Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod.
My name is Marco.
My name is Catherine and today we're talking a little bit about going to sleep or not being able to sleep.
That's right we are having some sleeping problems and we're actually going to check out a couple of words related to this topic right now on vocabulary preview.
Vocabulary preview.
Okay so the first word is actually the technical word that describes being unable to sleep.
It's called insomnia.
Right so if you have insomnia it means that you can't fall asleep you can't sleep.
Okay so this is a pretty serious condition for example if you have insomnia and you don't sleep with three or four nights you're not going to do very well at work right?
Right or if you're studying you're tired at school you can't concentrate so it's a very big problem.
What's that other word though?
We have insomnia but we also have another interesting disorder.
Right if somebody is able to sleep but walks while they're sleeping that person is called a sleepwalker.
That's right and you don't actually just have to walk to be a sleepwalker.
You can do any number of strange things like basically acting like you're awake when you're not.
Exactly so some people get up and walk actually go outside some people get dressed some people that go downstairs and cook.
Yeah that's right and the worst is the people who eat because they gain weight and they don't know why.
Exactly so sleepwalking is is what you do and if you do this you're called a sleepwalker.
Okay sleepwalk is the verb sleepwalker is the noun or the person.
Alright so we've taken a look at two words that we're gonna find in our dialogue today why don't we go now and listen to the dialogue for the first time.
Alex what's up with you?
You look dreadful.
Hey Jill I don't know I've been having trouble sleeping these past few weeks.
I usually lie in bed for hours trying to get to sleep.
I've tried stretching and different breathing techniques before going to bed.
I've tried eating and not eating different foods.
I've even tried counting sheep and then when I finally get to sleep I have these really disturbing nightmares so I usually wake up in a panic and more tired than before I went to sleep.
Wow maybe you should get that checked out maybe you're stressed?
Just take some sedatives works for me.
Every so often having some melatonin on hand helps me when I have trouble sleeping.
It works on all kinds of sleeping disorders.
It's the stuff pilots use to regulate their sleeping patterns.
I heard of that but does that apply to Alex's situation?
Yeah sure why not?
Sounds like he only has transient insomnia since it's a recent thing so taking melatonin should do the trick.
But shouldn't he be looking into why it's been happening?
Well aren't you the little psychologist?
Our buddy's having trouble sleeping it's easy and curable.
It's not something freakish like if he was a sleepwalker.
Well there's that too.
Alright we're back so obviously this person not only has insomnia but also has nightmares, sleep walks, a mess.
That's right and you can tell when someone hasn't been sleeping well.
They have that look like there's bags under their eyes or they just look really tired.
And so the friend here says Alex you look dreadful.
That's right dreadful.
So this is an adjective and it's a way to describe someone that looks terrible.
You look horrible.
You look tired.
You look sleepy.
That's right so this is not a compliment.
This is something that you say when you're worried about someone.
So for example so for example if someone's really really tired you say you look dreadful or if someone is wearing very dirty clothes they don't look like they went home yesterday you say oh what's wrong you look dreadful.
Right I think you can also use it to describe objects or maybe food right this lasagna is dreadful.
Means it's very bad and you don't want to say that to the person who cooked it of course.
Exactly.
Alright so the person obviously because is suffering from insomnia looks dreadful and he was explaining what he does to try to fall asleep.
For example counting sheep stretching and he also said that he tried different breathing techniques.
Okay so basically a technique is an approach to something a kind of method but in this case we're talking about breathing techniques.
So for some people one breathing technique is breathing in through your nose and breathing out through your mouth.
Mm-hmm.
Like that that's one kind of technique.
So a technique as you say is a way of doing something.
Yes.
So breathing techniques are different ways of breathing so maybe you will relax so maybe you'll fall asleep things like this.
Exactly it's one of those things that you might learn about in a yoga class for example there's different breathing techniques.
Right and you can combine techniques with other words as well adding the ing for example you have walking techniques maybe to put less stress on your knees.
Mm-hmm.
