ESL Podcast - Previous Episodes

Topics: Ask an American: Latinos in Higher Education; per se; it pays to (be) Words: role model to look up to (someone) to drop out to hit the exit doors to retire to follow in (one’s) footsteps vacuum scholarship to integrate mentor to keep in touch constantly per se it pays to (be)

Slow dialogue: 1:36 Explanations: 3:03 Fast dialogue: 15:37 Javier: I saw Terry cozying up to you this morning. What was that about? Floriane: He was just offering me some advice on my first proposal. Javier: Sure, he was. What were his true intentions? Floriane: I think he was being upfront about wanting to help a new employee. I don’t think he had an ulterior motive. Javier: I wouldn’t take Terry at face value. He has a reputation around the office of being two-faced. He’ll try to get to know you under false pretenses and then stab you in the back. Floriane: I don’t get that feeling from Terry. He seemed genuine and open. By the way, was there something you needed? Javier: Me? No. I was just trying to watch out for you. Floriane: In that case, I’d better get back to work, and I’ll keep your warning in mind. I’ll beware of anyone giving me advice who may have an ulterior motive. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:34 Explanations: 3:30 Fast dialogue: 18:19 After a long tiring day at work, I stopped at a restaurant nearby for a quick meal. Server: Hi, I’m Ursula. Can I get you something to drink? Paulo: Yes, I’d like an iced tea and I’m also ready to order. I’ll just have a bowl of soup and a salad. Server: Sure, no problem. What kind of soup would you like? We have chicken noodle, minestrone, and cream of mushroom. Paulo: Do you have something that’s hearty? Server: If you want something hearty, I would suggest our clam chowder or beef stew. Paulo: I’ll take a bowl of beef stew. Server: Great! What kind of salad would you like: a chef salad, Caesar salad, or Cobb salad? Paulo: I’ll just have a garden salad. Server: Okay, what kind of dressing would you like? Paulo: What kind do you have? Server: We have French, Italian, ranch, Thousand Island, and vinaigrette. Paulo: Do you have blue cheese? Server: Oh yes, I forget to mention blue cheese. Okay, that’s a bowl of beef stew and a garden salad with blue cheese dressing. Will that be all? Paulo: Yes, that’s all. ... By the time I had finished placing my order, I was even more tired. Do you sometimes feel that life gives you too many choices? Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Famous Americans: Eleanor Roosevelt; Renaissance fairs; admit versus confess; mix versus blend; chick flick Words: paralyzed to stick by (one’s) side First Lady role newspaper column press conference civil rights delegate instrumental period costume reign living history to admit to confess to mix to blend chick flick

Slow dialogue: 1:30 Explanations: 3:20 Fast dialogue: 17:19 Rebecca: Look, there’s smoke coming from six stories up. Hugh: Yes, I know. Didn’t you hear the fire alarm go off upstairs a few minutes ago? Rebecca: No, but I’m really glad there’s a fire station only a few blocks away. Hey look, there’s the fire engine. Here come the firefighters! Hugh: Yeah, let’s get back to work. I’m sure they’ll have the blaze under control pretty quickly. Rebecca: How can you work with all of this excitement? Maybe I should get the fire extinguisher from the hallway and go upstairs to help. Hugh: I think that’s a really bad idea. You can see for yourself that the firefighters are getting ready to fight the fire. They’re getting the ladder out and attaching the fire hose to the hydrant. Anyway, it’s probably just a false alarm. Rebecca: If the smoke detector went off then I’m sure there’s a fire. We’ll know if we start to see something burning near a window or ashes coming down. Hugh: I’ve never seen you like this before. Why are you so excited? Rebecca: I wanted to be a firefighter when I grew up. I’ve always had a fascination with fire. Hugh: Ah, that explains it. Would it make you feel better if I lit up a cigarette? Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:15 Explanations: 3:15 Fast dialogue: 16:47 Zuly: Hurry up! Mom will be home any minute and we’re not done planting. Eric: Whose idea was it anyway to plant a garden for Mom for her birthday? We’ve been working under this hot sun all day and the smell of the fertilizer is really getting to me. Zuly: It was our idea, remember? We both wanted to give Mom something special this year. Look, we’re almost done. We’ve already picked the weeds, prepared the soil, and dug the holes for the new seeds and flowers. I’m taking the flowers out of their pots now and I’ll have them in the ground in a minute. After that, all we have left to do is to plant the new tree. Keep digging! Eric: Are you sure the hole needs to be this deep? Zuly: Yes, the book says that the roots need to have room to grow. That’s the perfect place for it, too. It’ll get a lot of direct sunlight. Eric: Great, but my arms are so tired, they’re about to fall off. Zuly: Move over. I’ll dig for a while. Why don’t you water the new flowers? Eric: Sure, right after I take a little break. In the meantime, I’ll supervise. Come on. Keep digging. You’re almost there... Zuly: I think you’d better keep your mouth shut, or I’ll think of some new uses for that fertilizer! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Minimum wage; cyber crime; I will want to versus I would want to; except for; conversely Words: wages subject to indexed to inflation consumer price index opponent to nickel and dime cyber to hack identity theft copyright infringement handle victim I will want to… I would want to… except for conversely

