transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:01] This is an All Ears English Podcast episode 2604. Is your nose in a book? What to say to big readers?

Speaker 2:
[00:13] Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com/subscribe. Are you a big reader? What can you say when someone around you is immersed in a book and won't look up? Find out exactly what to say in English today.

Speaker 1:
[01:11] Have you ever finished a conversation in English and thought, I know I can say that better? You understood everything that was said. You had ideas, opinions, maybe even a joke. But when it was your turn to speak, your answer came out shorter than you wanted, or more basic than how you would say it in your own language. This happens when your understanding is stronger than your speaking fluency. The good news? That gap is very common and very fixable once you know exactly where you are. Take our free two-minute fluency quiz to discover your current English level and what to work on next. Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore. That's allearsenglish.com/f-l-u-e-n-c-y-s-c-o-r-e.

Speaker 2:
[02:11] Hello, Michelle, how's it going today?

Speaker 1:
[02:14] Going well, going well. How are you?

Speaker 2:
[02:16] I'm good, doing good. Michelle, what are you reading right now? Are you reading any novels or non-fiction books or anything?

Speaker 1:
[02:22] Yeah, I am reading this book called House on... I hope I'm getting the title correct. The House on the Cerulean Sea.

Speaker 2:
[02:32] Oh, interesting.

Speaker 1:
[02:33] And it's... You know, what's really funny? I think we've talked about John Judge Book by its cover.

Speaker 2:
[02:41] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[02:42] I chose this because of the cover. So it's called... Oh, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ. Klune.

Speaker 2:
[02:51] Okay. And you like it so far?

Speaker 1:
[02:54] I do. The chapters are very long. So and now that I'm reading on a Kindle, it tells me how long is in the chapter. And it says an hour in the chapter. I'm like, oh my god. I felt like getting to the end of the chapter was like finishing the book. I was so proud of myself. Oh, it's something totally different. It's more of... I don't know. It's a very unique story. I've been reading a lot of thrillers. I just read this book called The Silent Patient. I really like that. Then I read another book that I didn't like.

Speaker 2:
[03:26] All right.

Speaker 1:
[03:28] But this is good. So yeah, that's what I'm reading right now.

Speaker 2:
[03:31] So it sounds like on a typical evening, you might have your nose in a book a little bit, right?

Speaker 1:
[03:35] Yes, right before bed. Yes.

Speaker 2:
[03:37] Nice. Love that. I like to read too before I go to bed. It's really instead of being on the phone, just reading is so much of, it's a much better transition into sleep, I think.

Speaker 1:
[03:48] Yeah. But the problem is now I, especially because there are certain news stories going on that I like to investigate at night.

Speaker 2:
[03:55] Oh, you had a little true crime investigation.

Speaker 1:
[03:58] I do that and then I try and fit in the reading and then I'm too tired.

Speaker 2:
[04:02] You can't do it all, Michelle. You can't do it all.

Speaker 1:
[04:04] I know. I know. Now I'm just trying to do both and it's not. But yeah, I do like to have my nose in a book sometimes. Nose in a book.

Speaker 2:
[04:13] So what are we getting into in the show today, Michelle? This is related to our topic today, of course.

Speaker 1:
[04:18] Yeah, definitely. So I actually, this expression to have your nose in a book, I just saw it used twice in two separate books.

Speaker 2:
[04:28] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[04:29] But I can't remember one of them. I think it may have been like books I'm reading with my kids.

Speaker 2:
[04:34] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[04:34] But one was from Amelia Bedelia. Did you read Amelia Bedelia?

Speaker 2:
[04:38] It sounds really familiar. I think I must have.

Speaker 1:
[04:41] Yeah. So I just wanted to highlight this because I thought that this is a really fun expression. And also because my daughter always laughs when I say, oh, her nose was stuck in a book because she, you know, and in Amelia Bedelia, the thing is she takes things literally, so she thinks, oh, her nose was stuck in a book. That's so cute. I love that. So is it literal, Lindsay, when you say your nose is in a book?

Speaker 2:
[05:07] No, that's the first question we have to answer here for our listeners. No, and your daughter should be listening to the podcast, of course. Exactly. No, it's not literally, but in a sense, your nose is down, pointing towards the book. So it just means you're reading, you're immersed. You're fully immersed in that book, right?

Speaker 1:
[05:27] Exactly. Right, exactly. It's like your nose is in it. It's metaphorically in it. It's because you are in that position.

Speaker 2:
[05:35] Exactly. This is what we're going to get into today at the show, guys. But go ahead and hit the follow button right now. Wherever you're listening, this episode will be over on YouTube. So that is a good option if you want to consume the video instead of the audio. You could subscribe to the All Ears English channel on YouTube, or you could just hit follow right here in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen, so you don't miss a single episode of our show. Right, Michelle?

