Why are we all so stressed?
6 Minute English
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Worrying about exams, work or climate change in the news. It's no wonder modern life is stressful. Becca and Neil hear from a presenter and psychologist about managing stress. Learn some tips to help with worrying and stress, as well as some new vocabulary and phrases!
Find a transcript and worksheet at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2026/ep-260423
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Do you struggle to understand conversations in English? |
| 0:11.5 | Want to listen to something that's easy and fun? |
| 0:15.8 | In real easy English, our presenters have a real conversation in Easy English to help you learn. |
| 0:24.2 | Search Learning Easy English on your podcast app or visit our website to watch the video version, |
| 0:31.8 | BBClearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:35.3 | Six-minute English from BBClearningenglish.com. 6 Minute English from BBC learningenglish.com. |
| 0:43.3 | Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:47.4 | I'm Neil. |
| 0:48.0 | And I'm Becca. |
| 0:49.4 | Worrying about work or exams, war and climate change in the news, |
| 0:54.0 | it's no wonder that modern life is stressful. |
| 0:57.1 | What makes you stress, Neil? |
| 0:58.6 | Ooh, good question. I think not having enough time to do something, that really makes me stressed out. How about you? |
| 1:06.9 | When I'm trying to do something that I've never tried before and I'm not very good at it, that makes me feel really stressed. |
| 1:15.3 | I find that stressful too. |
| 1:17.6 | And how do you cope with stressful situations, Nil? |
| 1:20.7 | Well, I try to slow down, pause, take a breath and think that at some point, probably later today, everything will be |
| 1:30.3 | okay again. How about you? Yeah, same. But in my mind, I'm telling myself that I will be better |
| 1:37.0 | at what I'm doing. I just need to practice more. Many young people who feel stressed about the |
| 1:43.2 | modern world use the word overwhelm to describe their feelings. |
| 1:47.3 | And overwhelm was also the topic of a recent BBC World Service program What in the World. |
... |
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