favourites - a favourite colour, a favourite  flavour, a favourite word. What's yours,  

Neil? Hmm, my favourite colour is green, my  favourite flavour is sweet-and-sour, and, well,  

I don't know if it's my favourite, but there is a  word I really like saying out loud - 'nincompoop'.  

It means a silly person. For me, it's the taste  of coffee, and the smell of lavender, or freshly  

baked bread. Our favourite tastes, smells and  colours are controlled by our five senses - sight,  

sound, smell, taste, and touch. For most of us  they don't mix. We see colours and taste flavours,  

but we can't taste sounds. But that's not  how everyone's brain works. Imagine being  

able to 'taste' every word that you hear. In this  programme, we'll meet two sisters from Glasgow in  

Scotland who can do just that. And as usual, we'll  learn some new vocabulary as well. Julie McDowall  

and her younger sister, Jen McCready, have  synaesthesia, a neurological condition where two  

or more senses mix together. When synesthetes, as  they're called, hear a word, their sense of taste  

also becomes activated. Words produce specific  tastes on their tongues. For example, when Jen  

hears the name of her daughter, Sophia, she tastes  pink marshmallows! And the name 'Leo' tastes like  

noodles. We'll hear more from the unusual sisters  later, but first I have a question for you, Neil.  

We've just heard what happens when Jen McCready  hears the names 'Sophia', and 'Leo', but what  

does she taste when she hears the name 'Neil'?  Is It: a) eggs and bacon? b) spaghetti hoops? or  

c) a jam sandwich? Well, I don't know what this  says about me, Sam, but I'm going to guess that  

it's c) a jam sandwich. OK. Don't worry, Neil -  I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.  

Synaesthesia isn't only about people, like Julie  and Jen, who taste words - it can be a mixing of  

any of our senses. A synesthete may hear colours  or see sounds. In fact, there could be as many  

as 150 different types of synaesthesia. For the  Scottish sisters having synaesthesia is a gift,  

something Jen explained when she talked with  BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:  

This is enjoyable, it's never anything that causes  - the only thing I would say is it's quite hard  

if you're trying to eat healthily because if  you hear a word that maybe tastes like tuna,  

I'll be like, 'Oh, I need to get a tune baguette  now' ... You know, it's almost like being  

pregnant and having a craving ... words can be so  vivid that you want to eat that - that's the only  

negative I would say about it. For Jen, the only  drawback to synaesthesia is that it can be hard  

to eat healthily because hearing certain words  produces a craving - a strong feeling of wanting  

a particular food. That could be because, for  Jen, the sound of the word is so vivid - clear,  

detailed, and powerful in her mind. There's still  much doctors don't know about why some people  

experience sense mixing while most of  us experience each sense in isolation,  

but it's clear that for Julie and Jen,  synaesthesia makes the world a more interesting,  

colourful place. Someone who can explain why  so little is known about synaesthesia is Guy  

Leschziner, consultant neurologist at King's  College London, and author of the book,  

'The Man Who Tasted Words'. Here he is speaking  to BBC World Service's, The Food Chain:  

One of the problems with synaesthesia is for many  years it's been dismissed, and it's been viewed as  

people with an overactive imagination, something  not real but actually what research in recent  

years has taught us is that actually it does have  an underlying neurological and genetic basis.  

Guy says that in the past, synaesthesia was  often dismissed - considered unimportant or  

uninteresting. Synesthetes were labelled people  with overactive imaginations - a tendency to  

imagine things that are not true. But research  is showing that the causes of synaesthesia  

could run in the family. Julie and Jen's brothers  don't have synaesthesia, but Jen's daughter does.  

And with an estimated 4% of the world  population having some form of sense mixing,  

a world of new and exciting possibilities is  opening up to millions. Exciting possibilities  

like tasting someone's name... Remember in my  question I asked what synesthete, Jen McCready,  

tastes when she hears the name 'Neil'. OK. Well,  I guessed that 'Neil' tastes like a jam sandwich.  

Was I right? Well, Neil, no - you  don't taste like a jam sandwich.  

In fact, when Jen hears the name 'Neil',  she tastes spaghetti hoops! Oh well,  

it could be worse - the name 'Robert' makes Jen  taste rotten eggs! Sorry to any Roberts listening.  

