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Introduction
Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com.

In today’s conversation, which is part four of four, my British friend Michael and I wrap up our lengthy conversation about the pros and cons of dogs, dog ownership, and dog owners. Warning: some of the vocabulary we deal with in this episode is a bit vulgar, so if you are sensitive or easily offended I suggest you stop listening now.

As always, you can find the vocabulary notes and full transcript of this podcast on our website, www.betteratenglish.com.

OK, here we go!

Conversation Transcript

Lori:   And some people… I swear, you know, dogs I think are great. It’s dog owners that can be just really lame sometimes.
Michael: Mmm. Mmm..
L:   There’s a forest outside where I live here, where I like to go running and walking and…people, it’s a great place. I don’t see many people, but there are a lot of dog walkers who like to go there as well.
M:   Yes.
L:   And they don’t want to keep their dogs on a leash a lot of times. They let their dogs kind of run wild, and a lot of them don’t really have control over their dogs.
M:   Right, right.
L:   And the dogs can be quite aggressive sometimes. But then, dog owners are really weird. Sometimes they are so protective of their dogs and they think their dogs can do no harm.
M:   Oh dear.
L:   So they actually get angry at you, walking along telling you that, “Oh, it’s because you’re afraid, that’s why he [the dog] is acting like that.” And it’s like…
M:   “Of course I’m afraid. He’s a giant dog with slavering fangs.” Yeah.
L:   Running up barking at me, not looking friendly. Of course I’m going to be afraid, you know? And I don’t think it’s my responsibility as, you know, a person wanting to use the jogging trail — that it’s my responsibility to tailor my behavior to the comfort of dog owners, because it actually is their responsibility to keep their dogs on a leash, unless they have, you know, total control.
M:   I completely agree. I was going to say, do your remember the time I was over in Sweden, and we were having a picnic in the park. And there were the young teenagers that were there, and they had a dog with them. And the dog was running loose, and the dog was coming over and sticking its nose in our picnic bag. And you had to tell these folks, “Excuse me…your dog…?” They where oblivious to the whole thing.
L:   The dog was just doing what dogs do.
M:   He was looking for food.
L: Yeah, of course, he is going to be interested in food. So it is up to owners to make sure they keep their dogs under control when they’re, you know, in the public space.
M:   Exactly.
L:   It is not up to, you know, the other people there to deal with the dog. I think.
M:   You know, we shooed the dog away, more then once.
L:   But he kept coming back.
M:   Well we had some good chow!
L:   Oh we did. Oh man, those pies that Sabina had made! Oh, my god! That is really annoying when dog owners are inconsiderate and don’t understand that it’s really their responsibility to make sure their dog is under control.
M:   Right, yeah, it is part of the responsibility of being a dog owner, I think.
L:   Exactly. And I’m sure…most are fine. Most people do a good job, but it’s the few people who are idiots who kind of spoil it for everybody else.
M:   Sure. It gives the dog a bad name as well. I mean, if you have a few bad encounters with a dog that’s having trouble it can put you off.
L:   Exactly. And that can also…if, you know…there’s some people who are deathly afraid of dogs, who don’t, you know, who have a hard time with obviously friendly dogs.
M: Oh goodness! I was terrified of dogs when I was a little boy. Absolutely terrified. And that was just through a couple of dogs that lived locally. There was a house that I had to walk past on the way to school, and there were these two dogs that would, they would bark and they would run at you. They weren’t tied up either.
L:   Yeah. I think every kid has a house like that, or memory of a house like that, from when they were walking to school. I know I do.
M:   Right! It’s something that sticks with you for a long time.
L:   Yeah, because when you’re little, you know, I was walking to school on my own…I think from the time I was in first grade. So I would have only been five or six years old! Because it wasn’t far, it was only a few blocks and it was quiet, residential streets, so I walked to school by myself or with the little neighbor kids. But when you’re that little, a big dog is really big and really scary. And you haven’t…you’re not aware enough to tell the difference between a dog that’s just running up to inspect you and check you out and a dog that is really, actually aggressive.
M:   Right.
L:   So it’s really scary.
M:   Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And I think it can stay with you for a long time as well.
L:   Yeah.
M:   And I guess some people never… in fact, my sister is still very, very scared of dogs, you know? And she’s nearly 40. She was like that when she was a child and she just never got over it.
L:   I have to say I’m wary of dogs. Little dogs, it’s no problem because even if they were horribly aggressive you could always just kick them like a football. And you’d be OK.
[laughter]
L:   But it’s the big dogs, you know, dogs that weigh as much as I do. Those, those can be quite scary.
M:   That would be hard to tackle, a dog like that.
L:   Yeah. And just…its going to be much more serious being attacked by a dog like that than by some little yappy terrier trying to bite your heels, you know?

