 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. On today's program, John Russell and I have a report on the arrival of spring in the northern part of the world. Anna Matteo presents this week's Health and Lifestyle Report, and we close by hearing today's lesson of the day. But first... This year, the vernal equinox officially arrives on Tuesday, March 19th at 11.06 p.m. in Washington, D.C. That is 3.06 UTC on Wednesday, March 20th. At that time, the Sun will be exactly above the Earth's equator. The word vernal comes from the Latin word vernalis, meaning of the spring. And equinox comes from the Latin words aqueous, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. The day has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. And in the northern hemisphere, the day marks the beginning of spring. On this day, people living in colder areas of the northern hemisphere hope they can put away their winter clothes. They also may soon start planting flowers and vegetables in a garden. Here in Washington, D.C., March 20th also marks the first day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Each year, people from around the world come to see the beautiful pink and white blossoms on the thousands of flowering cherry trees. For Washingtonians, the cherry blossoms are a welcome sign that spring has arrived. In ancient times, some cultures built structures to signal the start of spring. Around the year 1000 A.D., for example, the Maya built a pyramid in what is now Mexico's Yucatan. It sits within an ancient city called Chichenitza. On the spring equinox, the sunlight hits in a way that makes the structure look like a snake. The Maya called this day the Return of the Sun Serpent. Today, cultures worldwide have their own ways of identifying and celebrating the arrival of spring. In Japan, spring is marked with a huge cherry blossom festival known as Hanami. The tradition dates back more than a thousand years. People gather under the blooming trees to eat, drink tea, celebrate, and enjoy the cherry blossoms known as Sakura in Japanese. Artists and poets celebrate the short-lived blooms as a symbol of beauty. In 1912, Japan gave 3,000 cherry trees to the U.S. capital city of Washington, D.C. The gift was to honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. For many countries in Central Asia and the Middle East, the vernal equinox also marks the beginning of a new year. The celebration is called Noruz. The words no and ruz mean new day in Farsi. Countries along the ancient Silk Road trading path, including Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian nations celebrate Noruz. In the past, Iran was the only country where Noruz was an official holiday. But after countries gained their independence following the fall of the Soviet Union, many made Noruz a national holiday as well. During Noruz, people visit family members and friends and exchange gifts. Iranian families set up a half-seen display of seven special items that represent spring and new beginnings. In Uzbekistan and other places in Central Asia, people watch wrestling events, horse races, and a special horseback game called in Uzbek Kopkari. In this game, two teams of players on horseback try to get the body of a headless goat into a goal. A similar game is called Buzkashi in Afghanistan and Oklak Tartish in Kyrgyzstan and Uyghur-speaking areas. Many in India and Nepal mark the arrival of spring with the Holy Festival, known also as the Festival of Colors or the Festival of Love. This year, Holy will take place on March 25th. People celebrate the festival by covering each other in, you guessed it, colors. Children especially enjoy the festival as they get to throw colored powder and water-filled balloons at others. Some say the festival comes from a story of the burning of the devil, Holika. It represents the victory of good over evil or the arrival of spring after along dark winter. Others say the celebration was inspired by the story of two young lovers with different skin colors. Krishna, who has blue skin, was in love with Radha. So he colored Radha with paint leading to the modern-day colorful festival of love. People in Valencia, Spain have their spring celebration called Lasvayas. It is a wild street festival involving fire. The festival centers on the creation and burning of huge colorful statues made of wood, paper, and plastic. The statues are meant to look like real people. Valencian communities and organizations work all year to create these structures and place them throughout the city with fireworks inside. Lasvayas celebrations begin on March 15th with events like bullfights, parades, and cooking and beauty competitions. Then at midnight on March 19th, the city turns off all its streetlights and the statues are set on fire. This marks the end of the festival and the beginning of spring. From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle Report. In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Agency approved the drug Wigovi for weight loss. Now the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, says the drug can reduce the risk of death from stroke or heart attack. In adults who have cardiovascular disease or are overweight. The FDA approved a usage change requested by drug maker Novo Nordisk. The change expands the use of semi-glutide, the general or generic name of the drug. Wigovi is the brand name given by the company that sells it. The FDA based its decision on the results of a study that found Wigovi cut the risk of