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Covid-19 vaccine side effects

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It’s a good idea, when you travel abroad, to know how to describe what you are feeling, in case you need to go to an emergency medical service.

So, we started with the most common health problems, ways to ask about someone’s health, and typical responses.

Next we looked at simple conversations between doctor and patient, and we worked on a dialogue in which a patient visits his doctor because he has many of the classic Covid-19 symptoms.

Then, working with a student, she told me that she had a hard time with the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Forty-eight hours after she took it, she had a rash / she broke out in a rash on her neck and forehead. She didn’t have a fever, but her blood pressure went down / dropped / decreased. Then, she called the doctor, and the doctor prescribed her an anti-allergic medication/drug. She took the medication and rested. ‘It was weird,’ she said.

Here is a piece of news which is a good listening and reading practice, as it brings the vocabulary related to this problem.

I also had / got / experienced side effects / suffered from side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine. I had / experienced fatigue, a fever, a headache and, body aches.

In case you need to go to an emergency service, one of the questions they may ask you is: Are you allergic to any medicine/medication?

You should respond:

Yes, I’m allergic to…

No, not that I’m aware of / not that I know of.

PRACTICE

What about you? Did you have / get / experience side effects or suffered from side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine? What did you have?

Nota: O intuito desta lição, é oferecer soluções lexicais, para caso necessite, você possa comunicar com segurança e tranquilidade, seus sintomas. Ao que tudo indica, o tema não deverá, tão cedo, desaparecer da nossa realidade.

At the doctor’s office – Covid

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In this animated dialogue, a patient visits his doctor because he has many classic Covid-19 symptoms. 

But first, you may need to look at the most common health problems, ways to ask about someone’s health, and typical responses.

Then, it might be necessary to check some simple conversations between doctor and patient. 

Okay! Now you’re ready for this simple but useful dialogue in times of pandemic. Listen carefully, and after doing that, practice here. Look up the words you don’t know and enjoy this unique lesson!

At the doctor’s office

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If you don’t look well – you should see a doctor / go to your doctor. And for that, you may need to make an appointment with your doctor.

The two expressions see a doctor and go to the doctor can be used to indicate a need to consult a doctor, that is, to obtain medical advice and any necessary treatment.

We started with the most common health problems, ways to ask about someone’s health, and typical responses.

Now let’s look at a simple conversation between doctor and patient. This is an interactive listening and speaking practice. Please listen and then repeat after Mark. Have fun learning to talk with a doctor and speak English now.

How are you feeling today?

Not very well, Doctor.

Tell me about it.

Well, I have a terrible headache.

How about your throat?

It hurts a little.

Do you have a cough?

Yes, I have a cough, too.

Do you feel weak?

Yes, I get tired very quickly.

Let’s take your temperature.

Your temperature is 39.1 degrees Celsius.

You have a fever.

It seems the you have the flu.

Oh, that’s terrible.

Don’t worry.

Take this medicine and rest.

OK. I understand.

Please come back next week for a checkup.

I will.

Thank you Doctor.

Find a few more useful sentences below. Listen carefully and write them down.

I got a haircut

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Start by watching the video to listen to the introductory explanation. Pause it, finish reading the post, and then go back to the exercises in the video.

Have/get + object + past participle

We use this structure, the Passive Causative form, to talk about services that we receive, about things which we don’t do by ourselves but someone else does for us.

  • I had/got my hair cut.
  • I got/had my car repaired.
  • I am going to have/get my house painted.

If you’re doing the action, you can simply use “cut”:

  • I cut my hair.

When someone cuts your hair for you, you have/get a haircut,

  • He got a haircut and did/ran other errands during the lunch hours.
  • I was planning to finish work early today, get a haircut, and maybe do some shopping.

Now it’s your turn

Do you cut your hair? If not, who cuts your hair?

How often do you get a haircut?

Pronunciation: say and says

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Did you know that the vowel sound in SAYS is different than that in SAY?

Many English learners get surprised when they realize that this very common verb, SAY, has slightly different pronunciation in the different forms of this word.

Listen carefully and practice.

Now, do you know what IF YOU SAY SO means?

“If you say so” can have several meanings, depending on context and tone.

  • It can mean a very respectful “Okay, I accept your word as an expert,” or “I don’t know, but I’ll take your word for it.”
  • It can imply that the listener is not interested in what the other person has to say. Rather than give his/her input, he or she ignores the matter with a remark like this.
  • Also used to indicate a weak agreement, it means I won’t argue with you, or I won’t contest your opinion. Unsaid, but implied: “I’m not at all sure you are right,” “It’s only your opinion,” and “I don’t want to fight.”

A: “Eating eggs has made me super-intelligent!”
B: “If you say so.” (the person doesn’t necessarily agree)

More examples:

If you say so , I won’t insist.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” ” If you say so .”

Well, if you say so , Shelley, I’ll make sure he sees a therapist.

The tone of voice would make the meaning clear. 😉

Note:

I did some further research on the pronunciation of “says”. /seiz/ used to be the standard pronunciation of “says” which was gradually replaced by the shorter /sɛz/. The former appears to have survived as a non-standard dialectal form:

  • As the linguist Fidelholtz wrote back in 1975 — ‘Frequent words can do exceptional things’. The verb to ‘say’ is a good example of a mundane verb that is used a lot and that does exceptional things. ‘I say, you say, we say, they say’. There’s nothing peculiar here. It’s the so-called third person form that is the problem — this is where the verb falls out of kilter. In Standard English this is pronounced as ‘he/she/it sez’, and not ‘he/she/it says’. So it’s the shortened version ‘sez’ that is standard; the full form ‘says’ is now considered non-standard, dialectal.