BBC 6 minute English-Tweet of the day

Transcript of the podcast

NB: This is not a word for word transcript

BIRDS SINGING

Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob, and a very beautiful sound

Jen: Ahhh, the sound of birdsong. Hello, I’m Jennifer and that’s what we’re talking about today – birdsong

Rob: In Britain, this is the sound of summer – lots of different species – or types – of birds tweeting

Jen: Tweeting? You mean they are using Twitter – the social media site

Rob: Of course not! Tweeting is a way of describing the sounds birds make. We sometimes say they chirp or trill too – making short, high-pitched sounds

Jen: Yes, I knew that really. But a BBC radio station in the UK is playing a different birdsong every day. They’re calling it ’Tweet of the Day’ – which is a clever title

Rob: It is and we’ll talk more about that soon. But first I need to see if you are a twitcher – another name for a person who watches birds for a hobby. Do you know how many species of birds there are on Britain’s official bird list

a) 396

b) 496

c) 596

Jen: Wow, there are lots but I have no idea so I will guess a) 396

Rob: That is quite a lot, isn’t it? We’ll find out if you are right at the end of the programme. So, let’s talk more about tweeting – of the bird kind. Where I live, there are many fields and trees and there is nothing more beautiful – and noisy- than the sound of the dawn chorus

Jen: That’s when all the birds start singing at sunrise – so first thing in the morning. It’s not so beautiful if you are trying to sleep! But I know what you mean about birdsong – it makes you think about different places. Listen to this birdsong, for example

SEAGULL SOUND FX

Rob: Yes, the seagull – a scavenger which eats food scraps or other dead animals

Jen: Yes, it reminds me of the seaside, although I wouldn’t describe that as a beautiful sound – more of a screech. Let’s hear another sound from one of our feathered friends – or in other words, birds

BLACKBIRD SOUND FX

Rob: That’s the call of a blackbird – something I hear in my back garden. It’s a very distinctive song – easy to recognise and something you hear a lot of in the British summer

Jen: And how about this bird – what does it make you think of

CUCKOO SOUND FX

Rob: That has to be a cuckoo – its call sounds like its name – ‘cuckoo’. It reminds me of springtime because that’s when you first hear them. It’s incredible that there are so many different birdsongs

Jen: Well, that’s why BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day features 265 different birdsongs. Sound engineers have been outside and captured – or recorded – the sounds of birds with strange names like the wood warbler, nightjar, lesser whitethroat and yellowhammer

Rob: Great names. But listening to these strange-named birds may be enjoyable but their tweeting could also be useful

Jen: That’s right. Sound experts say some birdsongs can help you concentrate when you’re studying

Rob: Yes, a writer called Julian Treasure says birdsong can relax the body and make your mind more alert. He thinks the dawn chorus is like nature’s alarm clock – ‘it stimulates us cognitively’ – so gets our brains working and thinking

Jen: Another study found the natural sounds of birdsong might stop you getting tired and sleepy after eating a meal. An experiment found playing birdsong to school children after lunch made them more alert. We should try it here Rob

Rob: We should. There’s even a smartphone app that plays birdsong and claims to help you work better. But there’s no need for an app, all I need to do is open the window and listen to the birds outside

BIRDS SINGING

Rob: …but are they all of the bird species I asked you about earlier? My question was how many species of birds are there on Britain’s official bird list

a) 396

b) 496

c) 596

Jen: I said a) 396

Rob: Sorry Jen, you’re wrong. Incredibly there are 596 types of species in Britain. 286 of them are rare – so not many of them left. OK Jen, there’s just time to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we heard today

Jen: We heard species tweeting chirp twitcher dawn chorus scavenger screech feathered friends captured nature’s alarm clock rare

Rob: Thanks. Time, now, for some more tweeting. Join us again soon for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English

Both: Bye