Hello and welcome back to my slow
English podcast. This podcast is for
advanced English listeners in a slow
comprehensible way. I will tell you my
story once slowly and the second time a
little bit faster. Today I want to talk
to you about sickness. I've been feeling
very sick lately. I think it has to do
with my trip to Rio,
Brazil. Normally, whenever I get
sick, it has something to do with my
sleep schedule. Normally it has to do
with the
amount and the quality of sleep that I'm
getting and just keeping up with my rest
and sleep in general is very important
for me to stay healthy.
But now that I think about
it, I don't think I even got one full
night sleep in my whole week in Rio. And
I'm usually very sensitive to changes in
my sleep schedule. If I don't get a full
night's
rest, I'm
crabby all day long. I'm
moody and
angry and just insufferable to be
around. I'm very crabby. And especially
with my English lessons, I need to have
lots of
energy and I need to be in a good mood
and
mindset to be able to give my English
lessons in a fun and structured way. But
this one weekend, for example, I pulled
an
allnighter. To pull an
allnighter means to stay up all night
and not sleep. Have you ever pulled an
allnighter before? Well, I did. And let
me tell you, I will not do that again. I
was tired the whole week after that one
allnighter. I literally couldn't
function. I would wake up in the morning
and have my normal routine.
I would eat
breakfast, teach a couple
classes, and after maybe five
hours, I would feel
exhausted, ready to sleep. So, I would
have to take a nap, maybe a one or
twohour
nap to recuperate. Then I would be fine.
A couple hours of being awake would pass
by and I would be feeling exhausted
again. It was crazy.
It was like I had an insane amount of
sleep debt. We call it sleep
debt when you basically owe your body
sleep or rest. Just like you can owe
money or be in debt with
money, you can also be in debt with
sleep. But I finally paid off my sleep
debt after 4 days of sleeping.
That's why, like I said, I wouldn't pull
an allnighter
again. It's too intense for my body. But
anyways, that's why I feel I got sick
this
week because I was pushing my body too
far. I swear I was
walking every day at least 40,000 steps
a day. I remember checking my phone and
every time at least 40,000 steps a day.
And I would be so tired. My body would
be aching
everywhere, ready to sleep. But I would
still go to sleep late and wake up
early. So apart from pushing my body too
far, I wouldn't even give my body the
chance to recuperate that energy or rest
even a bit.
So, I think I pushed my body over the
edge and now I'm paying the price. I'm
paying the consequences. That's why I
feel super congested. Like I blow my
nose and I don't know
how it never stops.
The mucus just keeps coming and
coming. I don't even know where it's
coming from at this point. And I also
had a
terrible cough. One of those coughs
that's just always tickling your throat.
You feel a constant tickle that you need
to cough. I hate coughing and after a
while of coughing it starts to hurt my
throat. So I try to take cough drops to
soothe my throat. Cough drops are really
good for relieving and soothing the pain
temporarily only for a short period of
time. But for long-term
solutions, it's best to take
antibiotics. That helps relieve the pain
all together and gets rid of the virus
or bacteria that you have. But usually
when I get a sore throat and I don't
want to take
antibiotics, I always try home remedies
first. My home remedy for a sore throat
is tea, but not just any
tea. I like to make turmeric tea.
with
turmeric,
honey, lime
juice,
pepper, and
ginger. This tea works like magic. It
soothes and relieves the pain in my
throat right away. Turmeric is just
magical. I swear it's the solution to so
many different sicknesses that I get,
but it's especially useful for a sore
throat. You should definitely try using
turmeric if you haven't already. What
are some of your home remedies you use
for a sore throat? What's your goto tea
when you have a cough or a sore throat?
I have to say this sickness that I
have isn't that bad comparing it to
other sicknesses that I have had. One
time I remember I had salmonella and I
literally didn't move from my bed for
two whole weeks. Any movements would
spin me out and make me feel dizzy and
eventually make me throw up. Every food
that I ate or smelled would make me
feel nauseous. It's so sad feeling
nauseous because I love to eat so
much. But even my favorite
foods, my stomach just couldn't handle.
I lost so much weight in those two
weeks. My doctor told me to stay
hydrated and take your
medication and stay
rested and eventually you will feel
better. There wasn't much else that I
could do. I don't get sick very often,
but when I do, it's usually very bad.