serious heart problems. The study also found that overweight patients with heart disease but not diabetes were 20% less likely to experience those problems. Researchers compared the results of patients who took the drug with those who took a placebo or inactive injections. Wigovi is the first medication approved to help prevent possibly life-threatening disease in overweight people, the agency said. Dr. John Sherritts directs the FDA's Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders and Obesity. He said providing a treatment option that is proven to lower this cardiovascular risk is good for public health. Dr. Martha Gulotti said the decision will change the way many heart patients are treated. Gulotti is a cardiologist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The research also confirms that the new class of obesity medications are useful for improving health, not just losing weight. The hope is that insurers will start understanding that this is not a vanity drug, Gulotti said. So-called vanity drugs are drugs that serve no medical purpose. Some researchers call them lifestyle drugs. Gulotti estimates that nearly 70% of her heart patients could be eligible for treatment. Wigovi is a high dose version of the drug Osempic. Osempic is a diabetes treatment. The FDA approved the drug to cut the risk of serious heart problems in people with disease. The weight loss drug costs about $1,300 a month. Novo Nordisk has also asked European Union officials to expand the use of the drug for heart problems. The FDA warned that Wigovi carries the risk of serious side effects. These include thyroid tumors and certain cancers. Other possible side effects can include low blood sugar. Organs in the body can be affected, such as the pancreas, gallbladder, kidney or eye. Another possible side effect is suicidal behavior or thinking. The clinical trial, which resulted in the drug's approval, involved more than 17,600 people. About one-third of them reported serious side effects. About 17% of the group that took Wigovi and about 8% of those who received a placebo left the study because of reported side effects. The new approval could mean that Medicare might increase coverage to the drug. Medicare is the federal health coverage program for retirement-aged citizens. U.S. law bars Medicare from covering drugs for weight loss alone. Recent estimates say nearly $3 billion was spent in 2021 covering osempic to treat diabetes. Trisha Newman is a Medicare expert at KFF, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that researches health policy. She said the change will open the door to allow more people on Medicare to gain access to Wigovi. A spokesperson for the industry group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said private health coverage companies will consider the new guidance for Wigovi. Drugmakers and activists for lower obesity rates have been pushing for expanded coverage. This includes legislation that would require Medicare to pay for the obesity drug. The cost of the drug needs to be balanced by reduced spending on medical care related to obesity and heart disease. Another problem is a limited supply of the drug. The FDA said there has been a shortage for more than a year. Novo Nordisk officials said they are aiming to increase production. For Gulati, the heart specialist, wider use cannot come soon enough. Everybody is waiting to get this medication, she said. Lower the cost, do not be greedy, and make sure the drug is available for use. And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report. I'm Anna Mateo. The name is Anna Mateo. And my name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to the Learning English podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Anna has recently moved to Washington, D.C. It is a new experience for her. She is excited to live in the capital of the United States. But she also misses her hometown and family, who live many hours away. Let's hear Anna talk about that with her friend Marsha in Lesson 12 of Let's Learn English. Listen carefully for the expression Anna uses for the feeling of missing home. Hello. Washington, D.C. has many beautiful parks. In fact, this park reminds me of my home very far away. Anna, here's your coffee. Thanks, Marsha. What's wrong? I'm thinking about my family. I'm feeling homesick. Ah, yes. Feeling homesick. I've had that feeling a few times in my life. It's a feeling that can sometimes be difficult. I agree. I think feeling homesick is more than just missing your home and family a little bit. It's something that hits you much more strongly. That's right. I think a good word to describe it is yearning. That's spelled Y-E-A-R-N-I-N-G. A yearning is a noun and means a strong desire for something, often for something that you can't reach. And the verb form of this word is to yearn for. And another word that means the same thing is longing. We can say we have a longing for something we strongly desire, but that we can't have or can't reach. And the verb form of this word is to long for. So if you long for home, it means you miss it a lot. And that's feeling homesick. Have you ever felt homesick, Jill? Yeah, one summer I was working in China in Chengdu. I was getting kind of homesick and while I was walking around the city, I ran into this cute little cafe that was just like an American coffee shop. I ordered a drink and sat down and saw they were even playing American videos on their TV. I started talking with the owner and I felt much less homesick. It was like a little bit of the U.S. in the middle of Chengdu. Yeah, well that makes sense. I think when you get to see something familiar with your own home culture, that will help you feel less homesick. And you know, it's also interesting that even a positive thing like the parks in Washington D.C. can make Anna homesick. That's because they remind her of home. Let's listen to Anna say that one more time. Hello. Washington D.C. has many beautiful parks. In fact, this park reminds me of my home. Very far away. Jill, remind me to tell our listeners what podcast they are listening to. Okay, I'll remind you now. Andrew, remember to tell our listeners what podcast they are listening to. You're listening to the Learning English podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. In English, we remind someone to do something. But a thing can remind us of something else. That's right. People learning English need to remember to include the preposition of. So the order of words to follow is remind plus the person plus the preposition of. Like remind him of, remind her of, remind them of. Or remind Anna of, remind Jill of, remind someone of. That's right. The word also has a noun form. For that, we say a reminder. A reminder is something we use to help us remember. Like reminders on your phone. Right. I have to put everything on my phone to remember it nowadays. My phone is my memory. So you would be really lost if you lost your phone. No, I think I take a vacation. Well, also a reminder can simply be something we see or experience that makes us remember or think about something. And if it's a very negative reminder, we have a special expression. We say a sober reminder of something. Can you give an example, Andrew? Sure. When we see a bad car accident, that is a sober reminder of how dangerous it can be to drive. In this case, the word sober means serious and causing worry. So Jill, coming back to the topic of feeling homesick, do you have any advice for how people can deal with it? I think if people keep themselves busy and get involved with people in their new place, they will usually feel less homesick. You'll probably find that the people are just as nice there as the people back home. And the good thing about homesickness is that it usually doesn't last too long. After a while, it wears off. That's true. It does wear off, which means it disappears after a certain amount of time. I remember that once I felt really homesick for just a few hours, but then only a day or two later, the feeling was mostly gone. Yeah, sometimes homesickness can wear off quickly. However, if someone continues to yearn for home or long for home for a long time, we could say they have chronic homesickness. Ah, yeah. Chronic, spelled C-H-R-O-N-I-C. Describe something that lasts for a very long time and keeps happening again and again. In that case, it doesn't wear off. I'm Andrew Smith, and you're listening to the Learning English podcast. Jill, we should explain to our listeners that the phrasal verb wear off can be used for both physical objects and for what we feel inside. Oh yeah. For example, the paint on a car can slowly wear off over many years, especially if it has been sitting in the sun. But the phrasal verb wear off is used more for things like feelings or for the effects of food or medicine. Like the effect of a drug wears off over time. And the best cure for homesickness is to visit home. And depending on your family, you just might be happy to travel again afterwards. We do love our families. And when Anna talked about feeling homesick, she shared photos of her family with Marcia. Several times, Marcia asked Anna to explain a bit about what her family members do. Let's listen. This is my mother, and this is my father. They are rodeo clowns. What do rodeo clowns do? They make jokes at a rodeo. People laugh. That's very different. Who is that woman in the picture? That is my aunt Lavender. She is my mom's sister. She loves gardening and makes spoons. She makes spoons? Of course. That, too, is very different. Oh, this is my uncle John. He is my father's brother. What does Uncle John do? He's a chicken farmer and makes guitars. He's awesome, and I'm his favorite niece. Who are they? They are my cousins. They are my uncle John's daughter and son. What do they do? They raise sheep and make sweaters. That's some family she has there. In American culture, asking about what kind of work people do is very common. At a social gathering, when Americans first meet a new person, often one of the first questions they ask is, what do you do? Or what kind of work do you do? That's right. Sometimes Americans will talk about their job first and then talk about where they are from or about their family. I guess Americans really like their jobs. Well, maybe. Or maybe they just like talking about them. For some reason, it's just one of the first things Americans usually talk about when they meet new people. That sounds like something a cultural anthropologist could tell us more about. Yeah, I think so, because anthropologists study human culture. That gives me an idea for a guest we could invite to our podcast. I was just thinking the same thing. But even if we can't find a cultural anthropologist, there are still a lot of things our listeners can learn about American language and culture in the series Let's Learn English. That's right. And we hope you've enjoyed today's lesson on the Learning English podcast. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.