Talking about secrets

Introduction Beth and Georgie have a real conversation in easy English about being honest and lying. Learn to talk about your secrets. Vocabulary secret a piece of information that you don't tell other people keep a secret not share a piece of information with other people (an) open book refers to someone who is honest and doesn't keep secrets lie say something that isn't true on purpose liar someone who lies a lot Transcript Beth Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Beth. Georgie And I'm Georgie. You can find a video version of this podcast and a worksheet to help you learn all on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Beth Hi, Georgie. Georgie Hello, Beth. Beth How is your week going? Georgie It's going well. It's quite a busy one, isn't it? Beth It is. It's only Wednesday. Georgie Yeah. Beth It feels like Friday, but today we're talking about secrets. Georgie Secrets? Beth A secret is a piece of information that you don't tell other people. Georgie Beth, does that mean you're going to tell me all of your secrets? Beth No. Not now. Maybe later. Georgie Oo, OK. Beth So, Georgie, are you good at keeping secrets? Georgie No, I'm definitely not good at keeping secrets. I'm a bit of an open book, which means the opposite of someone who is good at keeping secrets. You're very honest and share things, maybe too much. What about you? Beth OK. I am probably the same as you. I think I'm not good at keeping secrets, but if it's a really important secret and I've been told, please don't tell anyone, then I won't tell anyone. Georgie Yes. So, Beth, what is the biggest secret you've had to keep? Beth I flew abroad to surprise my boyfriend at the time, his dad. And we had to keep it a secret. And we even called him in the morning on a video call and pretended we were at home, and we were actually in a different country. Georgie Oh my gosh. Beth So that was a big secret. Georgie So it went well. Was he surprised? Beth It did. He was very surprised. We were very pleased that we kept it a secret. We did well. Georgie Well done, well done. I've had to keep a big secret. Last year, my friend told me that she was going to propose to her girlfriend. But she told me I had to keep it a secret. And it's really, it was really difficult because we have a group of friends, and I really wanted to tell them, but I couldn't. And I managed to keep it a secret, so I was very proud of myself. Beth That's good. Well done. That reminds me, I had a big secret, too. My friend told me, don't tell anyone and don't tell your mum. And I told my mum by accident. Georgie Oh, no. Can you reveal the secret to us? Beth Oh, yeah. She was pregnant. She's now had the baby. Georgie OK. Beth But she said, yeah, I'm pregnant. But it's really early, so please don't tell anyone. Don't even tell your mum. And then I spoke to my mum a few weeks later and said, you don't know, she's pregnant. And then I realised, oh, no, I wasn't supposed to tell you. Georgie But that was kind of an accident. Beth It was definitely an accident. Georgie Yeah. Beth But I felt really bad. Georgie Well, now she's had the baby. It's OK. It's not a surprise anymore. Beth Sorry! Georgie Beth, do you think secrets are a good or a bad thing? Beth I think it really depends on the secret. There are good secrets, like proposing or having a baby. And then I guess a bad secret really is a lie. If you have to lie, then that's not good. Georgie Yeah, I agree. It's, it's not, yeah, it's not good to lie. And I think that's a reason why I'm not very good at keeping secrets. Because I'm a really bad liar. You can see it in my face if I'm holding, holding in a secret. Beth Yeah. I think sometimes you can look at someone's face and know what they're thinking. I'm definitely like that. If I'm annoyed or angry or something, you can tell from my face. Georgie Well that's good because I'll always know that you're being honest and not keeping any secrets from me. Beth Let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation. We had a secret, which is a piece of information that you can't tell other people. And we also have the phrase keep a secret, which means to not share that piece of information. Georgie If someone is an open book, they don't have secrets and they're honest about their life. Beth And if you lie, you say something that's not true. It's usually seen as negative, but sometimes you have to lie if you want to keep a secret. Georgie And we call someone who lies a lot a liar. Beth And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Test what you've learned with the free worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com Georgie We'll be back next week with another conversation in easy English. Goodbye. Beth Bye.   Now try this... Download a free worksheet