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in  this programme about synaesthesia - a neurological  

condition where two or more senses mix together.  A nincompoop is an informal way of saying a silly  

person. A craving for something is the strong  desire to have it. A vivid sensation is clear,  

strong and detailed in your mind. When something  is dismissed, it's considered unimportant or  

uninteresting. And finally, an overactive  imagination is the tendency to imagine things  

that are not true. Once again, our six minutes  are up! If you've enjoyed this look into the weird  

and wonderful world of synaesthesia, we hope  you'll join us again next time for more chat,  

interesting issues and useful vocabulary here  at 6 Minute English. Bye for now! Goodbye!  

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning  English. I'm Rob. And I'm Sam. Here at 6 Minute  

English, we love to chat about new technology. One  of our favourite topics is VR or virtual reality,  

and the ways it's shaping life in the future. VR  allows you to put on a headset and escape into a  

completely different world. In this programme,  we'll be hearing about some of the ways VR is  

tackling serious problems like domestic violence,  and helping people overcome phobias - the strong  

and irrational fear of something. And, of course,  we'll be learning some useful related vocabulary  

along the way. People who use VR often describe  the experience as intense. Putting on the headset  

makes you feel you're really there, in whatever  new world you've chosen. And it's this intensity  

that inventors, scientists and therapists are  using to help people overcome their problems.  

We'll hear more soon, but first I have a question  for you, Sam. One of the phobias VR can help  

with is the fear of heights - but what is the  proper name for this psychological disorder?  

Is the fear of heights called: a) alektorophobia?  b) arachnophobia? or c) acrophobia? I'll say a)  

alektorophobia. OK, Sam. We'll find out the answer  at the end of the programme. Now, if like me,  

you're not very good with heights, you'll be  happy to know that a company called Oxford VR  

has designed a system to help with precisely that  problem. In the safety of your own home, you put  

on a headset and are guided through a series of  tasks moving you higher and higher off the ground.  

You start by taking an elevator to the top floor  of tall building and move on harder challenges,  

like climbing a rope. Daniel Freeman is a  professor of clinical psychology at Oxford  

University. Listen as he explains how the VR  experience works to BBC World Service programme,  

People Fixing the World. Even though  you're consciously aware it's a simulation,  

it doesn't stop all your habitual reactions to  heights happening, and that's really important,  

and that's why it's got such a potential to  be therapeutic. The art of successful therapy,  

and what you can do really, really well in VR, is  enable someone to drop those defences, and in VR  

a person is more able to drop them because  they know there's no real height there.  

Although the VR experience seems real,  the person using it knows it's only a  

simulation - a pretend copy of the real thing.  This gives them confidence to go higher,  

knowing they can't really get hurt. But although  it's simulated, the experience is real enough to  

trick your mind into acting in its habitual  way - the way it usually, typically works.  

Although your brain knows you have both feet on  the ground, VR is so realistic that to complete  

the tasks you have to drop your defences, a phrase  meaning to relax and trust people by lowering the  

psychological barriers you have built to protect  yourself. Oxford VR's 'Fear of Heights' experience  

uses VR to put people into another world, but  the next project we'll hear about takes things  

even further - putting people into someone else's  body. In Barcelona, a VR simulation is being used  

in prisons to make men convicted of domestic  violence aware of what it feels like to be in  

the position of their victims. The project, called  'virtual embodiment', is led by neuroscientist,  

Mavi Sanchez-Vives, of Barcelona's Institute for  Biomedical Research. In a virtual world we can be  

someone different and have a first-person embodied  perspective from the point-of-view, for example,  

of a different person, different gender, different  age. One can go through different situations and  

have the experience from this totally novel  perspective. Many of the prisoners lack empathy  

for their victims. 'Virtual embodiment' works by  giving these men the experience of abuse in the  

first-person - from the perspective of someone who  actually experiences an event in person. In VR,  

the men have the insults and abuse they gave to  others turned back on them. It's a novel - a new  

and original - experience for them, and not a  pleasant one either. But the VR therapy seems  

to be working, and Dr Sanchez-Vives reports  more and more of the prisoners successfully  

reintegrating into their communities after their  release from prison. The experience VR creates of  

seeing things from someone else's point-of-view  can be therapeutic, even for serious problems.  

