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Session 29
Age is just a number.
ዕድመ ቁጽሪ ጥራሕ እዩ።
In today’s episode we will be discussing how we can achieve our dreams at any age.
ኣብ ናይ ሎሚ መደብና ከመይ ጌርና ኣብ ዝኾነ ዕድመ ዕላማና ከምንወቅዕ ክንዘራረብ ኢና።
Session 29 score
0 / 4
- 0 / 4Activity 1
Activity 1
Age is just a number
Look at the Session Vocabulary – make sure you know what these words and phrases mean:
- trials
- barrier
- motivating
- demoralising
Quiz
Which event did athletes compete in at the original Olympic Games?
a) swimming
b) wrestling
c) track and field
Listen to the discussion and find out the answer.
Listen to find the answers. Then check them on the transcript below.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሰላም፤ እንቃዕ ናብ መደብ English Together ብድሓን መጻእኩም፤ ንሕጂ እዋናዊ ዝኾኑ ዛዕባታት ብምዝታይ ብዛዕብኡ ንምዝርራብ ዝሕግዘኩም ቋንቋ ከነስንቐኩም ኢና። ኣነ ተኽልማርያም በኪት እየ። ምሳናውን ቶምን ፊልን ኣለዉ።
Phil
Hi, I’m Phil. Welcome to the programme.
Sam
And I’m Sam. Hello everyone!
Phil
Guys, I really need to share this story with you! Did you hear about the 99-year-old swimmer who broke the world record in Australia?
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Wait, wait! Before we listen to the story, as you brought up the topic of an athletics competition, Phil, let me ask you a quick question about the world’s oldest and biggest athletics competition – the Olympic Games. እቲ ናይ መጀመርያ ኣብ መዝገብ ዝሰፈረ ጸወታ ኦሎምፒክ ኣብ ሓደ ፍጻመ ዝተሓጽረ ኮይኑ፡ ካብ 776 ቅድሚ ልደተ ክርስቶስ ከምዝጀመረ ይፍለጥ። ሎሚ ንዓኹም ዘሎና ሕቶ ካብ ሂስትሪ ዶት ኮም ዝተወስደ ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ፍጻሜ እንታይ ነበረ፧
ሀ) ምሕንባስ
ለ) መኸተ ጉስጢ
ሐ) ውድድር ጉያ
Sam
Mmm, that’s a good question!
Phil
Let’s talk about it later! I really want you to hear this story!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Phil, you’re very excited about this, aren’t you? Ok, ነዛ ካብ ቢቢሲ ዎርልድ ሰርቪስ ዝተወስደት ዛንታ፡ ብምሕንባስ ናይ ዓለም ክብረ-ወሰን ናይ ዘመዝገበ ዜና ንከታተል።
News Insert
While most around him were sweating over claiming a place in the Commonwealth Games, George Corones used the Australian trials as a way to put his name in the record books. The only entry in the 100 to104 age group, he swam alone covering 50 metres in 56.12 seconds. Corones says he only started taking swimming seriously at the age of 80 and while this won’t win him a place in the games, he does have his sights set on another record. Tomorrow night, he returns to swim in the 100 metre freestyle.
Phil
Isn’t that amazing?
Sam
But was he competing in the games? I didn’t quite understand.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ ,
He was just using the ‘trials’ ፈተነታት ‘as a way to put his name in the record books’ ከም ኣገባብ ንሽሙ ኣብ መዛግብቲ ምቕማጥ ማለት’ዩ።
Phil
Yeah, they said that while he didn’t win a place in the games, he did win a place in the record books.
Sam
I hear a story like that, and I just feel a little inadequate, to be honest.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘To feel inadequate’ ናይ ዘይብቑዕ ስምዒት ማለት ኢዩ, it’s the opposite of ‘adequate’ ብቑዕ ማለት’ዩ. That is not good, Sam!
Phil
Oh no, Sam! A story like this shouldn’t make you feel inadequate. It just proves that age shouldn’t be a barrier to achieving your dreams. It should be motivating!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘To be motivating’ ዘተባብዕ ማለት ኢዩ. I agree, age shouldn’t be ‘a barrier’ መኸላእታ ማለት’ዩ።
Sam
I guess what’s motivating for some people, is demoralising for others.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘To be demoralising’ ተስፋ ዘቑርጽ ማለት ኢዩ. Do you really find this story demoralising, Sam?