I'm just lucky that I'm at home right
now and my family can take care of me in
my sickness. Who takes care of you when
you're sick? Even the smallest
things like going to the store or
cooking a
meal or simply making a cup of tea for
myself can be such a struggle. So, it's
really nice to have my family here to
help me. I've been sick in foreign
countries before while I'm alone. And
let me tell you, it's not nice. I did
make some good friends who would help
take care of me while I was sick, but
essentially you are alone in a country
and you have to go out and buy your
medicine alone and make your own tea
alone and cook your own meals all by
yourself. and generally just take care
of yourself all
alone. Being alone in a foreign country
when you're sick did end up helping me
in a way. It helped me by making me more
independent and capable of taking care
of myself. Being sick anywhere is not
nice, but I've learned some really
useful remedies from different
friends all in different countries. In
Portugal is where I met a friend who
showed me that turmeric is really good
for you. She was from Nepal. She showed
me to grab your turmeric and heat it up
on the
stove in the fire and eat
it. And it's a huge boost to your immune
system and it's really good for a sore
throat or a throat infection. She also
showed me golden milk. milk with
turmeric,
ginger, lime, and
pepper, and honey. And that was a huge
aid to my sickness when I needed it. Are
there any more remedies that you know of
that you can teach me? Maybe some for a
headache or a runny nose. maybe some for
a stomach ache. For
example, my grandma lives in a small
town in
Mexico. And once I had a really bad
stomach ache, so she made me a green tea
with lime, ginger, and
honey. and she gave me a massage across
my belly and
back and it was like
magic. All of my
pain disappeared. It happened several
times now where my grandma has so many
natural remedies, home remedies. I don't
think she ever would need to buy
pharmaceutical medicine. And it's not
good to take
antibiotics all the time because
sometimes a sickness will go away with
time, but sometimes it's so hard to wait
out a sickness. So I just resort to
antibiotics for faster and easier
results. It's very bad to do because you
can build immunity to
antibiotics after a while of using them.
But I can't help it. Especially if it's
during the week when I have to teach.
When I teach, I talk and I
smile and I
laugh and I can't be a good teacher if
I'm in pain. It's the same when I used
to go to school. When I was younger,
maybe around 8 to 15, my parents worked
at the same school that I studied at. So
whenever I would get
sick, I had no other
option but to go to school. I couldn't
stay at home because both of my parents
worked at the same school as me. So
instead, I would stay in my mom's
classroom under her desk and I would lay
there and sleep. I remember her students
would see me and say,
"Whoa, who's
that? Is that your daughter, Miss
Jessica? What's she doing under the
table?"
Meanwhile, I was just laying
there feeling so
sick and having a really bad fever, but
it was a better option than being in my
own classroom with that sickness. When
you were a kid, who would take care of
you when you had to stay home from
school? Tell me about your experience as
a kid with sick days. I used to hate
going to school despite feeling so sick,
but I understand now that work is
timeconsuming and it's a big deal to
take even one day off of work. What do
you think? When do you decide it's worth
taking a sick day off of work? Where do
you draw the line between going to work
and needing to stay home from sickness?
Comment all your answers down below so I
can see your progress. Like this video
for more content like this and subscribe
to improve your English every Monday and
Wednesday. Now I'll repeat everything
faster so you can practice in a slow and
a fast way. I've been feeling really
sick
lately. I think it has to do with my
trip to Rio, Brazil. Normally, whenever
I get sick, it has to do with the
quality and amount of sleep that I've
been getting. And just keeping up with
my rest in general is very important for
me to stay healthy. But now that I think
about it, I don't think I even got one
full night rest in my whole week in Rio.
And I'm usually very sensitive when it
comes to my sleep schedule. If I don't
get a full night's rest, I'm crabby all
day and I just become insufferable to be
around. I get very crabby when I don't
get enough sleep and especially with my
English lessons. I need to have a lot of
energy to be in a good mood and to be
able to give a fun and structured
English lesson. This one weekend I
pulled an allnighter. To pull an
allnighter means to stay up all night.
Have you ever pulled an allnighter? I
did. And let me tell you, I will not do
that again. I was tired the whole week
after that one night of not sleeping
enough. I literally couldn't function. I
would wake up in the morning. I would
have breakfast and I would teach and
maybe five hours later I would be
feeling exhausted, ready to sleep again.
So I would have to take a nap, either a
one or 2hour nap just to recuperate.
Then I would wake up and feel energized
again. But only a couple hours later, I
would be feeling exhausted again. It was
crazy. It was like I had an insane
amount of sleep debt. We call it sleep
debt when you basically owe your
body rest and sleep. Just like you can
get in debt with
money, you can get in debt with sleep.
But I finally paid off my sleep debt.
That's why, like I said, I would not
pull an allnighter again. But anyways,
that's why I think I feel congested. I
was doing things every day in Rio,
walking at least 40,000 steps a day. I
remember checking my phone and seeing at
least 40,000 steps every day. And I
would be so tired. I would be so ready
to sleep, but I would still go to sleep
late and then wake up early the next
morning. So, apart from pushing my body
too far, I wouldn't even give my body
the chance to recuperate. So, I think I
push my body over the edge. And now I'm
paying the price. I'm paying the
consequences. That's why I'm congested.
