ELL HubPeter Novak
Peter Novak
Episode 307
Vocabulary
discern (verb)
- Definition:
- to notice or understand something that is not easy to see
- Example from the episode:
- “I have found that the folks I know who speak multiple languages, some of whom who have accents and some who don't, their ability to listen and discern subtlety is far superior to mine.”
- Example sentence:
- “It is hard to discern faces in the fog.”
reflex (noun)
- Definition:
- an automatic action your body does without thinking
- Example from the episode:
- “So accent bias is essentially that reflex that we have to trust people who sound like us, and this happens a lot with people who are the in-group and people who are part of the out-group.”
- Example sentence:
- “Pulling your hand back from heat is a reflex.”
buttoned-up (adjective)
- Definition:
- neat and formal in the way someone behaves or dresses
- Example from the episode:
- “In English, he was a little more stilted, a little more buttoned-up, but when I actually had him say the same thing in French, he became much more lively, much more connected, and we were able to use that as a tool, as a guide to allow him to feel more free speaking in English.”
- Example sentence:
- “The teacher was buttoned-up and serious.”
creep into something (idiom)
- Definition:
- to begin to affect something slowly and often without notice
- Example from the episode:
- “And so all of these aspects of accent bias creep into our workplace without us really understanding or knowing the full impact of it.”
- Example sentence:
- “Bad habits can creep into our routine.”