Talking about health!

Health vocabularies:

to care about

Example:

If you don’t care about your health when you are still young, you will have many health problems when you are old.

health (noun)

Example:

She had to give up smoking not to damage her health any more.

vegetables (noun) /ˈvedʒtəbl/ = veggies

Example:

If you want to lose weight you should eat more vegetables instead of sweets.

fruits (noun)

Example:

Oranges are my favorite fruits.

junk food (noun) /dʒʌŋk/

Example:

Do you often eat junk food?

to smoke /smoʊk/

Example:

He used to smoke about three packets of cigarettes a day, but now he quits smoking.

to be on a diet /ˈdaɪət/

Example:

“Would you like a piece of cake?” “No thanks, I’m on a diet.”

to exercise = to work out

Example:

If you are on a diet and work out, you can lose your weight quickly.

muscular (adj) /ˈmʌskjələr/

Example:

He wants to be more muscular, so he goes to the local gym every day.

good physical condition /ˈfɪzɪkl/

Example

Her physical condition is not good enough to go climbing with us.

catch a cold

Example:

He says he will not come to the party, because he caught a cold.

medicine (noun) /ˈmedɪsn/

Example:

I prefer natural medicines, especially those based on herbs.

pain-killers

Example:

I always have some pain-killers at home in case I may have this terrible headache again.

medical check-ups /ˈmedɪkl/

Example:

I used to have regular medical check-ups when I was younger, but now I have no time for that.

braces /breɪs/

backache (noun) /ˈbækeɪk/

Example:

He had to stop exercising in the gym for a month after he’d got that terrible backache.

headache (noun) /ˈhedeɪk/

Example:

When I work too much I end up having a terrible headache in the evening.

to suffer from

Example:

If you don’t care about your health when you’re young, you’ll suffer from various diseases when you’re old.

allergy (n) /ˈælərdʒi/ - allergic (adj) /əˈlɜːrdʒɪk/

to lose consciousness /ˈkɑːnʃəsnəs/

to take a nap

insomnia (noun) /ɪnˈsɑːmniə/

to lack of sleep

sleeping pills

bone (noun)

accident (noun) - a car accident

blood group

to donate blood - blood donation

air pollution

harmful (adj) /ˈhɑːrmfl/

Example:

Smoking and drinking alcohol is harmful to your health.

exhaust fumes

dangerous (adj)

Disease (noun) /dɪˈziːz/

Cancer (noun) /ˈkænsər/

Symptom (noun)/ˈsɪmptəm/

Diagnosis (noun) /ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊsiːz/ - To diagnose /ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊs/

'I have a fever, a runny nose and I have been sneezing.'

Your doctor says: 'My diagnosis is that you have the flu.'

Antibiotics /ˌæntibaɪˈɑːtɪk/

Dizziness (noun) - /ˈdɪzinəs/

Dizzy (adj) - I feel dizzy

Hearing loss

• Nearsighted/ shortsighted (adj) /ˌnɪrˈsaɪtɪd/ - Nearsightedness (noun) /ˌnɪrˈsaɪtɪdnəs/
• Farsighted (adj) /ˌfɑːr ˈsaɪtɪd/

Nosebleed (noun) /ˈnoʊzbliːd/

Runny nose

Smallpox (noun) /ˈsmɔːlpɑːks/

To swallow

Swelling (noun) /ˈswelɪŋ/

Temperature (noun)

Throat (noun) 

Example:

I have a soar throat

Tissue /ˈtɪʃuː/

To look after

To sneeze

To treat - treatment (noun)

Upset stomach 

Example:

I have an upset stomach

## I have a stomachache

Virus /ˈvaɪrəs/

Weight loss

To have a black eye

Cosmetic surgery

To sprain someone’s ankle

Warm up questions:

1. Are you a member of a gym?
2. Are you healthy? Are your parents healthy?
3. What do you do to stay healthy or keep fit?
4. Do you think that you are overweight and need to lose weight?
5. Do you always eat healthy food?
6. Do you eat a lot of vegetables?
7. Do you eat lots of fruit?
8. Do you eat fruits and vegetables every day?
9. Do you have any food allergies?
10. Do you drink a lot of alcohol like beer or wine?
11. Do you consider alcohol a drug? Are you addicted to alcohol?
12. Do you drink a lot of water? How much water do you drink everyday?
13. Do you often eat fast food or junk food? What kinds of junk food do you eat?
14. Do you smoke? Do you think smoking is not bad for your health?
15. Do you take vitamins?

Example:

I’m not a member of a gym, but I’m very healthy because I often exercise about 30 minutes everyday and I also play sports like badminton or volleyball and go swimming 3 or 4 times a week.

Besides, I eat very healthy food like veggies and fruits, drink a lot of water about 2 or 3 liters a day. I don’t eat fast food or junk food and drink soda or alcohol because it makes me fat and gain so much weight. I often go to bed early like 9:30pm or 10pm. I don’t really stay up late, only when I have exams or tests from school or deadlines from work, so sometimes I sleep late about 11pm or midnight.

I think I’m fit and I don’t need to lose weight. I love veggies and fruits a lot, I can eat most of them like broccoli, carrots, morning glory, cabbage, water melon, kiwi, dragon fruit, longans, rambutans and so on...