Speaker 1:
[05:59] Yes, exactly. So, yeah, Lindsay, is this expression common?

Speaker 2:
[06:05] Sure, yeah. I mean, it's around. It's around, right? We know what it means. We use it sometimes. Would you say you use it once in a while, Michelle, yourself?

Speaker 1:
[06:14] Once in a while. I would say I've seen, you know, because I've seen it recently. Now, you know, it's on my mind. But it also makes me think of do you remember in Beauty? I don't know how well, you know, Beauty and the Beast.

Speaker 2:
[06:24] Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK.

Speaker 1:
[06:25] The whole thing is that, you know, Belle likes to read a lot and they tease her for it, which is silly. But one of the lines, I think, is about her nose being stuck in a book.

Speaker 2:
[06:36] Right, right.

Speaker 1:
[06:37] And yeah, so it's definitely used. I think it is used a lot in stories, perhaps. I don't know that I would say to my friend, oh, my gosh, my nose is stuck in a book, right?

Speaker 2:
[06:50] No, but that's an important point, though. I feel like it's usually someone else makes a comment that you seem immersed in your reading. And that's when it would come up, rather than talking about yourself, don't you think?

Speaker 1:
[07:02] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's give some examples. Here we go. I'm usually addicted to my phone, but now I found a series I love, so my nose is always in a book.

Speaker 2:
[07:12] Yeah. And here's just the counter to what I just said.

Speaker 1:
[07:16] Exactly, exactly. But again, you know, I do, I agree. And it would more be a comment on someone else. I don't know that I would, you know, but this is how you could use it. No one's going to say, what are you talking about?

Speaker 2:
[07:29] There's no language police coming after you.

Speaker 1:
[07:30] No, no, no.

Speaker 2:
[07:31] If you use it to refer to yourself. But here's one common example. I'm glad she likes to read, but her nose is always in a book. She should get outside this summer. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1:
[07:41] So yeah, maybe a parent is saying that about their child. I don't know what parent would be complaining about their child reading.

Speaker 2:
[07:49] These days especially, because the alternative is screens.

Speaker 1:
[07:54] Or is your nose still stuck in that book? It must be amazing.

Speaker 2:
[07:59] Yeah. I remember when I was a kid, we had this summer book club where it was like a contest, how many books you could read. And some kids just like knocked it out of the park. They'd read like 30 books in a summer. And I was always very impressed by those kids. How the heck do they do that?

Speaker 1:
[08:14] Yeah. I mean, I had friends like, I remember my friend, Jamie, a few years ago, she had a goal to read 52 books in a year. Wow.

Speaker 2:
[08:23] That's one a week then, right?

Speaker 1:
[08:25] That's...

Speaker 2:
[08:26] Did she do it? Did she get there?

Speaker 1:
[08:28] I think she did. Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[08:29] That's impressive.

Speaker 1:
[08:30] Now she has kids, so I don't think she's doing it.

Speaker 2:
[08:33] Even as a single person without kids, you'd have to make a conscious decision and say, I can't go out tonight because I need to get my reading done. Right? For 52 a year? Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[08:43] Yeah. My goal is this year, if I can get one a month, I'll be happy. That would be a really big deal for me. That's perfect.

Speaker 2:
[08:51] I love that. Do you think this sounds a little juvenile? I mean, what do you think, Michelle? We've talked about kids examples.

Speaker 1:
[08:58] Yeah. I think a little bit. I mean, I don't know that, like I said, I'm running around with my contemporaries just using this all the time, but I do think it is often used about children or like the Beauty and the Beast example, potentially a little old-fashioned. What do you think?

Speaker 2:
[09:15] I think it's probably old-fashioned just because nowadays most people have their nose in Instagram or TikTok. That's the only reason it's old-fashioned, right? But we still need it. Reading is becoming more quaint for me, like more lovely, more wonderful, more valued, more treasured, just because the alternative... Well, we're in front of screens all day, and then in the evening we might be on our phone, social media. We want to get away from it, right?

Speaker 1:
[09:43] Yeah, exactly. And I mean, some people might use it as an insult. I mean, like in Beauty and the Beast. I mean, it just depends on the context. Yeah. But let's talk about some more modern ways that we can express this idea.

Speaker 2:
[09:56] Yeah, you could say I'm lost in a book. So you're obviously, again, it's not literal. You're not lost physically. You know where you are. You're probably in a cafe or something. You're just really into it, right? And maybe the time passes, two hours goes by, and you think it's five minutes, right? Yes.

