Are you addicted to your smartphone? 6 Minute English

Improve your English vocabulary and speaking with 6 Minute English!
Are you a phubber? Do you suffer from FOMO? These are words associated with smartphone addiction. 6 Minute English describes these words and discusses what can be done to help you put your phone down.

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝟔 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬:
Why are football crowds getting quieter?

Is the internet good or bad?

The power of smell

Are you excited about the World Cup?

Is gaming a sport?

𝐕𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲
𝐅𝐎𝐌𝐎
(acronym) Fear of Missing Out

𝐩𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫
person who ignores the real people around them because they are concentrating on their phones

𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 (𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠)
having a physical or mental need to keep on doing something

𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲
unable to stop doing something again and again

𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡
stay in contact with

𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧
actually meeting someone face-to-face

[Images: GETTY IMAGES]

#BBCLearningEnglish #LearnEnglish #6MinuteEnglish

[louisapham]

- FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out
- a phubber: a person who ignore real people around because of their concentration on their phone.
- compulsively: do sth in a way that you cannot control because you’re addicted to it.
- keep in touch: to contact someone
- do sth yourself: to do sth in person
This video is really helpful for me. I can learn English everyday by listening to this kind of video and write down new words I’ve learnt.
Hope my English is not too bad =))

[haunguyenhuynhphuc]

I am addicted to BBC learning English channel, I am an BBC fanatic :)

[joshua]

BBC Learning English is helping me a lot to improve myself...

Here after I'm not gonna be a Phubber in front of others😇

[abdirahmanmohamedaidiid]

i sold my expensive iphone and bought small smartphone which has limited features and i installed only whatsapp thats really helped me to focus on my study and fitness my sleep routine is fixed, world with move with you or without you so you better keep focusing on something will give you permament satisfaction in you future

[softy]

Positive: The use of the Smartphone brings many negative things, however it also brings good aspects such as: greater learning, saving time, tools in the workplace, applications to measure and improve the physical and mental state of people and even their use is greater by the pandemic suffers by using it as a means of work and student communication.

Positive Opinion: It is good that some of the applications have a usage time timer, even some applications make them unusable so that they cannot be accessed with the excuse of doing maintenance on their applications, to prevent their users from having problems with physical and mental health and greater connection with their environment (friends or family), since they know how much time each user spends in an application and this is very alarming.

[sbilklw]

It's cool to learn English with important knowledge about our actual lives. Thanks!

[jayamohan]

I am really addicted to BBC learning English and l am happy to know from Catherine that this addiction is good.

[Gouthami]

A newbie and for an hour was totally involved in BBC LE.I got confidence that I will get desired band if I keep effort and also use this app in proper way in my daily practice session.

[pedroesm]

I am addicted to listening music almost all day and to watch on youtube the videos from bbc learning english.

[Swerchok]

I’m particularly addicted to my phone, Youtube is the reason. The most of the videos whith I usually look just for fun. But some programs are really helpfull and interesting like this. Thanks❤

[softy]

My Opinion: I agree that many of the people are addicted to the smartphone since they cannot live without it, although smartphones help many people with daily life or solve human needs, it can also cause some diseases for that reason. recommends not to use the cell phone before sleeping as it prevents falling asleep, in the same way not to use the cell phone from the time they get up as it distracts from the things that have to be done at the beginning of the day. (In my case I am not addicted to the mobile phone; however I spend too much time with the cell phone for tasks, messages and entertainment).

[romanroman]

Guays thanks to all who create such beautiful short video material. It very helpful for me to develop my listening skills. God bless you

[LakhwinderSingh-zwkb]

My search for videos on youtube ends here...so informative..Thx BBC .. 👍

[tuongngoc]

I am using my smartphone to listen to this video 😀😀😀

[breadiotic]

Transcript
Note: This is not a word for word transcript

Rob

Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

Catherine

And I'm Catherine.

Rob

So, Catherine, how long do you spend on your smartphone?

Catherine

My smartphone? Not that long really, only about 18 or 19 hours.

Rob

No, sorry, I meant in a day, not in a week.

Catherine

Er, that's what I meant too, Rob – a day.

Rob

Oh wow, so you’ve even got it right here…

Catherine

…yep, got it now, Rob. Yes, I should tell you that I suffer from FOMO.

Rob

FOMO?

Catherine

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. Something cool or interesting might be happening somewhere, Rob, and I want to be sure I catch it, so I have to keep checking my phone, to make sure, you know, I don’t miss out on anything.

Rob

So we could call you a phubber… Hello… I said, so you’re a phubber? Someone who ignores other people because you’d rather look at your phone.

Catherine

Oh, yeah, that's right.