I don’t smoke and in my opinion, smoking is not good for our health because it might cause lung cancers.

Useful phrases/ expressions:

1. I have a cold

2. I have a fever /ˈfiːvər/

3. I am coughing a lot /ˈkɔːfɪŋ/

4. I have a toothache /ˈtuːθeɪk/

5. I’m sneezing all the time

6. I feel sick

7. I often feel sick

8. I have a runny nose

9. I feel run down

10. I feel sore

11. I broke my leg

12. I’ve got a terrible headache

13. To make an appointment

Example:

'Good morning. I'd like to make an appointment to see the doctor today.'

'The doctor is busy this morning, but he is free this afternoon. Is 2pm OK?'

More questions about Health:

1. Do you often catch a cold? How often?
2. Do you ever get a headache? and why?
3. Do you ever read magazines or news articles about health?
4. Do you exercise? What kind of exercise do you do?
   How often do you exercise?
5. Do you go for regular medical check-ups? or do you often go to the doctor’s? How often?
6. Do you often go to the dentist? How often do you brush your teeth?
7. Do you often have a lot of stress? Why?
8. How can you reduce/ deal with stress in your life?
9. Do you suffer from backaches?
10. Do you take medicine when you are sick?
11. Do you usually get enough sleep?
12. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Idioms connected with: HEALTH

to be under the weather

I didn’t go to work yesterday, because I was under the weather.

to dice with death

He dices with death every time he goes skating on the frozen lake!

a bag of bones

She’s been on a diet since I remember. It’s no wonder that she looks like a bag of bones.

to get yourself back into shape

She quickly managed to get herself back into shape after giving birth.

to be in shape

My parents eat healthy and exercise a lot to be in shape all the time.

to keep fit

His brother does jogging every evening in order to keep fit.

How to give Recommendations/ Advices about Health Problems

This is the way to give recommendations/ advices to others when they talk about the health problems they have.

Subject + should +verb

1. You should drink plenty of water
   
2. You should take some medicines
   
3. You should drink a hot soup
   
4. He should wear warm clothes because the weather is cold
   
5. You should take vitamin C
   
6. You should rest
   
7. You should take a painkiller
   

These are some other ways to give recommendations

• You can take an aspirin for pain.
  
• You can take some time off
  
• You could try drinking more water.
  
• You could try resting more
  
• You may want to eat less.
  
• You may want to quit smoking
  
• You might want to exercise more.
  
• You might want to quit drinking
  
• I would take some time off if I were you.
  
• I would start doing more exercises if I were you
  
  

I. Asking about Health:

1. How are you?
2. How are you today?
3. How do you feel?
4. How do you feel today?
5. How are you feeling today?

Feelings:

I feel/ am + Adjectives

Positive adjectives

I feel/ am...

Fine/ good

Great/Terrific/Fantastic...

Negative adjectives

Sick

Awful

Miserable

Terrible

Horrible

I don’t feel so great

Not so good

Not very well

II. Specific problems:

1. What's wrong?
2. What's the matter?
3. What’s the problem?
4. What are your symptoms?
5. Do you have any allergies?
6. How long have you been feeling like this?
7. Do you have any medicine to take?

Answers:

I have (problem) = I’ve got a problem

Examples:

I have a headache

I’ve got a headache

Health Problems

I have

Asthma

A broken leg

A cough

An earache

A fever

The flu

Heartburn

(The) measles

A rash

A sore throat

A stomachache

Sunburn

A toothache

Hay fever

Allergy (noun) -> Allergic (adj)

I’ve got a slight headache.

I’ve got a sore throat.

I have a high blood pressure.

I have pain in my back.

I’m in a lot of pain.

My head is spinning.

I’m having difficulty breathing.

I have a stomachache.

I’m not sleeping very well at the moment.

I’m not feeling very well.

Practice:

1/ How do you feel?

Not so good

2/ What’s the matter?

I have a headache

3/ I’m sorry to hear that

Conversation 2:

A: How are you

B: Not very well?

A: What’s wrong?

B: I have a cold

A: I’m sorry to hear that

Conversation 3:

A: What’s the matter?

B: I have a cough

More questions about Health

1. What do you think of cosmetic surgery? Would you ever consider having cosmetic surgery?
2. What drinks to you think are healthy? What drinks do you think are unhealthy?
3. What foods to you think are healthy? What foods do you think are unhealthy?
4. Have you ever been in the hospital?
5. Have you ever broken a bone?
6. Have you ever burned yourself with hot water?
7. Have you ever donated blood?
8. Have you ever had a black eye?
9. Have you ever had braces on your teeth?
10. Have you ever sprained your ankle?
11. Have you ever taken a sleeping pill to get to sleep?
12. What should we do to treat a cold? (we should...)
13. What do you do, if you can't get to sleep?
14. What is the average age of people in your country?
15. What kind of pollution is the most risky?
16. What time did you go to bed when you were a child?
17. What's the highest temperature you've ever had?
18. What's your blood type?
19. Who is the healthiest person in your family? Who is the least healthy?
20. Would you consider donating your organs after your death?
21. What do you think of the health service in this country?
22. How often do you clean your bathroom?
23. How often do people in your country shower?
24. Have you a bitter taste in your mouth?