I blow my nose and I don't know how it
never ends. The mucus just keeps coming
and
coming. And I don't know where it's even
coming from at this
point. I also had a terrible cough. One
of those tickles in your throat that
just won't go away. I hate coughing. And
after a while of coughing, it starts to
hurt my throat. A good remedy for that
are cough drops. Cough drops help soothe
my throat and relieve the pain. But
cough drops are good for relieving the
pain temporarily. But for long-term
remedies, it's best to take antibiotics.
That helps relieve the pain and get rid
of the sickness completely. Usually when
I get a sore throat and I don't want to
take
antibiotics, I always try home remedies
first. My home remedy for a sore throat
is tea, but not just any old tea. I like
to make turmeric tea with turmeric,
ginger,
lime, pepper, and honey. This tea works
like magic. Turmeric is just magical. I
swear it's the solution to so many
different sicknesses that I get, but
it's especially useful for a sore
throat. You should definitely try using
turmeric if you haven't already. What
are some of your home remedies for a
sore throat? What's your goto tea for
when you have a cough or a sore throat?
I have to say this sickness is not that
bad comparing it to other sicknesses
that I've had in the past. One time I
had
salmonella and I literally couldn't move
from my bed for two whole weeks. Any
movements would make me feel dizzy,
would make me spin, and I would have to
throw up. Every food that I ate made me
feel nauseous. And it's so sad feeling
nauseous because I love eating food. And
even with my favorite foods, my stomach
just couldn't handle it. I lost so much
weight in those two weeks, but my doctor
told me to just stay hydrated and take
my medication and wait to feel better.
It's all that I could do. There was
nothing else I could do. I'm just lucky
I'm at home right now and I have my
family to take care of me. Who takes
care of you when you're sick? Even the
smallest things like making tea for
yourself or cooking for yourself or
going to buy medicine for
yourself. It's really nice having people
around to help you out like your family
or friends because I've been sick before
in a foreign country and it's not nice.
I did make some good friends while
traveling and they would help me out
whenever they
could. But essentially, you're in that
country alone and you have to go out and
buy medicine alone. You have to make
your tea alone. You have to cook by
yourself and just take care of yourself
alone. Being alone in a foreign country
did end up helping me in a way.
I definitely felt a lot more
independent and comfortable being alone
than I did before. It taught me to fend
for myself and to take care of
myself. Being sick anywhere isn't nice,
but I have learned some really useful
remedies from friends in different
places in the world. in Portugal is
where I made a friend who showed me that
turmeric is really good for you. She was
from Nepal. She showed me to grab
turmeric and heat it up on the stove in
the fire and then eat it.
It didn't taste the best, but it's a
huge boost to your immune system, and
it's really good for sore throats. I
also learned how to make golden
milk, which is milk with turmeric,
ginger, lime, and pepper, and
honey. And that was a huge aid to my
sickness at the time. Are there any more
remedies you know for different
sicknesses? Maybe some for a headache,
for a runny nose, or maybe for a stomach
ache. For example, my grandma lives in a
small town in
Mexico. And once I had a really bad
stomach ache, she made me a green tea
with lime, ginger, and honey. And then
she gave me a massage all around my
belly and
back. And it was like
magic. All of my pain
disappeared. It's happened several times
now where my grandma knows so many home
remedies. I don't think she would ever
need to buy pharmaceuticals. I know it's
not good to take antibiotics for sore
throats all the time.
Because sometimes it will eventually go
away on its own, but sometimes it's so
hard to deal with it that I just resort
to
antibiotics. It's bad because you can
build immunity to antibiotics after a
while, but I can't help it
sometimes, especially if it's during the
week when I have to teach. When I teach,
I talk and I smile and I
laugh. And I can't be a good teacher if
I'm in pain. It's the same when I used
to go to school. My parents always
worked at the same school that I went to
as a kid. So, whenever I would get sick,
there were no other options but to go to
school. I couldn't stay home because
both my parents worked at the same
school as I went to. So instead, I would
have to stay in my mom's classroom under
her desk and sleep. I remember her
students seeing me and saying, "Whoa,
who's that? Is that your daughter, Miss
Jessica? What's she doing under the
table?" Meanwhile, I was just there.
with a terrible fever, feeling sick and
bad, just trying to sleep, but it was
definitely better than being in my
classroom learning. When you were a kid,
who would take care of you when you had
to stay home from school? Tell me about
your experience as a kid with sick days.
I used to hate going to school despite
feeling so sick. But I understand now
that work is time consuming and it's a
big deal to take even one day off of
work. What do you think? When do you
decide that it's time to take a sick
day? And when do you decide that you can
still go to work even though you're
sick? Where do you draw the line?
Comment all your answers down below so I
can see your progress. Like this video
for more content like this and subscribe
to improve your English every Monday and
Wednesday.
[Music]