Rob

It sounds like you have a bit of a problem there, Catherine. But you’re not the only one. According to one recent survey, half of teenagers in the USA feel like they are addicted to their mobile phones. If you are addicted to something, you have a physical or mental need to keep on doing it. You can’t stop doing it. You often hear about people being addicted to drugs or alcohol, but you can be addicted to other things too, like mobile phones. So, Catherine, do you think you’re addicted to your phone? How long could you go without it? Catherine? Catherine!

Catherine

Sorry, Rob, yes, well I think if I went more than a minute, I'd probably get sort of sweaty palms and I think I'd start feeling a bit panicky.

Rob

Oh dear! Well, if I can distract you for a few minutes, can we look at this topic in more detail please? Let's start with a quiz question first though. In what year did the term ‘smartphone’ first appear in print? Was it:

a) 1995

b) 2000

c) 2005

What do you think?

Catherine

OK, you've got my full attention now, Rob, and I think it’s 2000, but actually can I just have a quick look on my phone to check the answer?

Rob

No, no, that would be cheating – for you – maybe not for the listeners.

Catherine

Spoilsport.

Rob

Right, Jean Twenge is a psychologist who has written about the damage she feels smartphones are doing to society. She has written that smartphones have probably led to an increase in mental health problems for teenagers. We’re going to hear from her now, speaking to the BBC. What does she say is one of the dangers of using our phones?

Jean Twenge, psychologist and author

I think everybody’s had that experience of reading their news feed too much, compulsively checking your phone if you’re waiting for a text or getting really into social media then kind of, looking up and realising that an hour has passed.

Rob

So what danger does she mention?

Catherine

Well, she said that we can get so involved in our phones that we don’t notice the time passing and when we finally look up, we realise that maybe an hour has gone. And I must say, I find that to be true for me, especially when I'm watching videos online. They pull you in with more and more videos and I’ve spent ages just getting lost in video after video.

Rob

Well that's not a problem if you're looking at our YouTube site, of course - there's lots to see there.

Catherine

Yes, BBC Learning English, no problem. You can watch as many as you like.

Rob

Well, she talks about checking our phones compulsively. If you do something compulsively you can’t really control it - it’s a feature of being addicted to something, you feel you have to do it again and again. Some tech companies, though, are now looking at building in timers to apps which will warn us when we have spent too long on them. Does Jean Twenge think this will be a good idea?

Jean Twenge, psychologist and author

It might mean that people look at social media less frequently and that they do what it really should be used for, which is to keep in touch with people but then put it away and go see some of those people in person or give them a phone call.

Rob

So, does she think it’s a good idea?

Catherine

Well, she doesn’t say so directly, but we can guess from her answer that she does, because she says these timers will make people spend more time in face-to-face interaction, which a lot of people think would be a good thing.

Rob

Yes, she said we should be using it for keeping in touch with people - which means contacting people, communicating with them and also encouraging us to do that communication in person. If you do something in person then you physically do it – you go somewhere yourself or see someone yourself, you don’t do it online or through your smartphone, which nicely brings us back to our quiz question. When was the term smartphone first used in print - 1995, 2000 or 2005? What did you say, Catherine?

Catherine

I think I said 2005, without looking it up on my phone, Rob!

Rob

That's good to know, but maybe looking at your phone would have helped because the answer was 1995. But well done to anybody who did know that.

Catherine

Or well done to anyone who looked it up on their phone and got the right answer.

Rob

Mmm, right, before logging off let’s review today’s vocabulary.

Catherine

OK, we had FOMO, an acronym that means 'Fear of Missing Out'. Something that I get quite a lot.

Rob

And that makes you also a phubber - people who ignore the real people around them because they are concentrating on their phones.

Catherine

Yes, I do think I’m probably addicted to my phone. I have a psychological and physical need to have it. My smartphone is my drug.

Rob

Wow, and you look at it compulsively. You can’t stop looking at it, you do it again and again, don't you?

Catherine

It's sadly true, Rob. To keep in touch with someone is to contact them and share your news regularly.

Rob

And if you do that yourself by actually meeting them, then you are doing it in person. And that brings us to the end of today’s programme. Don’t forget you can find us on the usual social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube - and on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now.

Catherine

Bye!

[med]

That's why i started to changing and reading books. I really was damaging my health especially my eyes but now I'm okay, I can spend my day without SMRT phone.

[sobahanmia]

Thank you for your important conversation, its help me my english.. And i am not addicted smartphone. Now i am addicted only learn english.

[LakhwinderSingh-zwkb]

She said we are getting so involved in our mobile phone that we don't realise the time passing..and when we finally look up..we realise that may be an hour has gone..I must say that ..I find that to be true to me.. especially when I watch online videos..they pull you in with more and more videos..and I have spend ages in watching video after video 👍

[albinsopaj]

When Catherine gave her first quiz question answer she said b)2000, but later she changed it to c)2005 and Neil didn't notice it.

[muhammadalameen]

Thank you BBC ....😊 go ahead ...so beneficial ✌ . By the way ...I'm addicted to my phone 😁