And speaking of problems, what was the answer  to your question, Rob? I asked Sam whether  

the correct name for the fear of heights was  alektorophobia, arachnophobia, or acrophobia? I  

guessed it was alektorophobia. Which was the wrong  answer. Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens!  

The correct answer was c) acrophobia - a  fear of heights, and a good example of a  

phobia. Let's recap the rest of the vocabulary  we've learned, starting with simulation - a  

pretend copy of something that looks real  but is not. Habitual describes the usual,  

typical way something works. The phrase 'drop your  defences' means to relax and trust something by  

lowering your psychological barriers. In the  first-person means talking about something  

from the perspective of the person who actually  experienced an event themselves. And finally, the  

adjective novel means completely new and original,  unlike anything that has happened before. Well,  

once again, our six minutes are really -  and virtually - over! Goodbye for now! Bye!  

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning  English. I'm Neil. And I'm Georgina. This is the  

programme where we hope to add some colour  to your life by talking about an interesting  

subject and teaching you some useful vocabulary.  And colour is what we're talking about today.  

What's your favourite colour, Neil? Oh, I like  green - a fresh, bold colour, that reminds me of  

nature - it can have a calming effect. And you?  It's got to be blue - it reminds me of the sea,  

the sky - and holidays, of course! Colour - no  matter which one we prefer - affects how we feel.  

And we'll be talking about that soon. But not  before I challenge you to answer my quiz question,  

Georgina - and it's a science question. Do  you know what the splitting of white light  

into its different colours is called? Is it...  a) dispersion, b) reflection, or c) refraction?  

Hmmm. Well, I'm not a scientist, so I'll have  a guess as c) refraction. OK, I'll reveal the  

right answer later on. But now, let's talk  more about colour. Colour can represent many  

different things, depending on where you come  from. You can be 'green with envy' - wishing  

you had what someone else had. And someone can  feel blue - so feel depressed. We choose colours  

to express ourselves in what we wear or how we  decorate our home. The BBC Radio 4 programme,  

You and Yours, has been talking about colour and  whether it affects everyone's mood. Karen Haller  

is a colour psychologist and a colour designer and  consultant - she explained how colour affects us.  

It's the way that we take in the wavelengths of  light because colour is wavelengths of light,  

and it's how that comes in through our eye,  and then it goes into the part of our brain  

called the hypothalamus, which governs our  sleeping patterns, our hormones, our behaviours,  

our appetite - it governs - everything and so  different colours and different frequencies or  

different wavelengths of light, we have different  responses and different reactions to them.  

So, colour is wavelengths of light - a wavelength  is the distance between two waves of sound or  

light that are next to each other. As these  wavelengths change, so does the colour we see.  

Thanks for the science lesson! Karen also  explained that there's a part of our brain that  

controls - she used the word govern - how we feel  and how we behave. And this can change depending  

on what colour we see. Interesting stuff - of  course, colour can affect us differently. Seeing  

red can make one person angry but someone else  may just feel energised. Homeware and furnishing  

manufacturers offer a whole spectrum - or range  - of colours to choose to suit everyone s taste,  

and mood. But during the recent coronavirus  pandemic, there was a rise in demand for intense,  

bright shades and patterns. This was referred to  as 'happy design' - design that was meant to help  

lift our mood. Yes, and Karen Haller spoke a bit  more about this on the You and Yours programme.  

In the time when everyone was out and we were  all working, and we lived very busy lives,  

quite often what people wanted - they wanted  a quiet sanctuary to come back to, so they had  

very pale colours or very low chromatic colours  in their house - low saturation - because that  

helped them unwind and helped them relax and to  feel very soothed. But what I have found since  

the first lockdown is a lot of people, because  they re not getting that outside stimulation,  

they're actually putting a lot of brighter colours  in their home because they're trying to bring in  

that feeling that they would have got when they  were out - that excitement and that buzz. It seems  

that in our normal busy working lives, our homes  were peaceful places and somewhere to relax - they  

were a sanctuary. To create this relaxing space,  we use pale colours - ones that lack intensity,