Slow dialogue: 1:15 Explanations: 2:54 Fast dialogue: 14:16 Carmen: Wake up! You’re supposed to be working. Elias: Shhh, I’m trying to sleep. The boss is out of the office today, so I consider it a holiday. Today, I can be a little out of it if I want to be. Carmen: Out of it? You’re sleeping on the job – literally! Elias: So what? Aren’t you feeling a little tired on a Monday morning? Carmen: I admit I’m a little sluggish, but that’s no reason to fall down on the job. We both have work to get done and I’m doing it. Elias: What’s wrong with you? Why are you so hyper? I’m as hard working as the next guy, but I’m not going to jump through hoops when the boss is away. Carmen: You, hard working? Don’t make me laugh! You’d better get back to work or when the boss gets back, he’ll call you a slacker again. Elias: Okay, I’m learning by your example. I’m now as energetic and productive as you are. Carmen: Yeah? Doing what? Elias: Telling my co-worker she’s a pain in the neck! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:07 Explanations: 3:30 Fast dialogue: 17:39 My wife and I bought a vacation package and we thought that it included everything. We should have double-checked that it included airport transfer to our hotel as well. Hindsight is 20/20, they say. My wife wanted to take a taxi, but I nixed that idea. It would cost an arm and a leg. I wanted a cheaper option so we went to ask about it at the airport information desk. ... Don: Hello, my wife and I need to get to our hotel downtown. What are our options? Clerk: Well, you could take a taxi. Don: We’re hoping to find a cheaper option. Clerk: Okay, in that case, a limo service would be out, too. There are private shuttle services, but since you’re so far from downtown, you’ll be making a lot of stops and it will take a long time to get there. You could also take public transportation – the bus or the subway – but that’ll take even longer. Doesn’t your hotel have a courtesy shuttle? Don: I never thought of that. Clerk: Many downtown hotels do. Call your hotel and they’ll be able to tell you. They’ll probably have the best suggestion on how to get there, too, if they don’t have their own shuttle. If you decide on a private shuttle service or to take public transportation, come back and I’ll give you more information. Don: Thanks a lot. I’ll give the hotel a call right now. ... Lucky for us, the hotel had a courtesy shuttle and it was on its way. Good thing, too, since I didn’t relish spending any more time at the airport after a long red-eye! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Famous Authors: Stephen King; Traffic School; cost versus charge versus fee; in a New York minute; couple Words: horror psychic clown series to follow the book lifetime achievement traffic school driver’s ed to speed to lose (one’s) driver’s license driving record correspondence course cost charge fee in a New York minute couple

