Real Easy English: Talking about relationships
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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English, the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Georgie. And I'm Beth. You can read along with this podcast and find a worksheet to help you learn on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Hi Beth, how are you? I'm good, thank you. How are you? Yes, I'm very well, thank you. Today we're talking about relationships and particularly romantic relationships.

So Beth, personal question, are you in a relationship at the moment? I am, yes. I'm married, so I'm definitely in a relationship. What about you? I am not in a relationship. I am single. Ah, married. So how did you meet your partner?

Well, I met my husband at work in a previous job. We both worked there and we were friends and then, yeah, it kind of went from there and then he was my boyfriend and now he's my husband. Oh, nice. It's quite common to meet your partner at work, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. Quite a few of my friends have met their partners at work as well. So you're single, Georgie. Do you like to go on dates?

Good question. Sometimes I like going on dates. Sometimes I don't. In general, I just really like meeting people. So for me, it's quite a nice way to meet people when you live in a city. But sometimes if you don't get on with the person, it can be really awkward and uncomfortable.

Yeah, and I can imagine that you end up just asking the same questions to people. Yes, you're right. Sometimes it can feel a bit like an interview. You're just asking, so what do you do? And do you have any siblings and things like that? It can be quite boring, but...

If you think of some more interesting questions, it can be more exciting. Yeah. So what do you like to do on dates? Do you go out for a meal or something like that? Usually I go for a drink with the person. But this year is actually my New Year's resolution to do more activity dates. So I

more fun things like playing pool or playing mini golf or something like that. Going for a walk, going for a coffee, just something different. I think it will be more interesting for me. Yeah, when I dated, I went to a museum on a first date and

to the Science Museum in London. And that was really fun because it also gives you something to talk about because you've got funny things to look at and stuff. That's very true. And also, I feel like you're not always face to face with the person. You know, it doesn't feel as intense. Maybe you can have you can have more silences. Yeah, that's true. Otherwise, it can be a bit awkward. Yes. So, Georgie, have any of your dates gone really well?

Yes, actually. Last year I had a date that went well and we started seeing each other and we went on multiple dates. Ah, okay. So if you are seeing someone, then it's less serious than being in a relationship. They're not quite your boyfriend or girlfriend, but you've seen this person quite a few times and you're in the early stages maybe of a relationship. Exactly. So how long have you been married?

I've been married almost two years. So we got engaged probably about three years ago. And how did he propose? Well, actually, he pretended that he had got me some earrings. And when I opened the box, they weren't earrings at all. It was a ring. Oh.

Were you surprised? I was very surprised, yeah. And I never got my earrings. Oh no! Maybe I'll get you some earrings. Oh, thanks. OK, Beth, let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation. We had date, a romantic activity you do with someone. We had boyfriend and girlfriend, your romantic partner. If you are seeing someone, then you were in the early stages of a romantic relationship with someone.

If you propose, you ask someone to marry you. And if you're single, then you're not married or in a romantic relationship. And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English. To test what you've learned, try the worksheet on our website. You can find a link in the notes for this episode. And next week, we'll talk about money. See you then. Bye.

Thanks for listening to Learning Easy English. Have you heard our new music series, My Song, My Home? In each episode, we visit a different place in the UK and meet a musician that lives there, learn English from songs and hear natural British speakers. Find the series on our website, bbclearningenglish.com or follow the Learning English Conversations podcast in your podcast app.