For example, we can say “I am used to something”, or “I have become/got/grown used to something”. Here are some examples to explain what this means.

　　When she was a child, Joanne lived in a small village in the country. But now she lives and works in a big city. At first, she found the noise and the traffic, and the journey to work in a crowded train, very stressful. But after a few months, she GOT USED TO it. She became accustomed to it, so that the traffic and the train journey did not bother her any more.

　　Joanne has told Kevin that he needs to loose some weight. Unfortunately, Kevin likes to eat chocolate bars at work. He has a chocolate bar with his morning coffee, and another one at lunch time. But he really likes Joanne, so he stops eating chocolate. At first it is terrible – he really, really wants to eat chocolate with his coffee. But after about two weeks, he GETS USED TO it. He finds that, actually, he prefers coffee without chocolate. (Also, he puts an extra spoonful of sugar in his coffee, but he doesn’t tell Joanne that!)

　　And how about you? At first, listening to a foreign language is really difficult. There are so many words that you do not understand, and people talk really fast. But if you practice listening, you BECOME USED TO it. You find it is easier to understand what people say.

　　I have used the word “really” several times in this podcast. It is a common word in colloquial English. I will talk about it next time.