Or running techniques swimming techniques I think there's a technique for almost everything.
Just about anything you can do there's a technique for it.
Right yeah yeah for sure.
Alright and well moving on he was talking about his nightmares and he described his nightmares as disturbing he has disturbing nightmares.
Okay well I think this is an important word to cover here Marco because we've heard the verb to disturb before like I'm sorry to disturb you means I'm sorry to bother you but disturbing is an adjective it describes something that makes me very uncomfortable right?
Right.
So for example a lot of times in the news we see very disturbing images car accidents or fires or bombs and what's disturbing is when you see human beings who have been hurt so images that make you really uncomfortable or sad these are disturbing.
Exactly so disturbing nightmares are nightmares that are not very pleasant they they make him scared maybe or uncomfortable.
Right like a dream for example where your parents die it's pretty disturbing.
Exactly alright and well one of his friends recommended you know what stop with all of this just take some sedatives.
Okay so sedatives are a kind of medicine that help a person relax or that help make a person tired.
Right so I think it comes from the verb to sedate.
Yes.
And basically that is to calm down to tranquilize.
That's right so in this case we're talking about a person but you can also give an animal sedatives for example if you want to take your dog on an airplane the dog needs to relax you give it some sedatives.
Exactly and I think when he mentioned a specific name of a sedative it's melatonin.
That's right so melatonin is a chemical that our bodies naturally produce that help calm us down and so a lot of pharmaceutical companies or drug companies sell melatonin in a pill form it's basically it's a chemical that helps you relax.
Exactly so obviously if you take melatonin you're gonna feel sleepy or you're gonna be very relaxed and you're gonna fall asleep a lot easier.
Well hopefully.
Hopefully that's right so and well the whole thing that we've been talking about insomnia sleepwalking these are called sleeping disorders.
Right or you might also hear the term sleep disorders they mean problems with sleeping so people who either cannot fall asleep or people who have bad dreams or people who sleepwalk.
Exactly so a disorder is something of an illness or a condition that is not normal so for example as you said a sleeping disorder or a sleep disorder it means that you're not able to sleep properly or normally.
But there are other kinds of disorders right?
Right I guess many people have heard of eating disorders.
Okay so that's basically people who do not eat like everyone else.
Exactly so that's what happens with a disorder.
Alright so we've taken a look at a lot of vocab now it's time for us to take a look at Fluency Builder but before that why don't we listen to the dialogue again.
Alex what's up with you?
You look dreadful.
Hey Jill I don't know I've been having trouble sleeping these past few weeks.
I usually lie in bed for hours trying to get to sleep.
I've tried stretching and different breathing techniques before going to bed.
I've tried eating and not eating different foods.
I've even tried counting sheep and then when I finally get to sleep I have these really disturbing nightmares so I usually wake up in a panic and more tired than before I went to sleep.
Wow maybe you should get that checked out maybe you're stressed?
Just take some sedatives works for me.
Every so often having some melatonin on hand helps me when I have trouble sleeping.
It works on all kinds of sleeping disorders.
It's the stuff pilots use to regulate their sleeping patterns.
I heard of that but does that apply to Alex's situation?
Yeah sure why not?
Sounds like he only has transient insomnia since it's a recent thing so taking melatonin should do the trick.
But shouldn't he be looking into why it's been happening?
Well aren't you the little psychologist?
Our buddy's having trouble sleeping it's easy and curable.
It's not something freakish like if he was a sleepwalker.
Well there's that too.
All right we're back so now we have three main phrases for Fluency Builder why don't we start with the first one?
Okay so you heard in today's dialogue a an interesting phrase I don't know if it exists in other languages but in English we say when you're trying to fall asleep there's a good technique to help you do so.
You count sheep.
Yeah I think you see it in cartoons all the time a person is sleeping and over that cartoon's head is a little cloud and you see sheep jumping over a fence.
Yeah basically there's a fence and you say one two right three and the process of counting helps relax a person.
Then you fall asleep.
Right.