Phil
Trust you to hear a story as positive as this one and think it’s demoralising, Sam!
Sam
Don’t get me wrong, I also think it’s very impressive.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Oh, good! ‘To be impressive’ መሳጢ ማለት ኢዩ, and you can say ‘to be impressed by something or someone’ ብገለ ሰብ ወይ ብገለ ነገር ክትምሰጥ እንከለኻ. I’m impressed by this man, definitely!
Phil
Yeah, me too! I’m so impressed by his thirst for life.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
‘Thirsty for life’ ናይ ምንባር ባህጊ ማለት ኢዩ.
Sam
Yeah, absolutely. I’m just saying that his impressive thirst for life can also be demoralising!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Ok, Sam, let’s see if you find this motivating! Do you remember the question I asked you earlier? እቲ እንኮ ናይ መጀመርያ ፍጻሜ ኣብ ጸወታታት ኦሎምፒክ ዝተመዝገበ እንታይ ኢዩ፧
ሀ) ምሕንባስ
ለ) መኸተ ጉስጢ
ሐ) ጉያ
What do you think the answer is, Sam?
Sam
I think it was c.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
And you’re correct. እቲ መልሲ ሐ) ጉያ።
Phil
That was very impressive, Sam!
Sam
Yeah, yeah. I know what you two are trying to do, and it won’t work.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
Ha ha! Not sure Sam is very impressed by us, Phil! ቅድሚ ናይ’ዚ ሰሙን መደብና ምዝዛምና፡ ኣብተን ሎሚ ንዛረበለን ዝነበርና ቃላት ንመልከት- ኩሎም ምስ ዓወት ዝተሓሓዙ ኢዮም፡ ‘to feel inadequate’ ናይ ዘይብቕዓት ስምዒት, ‘to be motivating’ ምትብባዕ, ‘to be demoralising’ ተስፋ ዘቑርጽ ከምኡ እውን ‘to be impressive’ መሳጢ ዝብሉ ኢዮም ነሮም። ምሳና ሓቢርኩም ብምጽናሕኩም እናኣመስገንና፡ ኣብ ናይ ዝቕጽል ሰሙን ተወሳኺ English Together የራኽበና.
Meaning & Use
inadequate (adjective)
Inadequate refers to not being good enough for something. If someone feels inadequate, it means that they feel that they are not able to do things as well as is expected.
Seeing successful people makes me feel inadequate.
I felt so inadequate because I wasn't able to help.
It was cold inside because the heating was inadequate.
motivating (adjective)
Motivating is used to describe something that makes people want to do a particular action or to peform something better.
I find praise really motivating.
Seeing the results of my work is really motivating.
Having a coach who understands me is very motivating.
demoralising (adjective)
Demoralising is used to describe something that makes people lose confidence in themselves.
It's really demoralising when people constantly criticise what you do.
The job was so boring that it was demoralising.
It's really demoralising when no-one listens to you.
impressive (adjective)
Something or someone that is impressive causes people to admire or respect it.
His winning time in the race was really impressive.
The palace's size was impressive.
The impressive thing was how easily she was able to make people like her.
Age is just a number
4 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ
Hint
ተስፋ ከም ትቆርጹ ዝገብሩ።Question 1 of 4
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ
Hint
እኹል ኣይኮነን።Question 2 of 4
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ
Hint
ናይ ካልኦት ኣድናቖት የተባብዕ።Question 3 of 4
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ
Hint
ንዝኾነ ነገር ከምእተዕውቶ ስምዒት ይፈጥረልካ።Question 4 of 4
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Over to you!
Do you find this story motivating or demoralising? Do you feel inadequate when you hear about other people's impressive achievements? Tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Together when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ኣብ ዝቕጽል English Together ኣገደስቲ ናይ አንግሊዘኛ ዝርርብን ናይ ምስማዕ ብቕዓትኩምን እትለማመዱሉ መደብ ሒዝናልኩም ክንቀርብ ኢና።
Session Vocabulary
to feel/ be inadequate
ዘይእኹል/ዘይብቑዕto be motivating
ምትብባዕto be demoralising
ተስፍ ምቁራጽto be impressive
ደስ ዘብልto be a barrier or obstacle to something
ዕንቅፋት ምዃንto be impressed by something or someone
ምድናቕ/ ምግራምto have a thirst for life
ናይ ምንባር ህንጡይነት ምህላውthe trials
ፈተናታት/ብድሆታት