Hi Everyone, welcome again to another Teacher Joseph Podcast. You can find the transcript for this podcast on my blog at TeacherJoseph.com and today its all about learning in a different way. Its very important because these days when the world is going a little bit crazy we need to keep our peace, our sense of peace, our way, our composure of being peaceful and we want to radiate that peace into the world. That is what today…… what today’s reading is all about.
So lets begin, lets do some reading, here we go:
Lets begin then……
Learning in Silence: A New Way to Understand
When we think of learning, we often picture books, classrooms, and teachers writing on a whiteboard. We think of effort,repeating, memorizing, pushing ourselves. But what if real learning could be easier? What if the best way to learn English is not only by studying hard, but also by becoming quiet inside?
It’s funny how we often think of learning as something that happens “out there”—in books, in classrooms, on YouTube videos or podcasts. We imagine the knowledge floating around, waiting for us to catch it like butterflies in a net. But what if the real work of learning doesn’t happen “out there” at all?
Every June, the streets of the United Kingdom burst into colour, music, and unapologetic joy. Flags flutter from windows, drag queens sashay through city centres, and grandparents beam as their grandkids dance beside them at Pride. From Brighton to Belfast, Glasgow to Cardiff, the month of June is no ordinary chapter in the calendar — it’s a living, breathing tapestry of love, identity, resistance, and celebration.
Today I was officially adopted by a family I’ve never met. Digitally, through Microsoft Teams and with more naan bread than I could ever emotionally process.
Hello everyone and welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast.
For the last few days I’ve been on holiday in the North of England and the sea is battering against the barrier behind me. I’m in a hotel room and I have a sea view: a view of the sea, but it’s very, very rough and I can see it hitting against the barrier, wanting to jump onto the road. Well, you may hear it behind me or at least you might hear the wind.
Well, I’ve just entered the supermarket and there the first thing that greets me is the news stand…. very depressing news, isn’t it? And no one seems happy that Britain is making deals with Europe.
In the world of entertainment, most stars become famous by singing, acting, or dancing. Sabrina did none of those things.
She became famous by simply standing still and smiling.
In the 1950s, Britain was still recovering from war. People needed laughter, colour, and something glamorous to look at. Then along came a young woman from Stockport, England, with blonde hair, a tiny waist, and …. very large… eh, a very large personality.
Her real name was Norma Ann Sykes, but nobody remembered that. Everyone knew her as Sabrina—no last name, no explanation. Like Madonna, but curvier.
Sabrina didn’t talk much on television. In fact, she often didn’t talk at all. She became famous just by appearing on a popular show called Before Your Very Eyes with Arthur Askey. He did the jokes. Sabrina stood beside him, smiled, and looked beautiful.
And that was it.
Yet somehow, she became a national obsession.
The Blonde Who Broke the Mould
In the 1950s, people didn’t have Instagram or reality TV. They had black-and-white newspapers and magazines. Sabrina appeared in all of them. She became one of Britain’s first “pin-up girls”—women whose pictures people hung on the wall, usually in garages, bedrooms, and army bases.
She had a body like an hourglass, with measurements that seemed almost unreal. Some people joked that she was more of a sculpture than a person.
Her image was everywhere. Her name was used to sell cars, chocolates, and even vacuum cleaners. There were “Sabrina”-style bras. Men named their motorbikes after her. The Royal Air Force painted her face on the front of their planes.
She didn’t say much—but she didn’t need to. Just being Sabrina was enough.
Her silence became part of the legend. One journalist wrote, “She speaks as much on TV as a bottle of milk—but Britain can’t get enough of her.”
Attempts at Acting
Of course, being beautiful and silent has its limits.
In the late 1950s, Sabrina tried to act in films. She appeared in Blue Murder at St Trinian’s, a comedy about a crazy girls’ school. She also had roles in a few other light-hearted films.
Unfortunately, critics didn’t take her seriously. “Too glamorous,” they said. “Not enough range.” Sabrina often played herself, or a version of herself: the glamorous blonde who distracted every man in the room.
But Sabrina didn’t seem to mind. As she once said, “If people want to look at me, that’s fine. I look at myself too.”
Some fans believed she was smarter than she let on. One reporter asked her what her hobbies were. She smiled and replied, “Shopping, sleeping, and being adored.”
It wasn’t just a joke. There was a sense of self-awareness beneath the makeup and the poses. Sabrina understood fame—and how strange it could be.
Glamour, Gloss, and Quiet Confidence
Sabrina didn’t come from wealth. She had polio as a child, which affected her health for years. But she refused to be seen as weak. She trained her body, posed for glamorous photos, and taught herself how to smile like a goddess while standing still for hours.
She knew how to play the part of the blonde bombshell. But underneath the glamour, she was clever and knew exactly how to stay famous.
She also never apologised for being feminine, fashionable, or popular. At a time when women were often told to “stay quiet” or “be modest,” Sabrina stood tall—literally—and said nothing. But her silence was powerful.
People talked about her as if she were a mystery. She didn’t explain herself. And that made her even more interesting.
America, Fame, and Disappearing
In the 1960s, Sabrina moved to the United States. She wanted a fresh start and hoped Hollywood would finally take her seriously.
For a while, she lived in Beverly Hills, surrounded by swimming pools, small dogs, and mirrors. She appeared in one or two films and a few television spots. But the American film industry already had its own blonde stars, and Sabrina struggled to find her place.
Over time, she stepped away from the spotlight.