Speaker 1:
[10:13] Yeah, exactly. Or then there's Hooked, right? And, oh, wait, did I-

Speaker 2:
[10:19] Example, yeah. So I'll go ahead and read the example for our listeners. She's totally lost in this book. She's not even listening to us.

Speaker 1:
[10:26] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[10:27] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[10:28] So that's pretty common. Or there's Hooked, like I said, that could be also for TV or movies or even if you're listening like the news, you're hooked on a news story. But I'm totally hooked on this book. I'm telling you, you have to read it. When I am hooked on a book, I am so happy.

Speaker 2:
[10:48] I love it.

Speaker 1:
[10:49] It's the best. It's such a fun feeling. Yeah. But it doesn't happen with every book.

Speaker 2:
[10:58] I mean, it's true, but it's like this escape that you can go back to, and you don't get the same effect from TV, movies, social media. It really is quite special, I think.

Speaker 1:
[11:08] Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

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Speaker 2:
[11:37] Go to your happy price, Priceline. Michelle, there's a few other things we might say when we are truly into a book. You might say absorbed in, absorbed in. The students are absorbed in the novel they're reading. I knew they would love it. Novels are usually for me, what I get more absorbed in than non-fiction. I used to read a lot more non-fiction, but these days, I'd rather read a novel.

Speaker 1:
[12:02] Me too. Then sometimes I'll think, I should read a lot more non-fiction and learn more specific things, but I don't know, it just doesn't hook me the same way.

Speaker 2:
[12:12] It doesn't hook you the same way. No, it's so true.

Speaker 1:
[12:15] Again, you could say absorbed in a TV show, absorbed in a movie. We've talked about some, I think we did another episode that was similar to being immersed in something.

Speaker 2:
[12:26] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[12:27] But yeah, this is really, we're using these reading expressions today. There's also reading non-stop. I've been reading non-stop ever since I started this series.

Speaker 2:
[12:36] Yes, I love that. Do you know anyone, have you ever known someone who's a speed reader?

Speaker 1:
[12:42] My sister-in-law.

Speaker 2:
[12:43] Really?

Speaker 1:
[12:44] Actually, that's funny. I had a note about that below.

Speaker 2:
[12:46] Interesting. She's a speed reader. Now, did she learn? I don't know if she's a technique.

Speaker 1:
[12:51] I don't know if she technically is, but she's so smart that you're just like, oh, she just can really, she finishes books quickly and I don't. I reread, I go back, and I forgot what I was looking at.

Speaker 2:
[13:14] It's not a contest, Michelle. It's okay. These are just supposed to be for fun, right? But that must have come in handy for her if she was in college or graduate school or something. That's why you really need your speed reading.

Speaker 1:
[13:25] Very smart. Yes. Exactly. I mean, Lindsay, what kinds of books hook you in the most? Is there a genre or?

Speaker 2:
[13:34] Like I said, novels for sure. But I like historical novels, historical fiction, I guess, is what it is. Something that's based on a real time period, but maybe the characters are made up, and the circumstances are made up, but there are actual events like wars or something going on. I like that. I think that's cool because you can learn about that time period, but then there's still a story.

Speaker 1:
[13:59] Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. One of my favorite books is a historical fiction. It's called The Paris Wife. And I got really into reading about other novels about that period of Hemingway. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So that was really fun.

Speaker 2:
[14:17] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[14:17] But yeah. So and do you get annoyed? Here's another question. Do you know anybody who's a big reader and then they're just have their nose in a book and you want their attention and you just do, have you had that experience?

Speaker 2:
[14:31] I've had that experience with social media. People being having their nose in their phone, right? But lately, not so much with books. Yeah, but it's true.

Speaker 1:
[14:43] Yeah. My mom can definitely get her nose stuck in a book. My mom is a huge reader too. My sister-in-law, so lots of readers in my family.

Speaker 2:
[14:52] Yeah. You should be able to get some good recommendations on titles then.

Speaker 1:
[14:55] That's true. That's true. Sometimes when I'm with my sister-in-law, I'll say, oh, can you give me, she has all these books and she'll give me a whole bunch and then she'll say, oh, did you read this? I'm like, no way.

Speaker 2:
[15:08] No, right. That's the embarrassing part when someone makes a great recommendation. Then a month later, they ask you about it, right? Did you, did you order the book? I don't know. I forgot. Exactly.

Speaker 1:
[15:18] So guys, we also want you to check out. So we were talking about that we did another episode. So I believe this is the one, Episode 2088. Definitely we talk about books here.

Speaker 2:
[15:29] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[15:30] Are you a bookworm? How to talk about your reading habits in English. So that's a while ago, but we can also do more follow-ups if you have questions. So let us know.

