How do we describe smells?
6 Minute English

How do we describe smells?

B2Upper-intermediateAugust 27, 20266 min

What is the worst smell in the world? And what is the best smell? Are there any smells that you like, but that your friends or family hate? Smells are all around us all the time, but the English language is often quite general in the way it describes smells, as opposed to other senses like sounds or tastes. But why is this? Neil and Georgie discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary. Get a free worksheet, quiz and transcript for this episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2026/ep-260827 Practise...

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Sentence 11 of 12 · 1:36

of Mouth for some suggestions.

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Smells are everywhere, whether they're bad smells like rotten eggs and sweaty feet,

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 30%A2 49%B1 15%B2 6%C1 0%
  • 94% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 162 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 20 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I have lots more to help you with your English. Try real easy English to learn from natural English conversations, or learn some English from the biggest news stories from around

1:00

the world. Search BBC Learning English in your podcast app to find our other programmes, or find much more at bbclearningenglish.com. Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. I'm Georgie. In English there are many ways to describe smells. Poet Michael Rosen wanted

1:28

to find words describing bad smells and asked listeners of his BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth for some suggestions. Fusi, reeking, twerking, honking, humming, funky. Smells are everywhere, whether they're bad smells like rotten eggs and sweaty feet,

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