subject today is onomatopoeia – words that sound like the thing they describe.  And it's time for a quiz! Question one. Rob, what sound does a car horn make?

Rob
Easy, it's a honk! Question two: what sound does a fridge make?

Catherine
And it's hum. And the last question: what sound does the wind make in the trees?

Rob
The correct answer is rustle. And that's the end of today's quiz. Well done to you at home if you got them all right.

Catherine
And before we go, here's an idea to help you remember new vocabulary: choose one of your favourite songs in your first language, and write some new words for it, in English.

Rob
Yes, and then, practise singing your song! It will help you to remember the new words.

Catherine
There's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both
Bye!