Speaker 2:
[15:40] Yes, guys, should we do? Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[15:42] Go ahead.

Speaker 2:
[15:42] Just to remind our listeners, guys, if you have questions today, send them in to support at allearsenglish.com. That is where to send your questions. Okay. And if it's a good question, we will make an episode based on the question. Yeah, Michelle, I think we should dive into the role play. So here you are frustrated because you need me to help you with something. But I am reading. So I have my nose in a book and I can't be distracted. Okay.

Speaker 1:
[16:08] All right. Here we go.

Speaker 2:
[16:09] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[16:10] Hello.

Speaker 2:
[16:13] Hi. Sorry. I'm just really hooked on this book right now.

Speaker 1:
[16:17] Are you almost done?

Speaker 2:
[16:18] What?

Speaker 1:
[16:20] Are you almost done?

Speaker 2:
[16:21] Yesterday.

Speaker 1:
[16:24] Lindsay, you aren't listening. Your nose is always in a book.

Speaker 2:
[16:27] Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I tend to get absorbed in what I'm reading, especially mysteries.

Speaker 1:
[16:33] I get it. Usually, I'm reading non-stop, but lately, I can't find anything I like.

Speaker 2:
[16:37] I'll make some recommendations.

Speaker 1:
[16:39] All right.

Speaker 2:
[16:41] Nice. Yeah, that could be annoying for sure.

Speaker 1:
[16:44] Yeah. And certainly, it does echo how people are just on the phone now. Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[16:50] Actually, that would be a good follow-up episode because the question is, I bet our listeners are wondering, do all these apply equally to if someone's nose is in Instagram? Or TikTok? Or The News? I tend to read The New York Times on my phone constantly.

Speaker 1:
[17:08] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great idea.

Speaker 2:
[17:11] Yeah. Guys, make sure you hit the follow button right now so you don't miss that upcoming episode. We will let you know which of these carry over, and we'll give you some new ones that are more about technology. Okay?

Speaker 1:
[17:21] Exactly.

Speaker 2:
[17:21] So good stuff.

Speaker 1:
[17:22] Let's go through it. So you said, sorry, I'm just really hooked on this book.

Speaker 2:
[17:30] Yeah. Hooked on. I mean, addicted to. To be hooked is to be addicted. We use this when it comes to talking about like if you're hooked on a substance, we do use it in that case, or just an activity, a book, anything that you're doing, taking part in, right?

Speaker 1:
[17:44] Yes. Exactly.

Speaker 2:
[17:46] And then you said, you aren't listening. Your nose is always in a book.

Speaker 1:
[17:50] Yeah. Because I said, are you almost done? And you said yesterday, you are not listening to what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:
[17:57] Nope. Not at all. Not at all. And then I admitted it. I said, oh, I tend to get absorbed in what I'm reading, especially mysteries. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[18:06] And then it is frustrating also when you are the one reading and you really, maybe you're in the last chapter and something is going on and someone keeps on.

Speaker 2:
[18:16] That is annoying. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[18:18] And you're so into it, it can really bother you. It can.

Speaker 2:
[18:23] You want to just go and hide, take your little book and hide in the corner or something. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[18:28] And then I said, I get it. Usually I'm reading non-stop, but lately I can't find anything I like.

Speaker 2:
[18:34] And this is interesting grammatically too for our listeners to take a look at. You said, I get it. Usually I'm reading non-stop. You didn't say usually I read non-stop. So I think maybe we'll come back to that another day too, Michelle, because we haven't covered that, right? The present progressive form. Why did we use that instead of the present simple? You're talking about habits that you're usually doing. We'll come back to that another day too.

Speaker 1:
[19:02] Really interesting. Yeah. All right. So guys, again, if you want to learn more about being a bookworm, check out 2088 Lindsay takeaways for today.

Speaker 2:
[19:12] Yeah, takeaways for today. Well, if you have a good book that you love, then consider that a treasure. I think the more and more we get AI and the more we get technology, Instagram, all these social media, we're going to start to love our books more and more. That's my theory. We're going to enjoy them that much more. They become more of a treasure. So if you love reading, talk about reading, share that about yourself. Don't keep it a secret because I think people respect readers now, maybe more than they used to because not everyone reads anymore.

Speaker 1:
[19:41] Right? Yeah. Exactly. So all right, guys, get reading and Lindsay, we can talk about book recommendations off the air.

Speaker 2:
[19:51] All right. Sounds good. I'll talk to you soon, Michelle. Take care. All right.

Speaker 1:
[19:54] Bye. Bye.

Speaker 2:
[19:59] Thanks for listening to All Ears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.