Slow dialogue: 1:25 Explanations: 3:34 Fast dialogue: 17:06 Khaled: Hi, what are you looking at? Susanna: Your photo albums. Your roommate let me in and said I could make myself comfortable while I waited for you. Khaled: There are some really incriminating pictures in there. You’d better give those back to me. Susanna: Not yet! I’m looking at your baby pictures and your family portraits. You’re the spitting image of your mother. Khaled: That’s not my mother. That was our neighbor. Susanna: Oh, now that I look a little closer, I can see that you resemble your father. You’re a chip off the old block. Khaled: That’s not my father. That’s my father’s friend. Now, why don’t I take those... Susanna: Wait! These candids of your birthday parties are so cute! You were so adorable! Khaled: Right. When I was a kid, I had a face only a mother could love. Susanna: That’s not true! You have a great profile. I’d expect to see your likeness in paintings and on statues. Khaled: Okay, enough with the brown-nosing. What do you really want? Susanna: I don’t want anything...okay, just one little thing. My cousin is in town. I want to go out with Rick tonight and I thought we could double date. Me, Rick, my cousin...and you. What do you say? Khaled: I knew it had to be something. Does she look like you? Susanna: We are like two peas in a pod. Khaled: Then, forget it! Susanna: Hmph! Khaled: Just kidding. What time will we be going? Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:29 Explanations: 3:21 Fast dialogue: 16:13 [A knock on door.] Andre: Hello. Is anyone here? Ellie: Yes, can I help you? Andre: I saw your door open and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Did you just move in? Ellie: No, I’m moving out. As you can see, I’m doing last-minute packing. I think I’ve used up 10 rolls of packing tape! Andre: This looks like a major undertaking. Are you moving yourself? Ellie: No, the movers are coming with the moving van tomorrow morning. I’m moving a few things into storage, and I’ll take a few of the perishables and essentials in my car, but they’ll be doing the heavy lifting. No loading for me. Before they come, though, I need to disassemble this desk and this bookcase. It’ll be a long afternoon. Andre: I can see that. Are you moving far? Ellie: No, I’m only moving about a mile from here to another apartment. Andre: Oh, so you’re not moving out of the area. Ellie: No, I’m not. Andre: I’m glad to hear that. Let’s make a deal: I’ll help you disassemble your furniture if you’ll promise to invite me over to your new place sometime. Ellie: Really? Are you sure you’re willing to do that? Andre: Sure. Hand me those tools and I’ll have it done in no time. Ellie: Boy, am I glad I left my door open. Andre: Yeah, so am I. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Video-game violence; ROTC; should have done versus should have to do; just versus only; to learn as (one) goes Words: realism insensitive arcade minor rating system console officer branch ranking Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell gay should have done should have to do just / only to learn as (one) goes

Slow dialogue: 1:19 Explanations: 2:50 Fast dialogue: 15:29 Gia: Why are the negotiations on this deal taking so long? I thought we would be putting the finishing touches on it by now. Logan: The other side is holding out for more concessions. I don’t know what they’re thinking. They made some pretty big demands at the start and I think we’ve given in to most of them. Now they’re countering with even more demands. Gia: They probably know that they have us over a barrel. After all of the time and money we’ve put into this deal, they know that we don’t want to walk away. Logan: That’s true and that’s why we’re still at the table, but they may be pushing too hard. In the end, I don’t think we’ll cave on those additional concessions. Gia: So the entire thing is touch-and-go right now? Logan: That’s how I would characterize it. If I were you, I wouldn’t make any long-term plans. Gia: Duly noted. I won’t run out and buy that new house and those three new cars. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:21 Explanations: 3:14 Fast dialogue: 19:22 Keiko: The layout of your webpage is so lame. Why don’t you customize it? Al: Why bother? I don’t want to spend the time or the energy. Keiko: Let me show you my page. Check out this background. Don’t you think it’s great? Al: Yeah, it’s great. Can I get back to my book now? Keiko: You haven’t even looked at my page. Look at this. You can add all kinds of graphics and you can use the profile editor to list information about yourself: your hometown, your likes and dislikes, your relationship status, your mood, everything! You can link to or upload photos and videos, too. I even have a custom cursor and this scrolling text across the top Al: Yeah, it’s all great, but kind of dizzying. Keiko: You haven’t even seen my animated gifs. This funny baby will dance across the page, look! Al: Thanks for the suggestions, but I think I’ll stick to a simple, uncluttered page. How long did it take you to do all of that? Keiko: How long? Maybe a few hours. Al: I’d rather spend a few hours reading a good book. Keiko: Suit yourself. Maybe that’s why you have 22 “friends” and I have 200. Al: Clearly your time has been better spent. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse