Episode 60 English Listening and Vocabulary Analysis of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone

This week the videos were recorded on the beach at Workington. It was very bright and when I got home I realised I hadn't looked at the camera once! Anyway! This week we have three readings about the sea and the weather. The first is from Harry Potter, The Philosopher's Stone. When Uncle Vernon, trying to escape the letters, he takes the family out to the shack in the middle of the sea. (Just before this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXvlqsSeJ7Q) It is great listening practise for you and after the reading I'll go into detail about some of the vocabulary. The main connecting feature of the readings from Episodes 60, 61 and 62 is the weather and the sea. British people LOVE talking about the weather and the UK is so small that most people either live near the sea or visit regularly. This week we're reading three British writers each describing stormy, windy, rainy weather and seas in different ways and with different emotions. See you tomorrow! So let's look at some of the vocabulary from the excerpt: Perched - sat on top, not comfortably, like a bird This castle is 'perched' on the top of a hill. Miserable - very unhappy and sad Shack - a small building that looks badly built Gleefully - happily, excitedly Ambling - a kind of easy rocking walk Rations - a limited supply of food (first used to describe how the food was 'rationed' or given out during wars when there wasn't much food and it had to be shared between many people) Wind whipped - the wind hitting their faces uncomfortably like a whip Wind whistled - the sound the wind makes as it goes through small spaces or around buildings We can get an idea of how the weather feels by looking at some of the language: Iron-grey water Icey sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. Later he describes the house: The wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls and the fireplace was damp and empty. This all gives us a feeling of a really horrible, dark, cold, uncomfortable place. Additional Vocabulary theme - a topic or main idea for something relevant - important and related to something 'ship them off to sea' - idiom - we can use 'ship off to' to mean send someone somewhere that they don't really want to go. So if someone is 'shipped off to boarding school' it means their parents sent them, but they didn't choose to go. wicked grin - a little bit evil. This man knows where they are going, I guess he think's it's a little funny, he's not feeling sorry for them at all. its quite peculiar - we can use this to describe an unusual or weird situation I hope this episode was fun for you. The reading was from page 37 of the 1997 paperback edition, published by Bloomsbury, of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.