So counting sheep I guess you're not literally out in a field counting sheep you're just imagining sheep in your head and you're and you're trying to fall asleep.
That's right counting sheep.
All right and well one of his friends recommended that maybe he should go to a doctor and Jill said that by saying maybe you should get that checked out.
Okay so to get something checked out to get it checked out this means to have a professional give you a suggestion or to have a professional look at something.
Exactly so maybe you should get examined maybe you should go to the doctor.
This isn't just about disorders right I mean what if I have a sore tooth I could say this.
Right so if you have a toothache I would recommend maybe you should get that checked out by my dentist.
Right or maybe if you have a bad rash you know your skin is very red I say Marco I think you should get that checked out by a doctor.
Exactly so to get something checked to get something examined by a doctor or a professional.
All right and the last phrase that we have for you.
So last phrase we have today comes from a suggestion at the end the friend suggests taking melatonin and he says listen taking melatonin should do the trick.
Right so if you end the phrase by saying that should do the trick basically you're saying that should solve your problem that should help you.
Exactly so the trick you don't have to think about what the trick is it's just a way of saying it should fix your problem so for example when someone is fixing my car and they have one more thing to do and it's finished he says the car mechanic might say that should do the trick.
Right that means problem solved.
Or maybe you're having you want to hang a picture on your wall so somebody puts a nail in the wall and that should do the trick and maybe that'll hold up the painting.
Done.
Done.
Okay so that's a way of saying that should solve the problem this should be the solution that should be all.
Okay.
Okay so why don't we go back and listen to the dialogue one last time.
Alex what's up with you?
You look dreadful.
Hey Jill I don't know I've been having trouble sleeping these past few weeks.
I usually lie in bed for hours trying to get to sleep.
I've tried stretching and different breathing techniques before going to bed.
I've tried eating and not eating different foods.
I've even tried counting sheep and then when I finally get to sleep I have these really disturbing nightmares so I usually wake up in a panic and more tired than before I went to sleep.
Wow maybe you should get that checked out.
Maybe you're stressed?
Just take some sedatives works for me.
Every so often having some melatonin on hand helps me when I have trouble sleeping.
It works on all kinds of sleeping disorders.
It's the stuff pilots use to regulate their sleeping patterns.
I heard of that but does that apply to Alex's situation?
Yeah sure why not?
Sounds like he only has transient insomnia since it's a recent thing so taking melatonin should do the trick.
But shouldn't he be looking into why it's been happening?
Well aren't you the little psychologist?
Our buddy's having trouble sleeping it's easy and curable.
It's not something freakish like if he was a sleepwalker.
Well there's that too.
Alright we're back so talking about dreaming, nightmares, insomnia, all of this what do you do if you can't fall asleep?
I don't really have this problem personally because I could fall asleep anywhere anytime.
I've heard some people take like warm milk before going to sleep.
Yes some people take milk although I also heard that dairy products before bedtime can make you have nightmares.
Oh really?
Like if you eat cheese before bed.
I've heard that as well I've heard that if you have seafood before bed you'll have nightmares as well.
But actually have you ever had a dream when you are doing something and you wake up in the middle of that?
Yes.
I remember once I was dreaming I was I was drinking a soda and all of a sudden I woke up and I had my hand like in the air like doing the action of me actually drinking the soda.
Actually sometimes this happens to me when I'm falling asleep I imagine I'm on a bike or something and I start to feel myself moving my legs and I wake up and I'm like wait wait what am I doing?
So the brain is very strained I think especially in those times when you're kind of asleep and you're kind of awake.
Also when you wake up suddenly I don't know if other people have experienced this but you feel like you're falling or something obviously you just wake up like in with with a shake.
Yeah your body moves.
Yeah it's really scary.
Your heart starts to beat I don't know why that happens.
It's unusual.
Well we're curious to know what your sleep habits are.
Do you have a hard time sleeping or are you like me?
It's very easy for you to fall asleep.
Let us know at our website EnglishPod.com.
Alright we'll see you guys there.
Bye.