Kate : Well the word dense means made of or containing a lot of things. So if an area is dense with people, for example, then there are a lot of people in that area. You know, go[r]
(1)BBC Learning English 6 Minute English
Parkour
NB: This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Dan: Hello and welcome to Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Dan Walker Smith and in today’s programme Kate and I are going to be talking about parkour Do you know what parkour is Kate?
Kate: Hi Dan Well I don’t really know what parkour is, but I’ve got a feeling it has something to with jumping on and off buildings Am I right?
Dan: That’s pretty much it actually Parkour is a growing sport that mixes running, jumping, climbing and gymnastics You might have seen it on TV; it’s been around You see people running up walls, climbing across buildings and jumping over objects that are in their way
Kate: Ah right yes, now I know what you’re talking about I’ve definitely seen people doing this on the television
Dan: Exactly, and what’s interesting is that it’s notcompetitive Many of the runners don’t even like the idea of commercial events They’d rather keep it as a pure sport that’s just for fun
Having said that, there are Parkour World Championships So my question for you Kate is which city is hosting the Parkour World Championships this year? Is it:
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Kate: Well I have no idea, so I’m going to guess b) Vancouver
Dan: Well we will see if you’re right at the end of the show
Now we’re going to hear an extract from the British parkour runner Brad Moss Here he is talking about what he likes about the sport He says that because it’s not competitive or professional, you can concentrate on personal development So he’s less concerned about being sponsored Kate what does he mean there?
Kate: Ah, well to sponsor in this context is to give someone money in exchange for advertising and publicity So sportsmen and sports teams are often sponsored
by big companies
Dan: OK, well let’s have a listen to Brad What other sport did he practise before he took up parkour?
Extract
Parkour gave me a real opportunity to develop personally, as opposed to, you know, with skateboarding, which I used to It was all about doing things for videos and wanting to get sponsored and things Whereas parkour had a lot more freedom thorough that, and it’s about practising what you personally need to improve on.
Dan: OK, so Brad was a skateboarder before becoming a parkour runner
Skateboards are short boards with four small wheels in each corner, and people who ride on them are called skateboarders
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Dan: Exactly, I totally agree Let’s hear from Brad again, as he talks about his favourite sort of areas to practise parkour He uses the word dense, so what’s he saying here Kate?
Kate: Well the word dense means made of or containing a lot of things So if an area is dense with people, for example, then there are a lot of people in that area
Dan: OK, let’s listen to the clip, and see if you can spot the ways that Brad gets around objects
Extract
I enjoy spaces where there’s lots of dense things and where I can move You know, go under, over, between; ways of moving that challenge me directly I enjoy developing creative movement, but not the extent of doing stunts and acrobatics
Dan: So using parkour Brad goes under, over and between the objects in his path But he says that he doesn’t many stunts or acrobatics What these words mean Kate?
Kate: Well a stunt is a dangerous action which you might to entertain someone So there are lots of stunts in action films, for example And acrobatics is another word for gymnastics It’s using your body to make skilful movements, with lots of jumps and twists
Dan: Parkour that uses a lot of stunts and acrobatics is known as free running
Let’s listen to a British free runner talking about her first experience of the sport There’s a couple of interesting words here Kate, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind explaining them
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Dan: OK, well what does she mean when she describes her first class as insane?
Kate: Ah, OK, well insane usually means mad or crazy But what she probably means here is that the first class was very hard and there were lots of ridiculous moves
Dan: And she also says there was a positive atmosphere – what does she mean there Kate?
Kate: Well atmosphere here is the feeling that a place gives you, so that when she says there was a positive atmosphere, she means there was a good feeling in the class
Dan: OK let’s listen to her talking about her first experience of free running What effect did the class have on her?
Extract
I had an insane first class where in the first 10 minutes we were just looking at each other going ‘Oh my God, this is impossible, they can’t expect us to this.’ But it was fun and it was a really positive atmosphere and I just got hooked
Dan: She says she was hooked after her first class Hooked is an informal word meaning addicted People usually talk about being hooked on about drugs or on cigarettes, but here she says she was hooked on free running
Does free running or parkour sound like something you’d like to try Kate?
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Dan: Well maybe you’ll get convinced one day But for the moment, we’re almost out of time, so let’s go over some of the vocabulary we’ve come across today:
parkour to sponsor a skateboard dense
stunts acrobatics insane atmosphere hooked
Dan: And I asked you at the beginning of the show Kate which city is hosting this year’s Parkour World Championships?
Kate: And I took a wild guess at b) Vancouver
Dan: Actually the answer is Vienna Although it’s the world championships, a lot of the parkour community are actually against this sort of competition They want to keep parkour pure and non-competitive, and they see the idea that bringing in a competition is going to make it quite commercial and that people will only it for money
Kate: Yes I can see their point But then having a competition does mean that more people get to know about it
Dan: Exactly, and if you are in Vienna this year, you might want to check it out
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