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Talking about worries

Episode 250620 / 20 Jun 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Neil and Georgie have a real conversation in easy English about their worries. Learn to talk about things that are stressful and scary.

Vocabulary

worry
a problem that makes you feel upset or scared

worried
the feeling of being scared or nervous about something

chilled
have a good relationship

take your mind off (something)
do something to make you stop thinking about your worries

Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Neil.

Georgie
And I'm Georgie. Remember, you can watch a video version of this podcast on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
How are you today, Georgie?

Georgie
I'm very well, thank you, today, Neil. How are you?

Neil
I'm OK. I've got one or two little worries.

Georgie
Have you? Well, that's interesting because we are talking about worries today in this podcast. Worries are problems that make you feel upset or scared. So shall we start the conversation?

Neil
Let's do it.

Georgie
So, Neil, you said you've got a couple of little worries. Do you want to share them?

Neil
Yeah. I think, I think when you have kids, you're kind of slightly worried all the time. And yesterday, my son got hurt playing cricket. And so this morning, I just wanted to make sure he was feeling OK before he went to school.

Georgie
And how was he this morning?

Neil
He seemed OK. Yeah, he seemed a bit bruised.

Georgie
Oh, no. An injury to the knee or something?

Neil
Shoulder.

Georgie
Ouch.

Neil
And arm.

Georgie
Gosh.

Neil
Yeah.

Georgie
And do you... Are you someone that worries a lot?

Neil
No, not really. Sometimes, but I think there's lots of stuff that you can worry about. And if you, if you worry about all of it, it can really affect you badly. So I try, I know it's difficult sometimes, not to worry too much about things that aren't so important.

Georgie
My thing is that worrying about a problem or a thing doesn't actually help. So I'm, I'm in general, I'm a person that doesn't worry too much. I kind of just think whatever happens, happens. So I'm generally quite chilled and relaxed.

And yeah my friend always says that to me because she's someone that worries a lot about everything. Travel, you know, all of those things. And she always says, "how are you always so relaxed about things that go wrong?" But you can't change, you can't change them, so...

Neil
That's true. That's a very healthy attitude probably.

Georgie
So I don't tend to worry a lot. But you, you worry a little bit because you have kids. What kinds of things do you do to make yourself feel more relaxed?

Neil
Well, I think, like you said, one useful thing to do could be to try to be rational. So to think that what you're worried about probably isn't that important or, or likely to happen. 

Neil
But, yeah. So you're quite chilled, as you said. That must be nice for your friends.

Georgie
Yes.

Neil
And if you have, like you said, a friend who's, who worries about everything, how do you help them?

Georgie
Finding maybe a distraction. Like something that makes you feel good. Like a TV programme that you love. Or seeing friends, that love you, that can make you feel more relaxed. Mindfulness techniques as well. Maybe jigsaws. I've talked about puzzles in the past. Do you have any other tips?

Neil
No. These are all very good ideas.

Georgie
Thank you.

Neil
Yeah. I think it can be useful to have something that distracts you. Like maybe drawing, listening to music, playing an instrument can help. Something that just kind of takes that time away.

Georgie
It takes your mind off the the stress. Yeah.

Neil
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation, starting with worry. A worry is a problem that makes you feel upset or scared, and worry is also a verb. So for example, I worry about my kids.

Georgie
Yes, and we also use the adjective worried to describe that feeling of being scared or upset about something. For example, I'm worried about climate change.

Neil
And we heard the expression take your mind off something, which means to do something to stop you worrying. For example, I play my guitar to take my mind off my worries.

Georgie
We also heard chilled, which is another word for relaxed or calm. And it's quite an informal word.

That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Try the worksheet on our website to test what you’ve learned. Go to bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
Next time we'll be talking about our brains. See you then.

Georgie
Goodbye. 

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