Some people said she had married a rich man. Others said she became a recluse. Her life became quiet, even mysterious. She stopped making public appearances and rarely gave interviews.
Then, in the 2000s, someone spotted her in London again—older, slower, but still recognisably Sabrina.
She passed away in 2016, at the age of 80, having lived much of her later life in privacy. No big headlines. No dramatic farewell. Just a quiet goodbye from a woman who once stopped traffic by doing absolutely nothing.
A Legacy Built on Mystery
So, what was Sabrina’s secret?
She didn’t win awards. She didn’t sing songs. She didn’t write books or play complicated characters. Yet she became a symbol of beauty and confidence in a time when the world was still black and white.
Maybe that was her magic.
Sabrina proved that sometimes, you don’t need to speak loudly to be heard. She showed that glamour could be its own kind of power. And she reminded people that it’s okay to enjoy being looked at—if you’re doing it on your own terms.
Even today, people still search for her photos online. Her image lives on in old magazines, fan clubs, jokes, and memories.
One military officer once said, “There are three things a young soldier remembers from the 1950s: the Queen, National Service, and Sabrina.”
That’s quite the legacy.
Final Thought
Sabrina once joked, “I never understood what all the fuss was about.” But deep down, she probably did.
She gave the people what they wanted—beauty, mystery, and a little bit of glamour in a grey world.
She didn’t need to do much. Just stand still, smile, and let the world come to her.
Hi everyone and welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast.
Well, I’m here today inside a coffee shop and it’s very, very hot outside. So I walked here and I’m taking refuge inside this coffee shop. Just to shelter from the hot, scolding sunshine. It’s kind of unusual for us to have such hot weather and to be honest, its making me feel a little bit wabbit. Wabbit is when you feel a. little bit down. A little bit kind of disorientated or dizzy and you’re on autopilot. Not functioning on all cylinders. I’ll double check in the dictionary that wabbit is there.
Alright and indeed it is. I just took a moment there. I paused our recording to check… it’s used mostly in the northern part of the UK. It’s introducing you to a Scottish / English word wabbit. It sounds like rabbit, but with a W. And it’s very common to hear people saying that.
Although the dictionary says it is actually a Scottish word. I believe it’s all over the UK. I mean, I’ve heard it in different places, people feeling a bit wabbit, but do keep in mind if you use it that it’s mainly a term from the north. Well, let me just go over what I’m doing here.
So I’m sitting drinking a cup of coffee. It is delicious and I know I shouldn’t really but I also had some doughnuts. And I know, I know, I’m supposed to avoid sugary things, but they were delicious. I mean, it was (they were…) chocolate covered and glazed…. I had to…… I had to try them. Now the thing about this coffee shop is that it’s one of these heavily automized coffee shops, which means that you do everything on the screen to order , and when you do approach the counter for service, they kind of look at you terrified. It’s like they’ve never spoken to anyone before.
It’s really funny. It’s like “Really ?? You actually wanna talk to somebody”? So the screen is where we order all of our coffees and these things. It’s one of these places which is rather grey looking. Typical UK style shop. Grey…. tiles on the floor, brown seating and the ceiling is open, so you can see all of the pipes. I believe this…. this chain is actually Canadian. They’ve got pictures of ice hockey players all around the walls, which, well, doesn’t make me want to rush out and do ice hockey.
Flashing screens are near me and to be honest with you, they are almost blinding me with bright colours and that that’s of course because they’re trying to sell more things.
I’m sitting by the window looking out to a very depressing car park. There’s only four cars in it. So it’s very grey looking and what else can I tell you about it? Yeah, it looks kind of industrial. Clearly it’s near the railway line. Looks like the setting for a music video. You know when there’s rapper walking along, pulling his trousers up every two minutes, it looks something like that. It’s a very deprived kind of area. Yeah, but it’s it’s lovely. I mean, the colours are beautiful, very green today, because the sun’s out and I cut the grass this morning. That was that was an adventure.
But I have to go back to the doughnuts. I mean, they were delicious. Really. And I ate them all myself because I’m out alone.
Yeah. So that’s really all I wanted to say for today, except just to point out that the weather here really is beautiful. Very green. I can see the trees swaying in the wind. It’s almost like they’re dancing because the wind is picking up but even with that, it’s very, very beautiful.
It’s very unusual for us here to have wind, which is warm, usually the wind comes and it blows you away and you’re freezing but actually it’s it’s lovely. And for me I I just I cut the grass this morning, weeded the garden felt exhausted, fell asleep for a couple of hours and then staggered out to come to this coffee shop.
Just looking around and thinking about my forthcoming holidays. I’ll be in the Netherlands this year at some point over June and July, so it’s all booked. I’m very happy. I won’t tell you the exact dates in case you come to try to steal my television when I’m away but there really is…it really is beautiful at this time of year to see the tulips and lovely places. So I’ll be looking forward to that…. yes, yes.
And that’s all for me right now. So I hope you’ve enjoyed this and yeah, some beautiful, beautiful scenes today. I’ll just give you those words again. Wabbit. That’s how I was feeling earlier, a bit exhausted and a little bit unwell. Swaying…. What the trees are doing in the wind. And colourful, beautiful, maybe even dramatic, we could say about things. And that’s it from me. So I’ll see you all again soon.
One of the great things about being an English Teacher is you get to meet people from all over the world and you get to try some delicious food from different places but you also get to talk to people in other parts of the English world, other teachers sometimes, neighbours and friends of course, people who live around you. This is a very diverse place, you know the UK has people from all over the world.