M: Ankle biters. [laughs]
L:   [laughs] Yeah, ankle biters. Isn’t that a slang word for kids? Ankle biters…
M: I don’t know. I guess, maybe.
L:   Or like an informal colloquial word, for… Like the word “rug rats“, we have the word rug rats in American English for kids, which I think is a horrible word. But yeah, ankle biters, I think I’ve heard that before as sort of a disparaging term for little children.
M:   Well, maybe that’s not something you should use for a little dog then, I don’t think.
L:   No, it’s very descriptive though, little ankle biters! Ankle nippers!
M:   Well you could go further, “crotch sniffers.”
[laughter]
L:   Crotch sniffing dogs are the worst! Oh my God, oh I hate crotch sniffing dogs!
[laughter]
M: There is some film I remember seeing with some kid complaining about some dog. His parents say, “What’s wrong with the dog?” This poor little kid balefully cries out, “He is a crotch sniffer!”
[laughter]
L:   I know. I have seen the same film, but I don’t remember which one it is. But it’s funny…Crotch sniffers are…it’s so embarrassing. I know it is just what dogs do. They sniff each other’s, you know, nether regions.
M: They clean each other’s nether regions.
L:   Oh no, let’s not go there! I want to keep this one clean!
M:   OK.
L:   That is just what dogs do. That and the ones that hump your leg. That is so embarrassing especially when you’re over at someone’s house.
M: Especially when they won’t let go.
[laughter]
L: They latch on and won’t let go.
M:  Shaking, shaking your leg. And then… [laughter]
L: Yeah and oh, that’s so embarrassing because you know everyone is thinking about sex at that point. I mean you can’t have a dog humping your leg without people at least momentarily, you know, everyone is thinking about doing it. That just makes it so embarrassing.
M:  Right.
L:   It’s such a delicate situation.
[laughter]
M: Oh dear. Right. Yeah. Yes. It’s difficult to remain cool.
L: When a dog is humping your leg!
M: Trying to look cool and dangerous when there’s a dog humping away at your leg. Yeah.
[laughter]
L:   Yeah. Oh my god, that’s such an embarrassing situation… Anyway I think we’ve reached the point where, again, it can only go downhill from here.
M:   OK. Let’s quit where we are!

Final Words
Thanks for listening. This concludes our four-part series on the good, the bad and the ugly of dogs, dog ownership, and dog owners. We’ll be back again with a new episode as soon as we’ve had time to record some juicy new topics. We welcome requests from our listeners, so if you’d like to request a topic just visit our website, www.betteratenglish.com, where you’ll find everything you need to get in touch with us. This is Lori from BetterAtEnglish signing off until next time. Bye for now!

Download vocabulary list for this podcast

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Don’t step in the dog doo (4 of 4)

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com. In today’s conversation, which is part 3 of 4, my British friend Michael and I continue our discussion on dogs and cats, focusing on the way that human beings tend to get emotionally attached to their pets. As always, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on our website, www.betteratenglish.com. OK, here we go!

Conversation transcript

Note: words in bold are covered in the vocabulary list.

Lori: Well, do you…you don’t have a dog now though, right?
Michael: No, not personally, no.
L: Would you consider getting a dog?
M: Well, that’s a good question. I mean, I do love dogs. But they really are a commitment and a responsibility, of course. And that isn’t to be taken lightly. But…
L: A lot of people do, a lot of people…especially in the States. People here in Sweden seem to treat their dogs much better overall than people in the States. But you see…I’ve seen the most horrible things back in the States. People get a dog and, you know, they’re all excited about it at first, and then they just, you know, the novelty wears off…
M: Right.
L: And the poor dog just spends its life out in the back yard chained up somewhere, barking its head off, and…
M: Right.
L: You know, that’s really sad.
M: Now that’s a real shame, that’s a real shame.
L: Yeah, yeah…
M: But I think that… this is kind of a morbid thing, but, you know, dogs die.
L: Yeah.
M: You know, their life expectancy is, what is it—about, maybe about ten years, depending on the breed?
L: Yeah.
M: And that’s something that, you know, you’re a lot more likely to go through that… and if you have another dog, you know, it’s something you’re going to be experiencing several times in your own lifetime, and that’s traumatic, if you, you know, regard the dog as a family member.
L: Yeah, you do get quite attached to your pets.
M: Yeah, oh yeah. So, you know, I mean a friend of mine, her dog died just recently, and that was terrible.
L: Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.
M: That was really bad; you know, I mean the dog was 18 years old, I mean, it was a very long-lived dog. But, you know, that’s…for her it was half her life, you know, so a terrible trauma to go through. So I’d rather not go through that, you know, I think?
L: I don’t know. I think the benefits of having a dog, I mean, as long as you can handle the responsibility and have, you know, a good place for the dog…I don’t think, you know, a German shepherd or a Great Dane would do very well in someone’s tiny little apartment.
M: No, for sure.
L: But as long as you can handle that, I think the benefits of having a dog would outweigh the sorrow of when the dog finally, you know, gets old and dies. But I guess everyone is different. I would love to have a doggy, I really would. A small one. A little one.
M: OK, but aren’t you allergic to dogs.
L: Yeah, that’s why I can’t have one! I’m too allergic and also I’m not really sure my life is organized enough to be fair to a dog, or that it would fit in with my…with my life.
M: Is that because you don’t have a regular schedule for things, or…?
L: I don’t have a regular schedule and sometimes I do work really, really long days and I wouldn’t be able to take the dog with me, so I’d have to leave it locked up in my apartment all day long. And, you know, the poor thing, you know, it would need to go to the bathroom or would just be lonely. I’d have to leave it alone so much that it just wouldn’t be fair.
M: Right. It would probably tear the place up. I think, yeah.
L: Because they are social animals, you know. They’re pack animals so they really don’t do well when left all alone for long periods.
M: Right. Right.
L: So it’s rather cruel. But I would love to have a little doggy, a little Border Terrier.
[laughter]
M: Oh yeah.
L: Yeah, but I would worry about getting a purebred dog because sometimes they’re so inbred that they’re completely crackers, and completely free of all intelligence.
M: Yes. I know what you mean. Yeah.
L: I think mutts are generally much more robust and tend to have better personalities ’cause of the…they have a much more varied genetic makeup.
M: Right. Right. Well that’s what they say when it comes to genetics that you should be spreading the genes apart and not…
L: Hybrid vigor!
M: There’s a good reason why you’re not allowed to marry members of your own family.
L: Yeah. Yeah.
M: Let’s tell the British royal family that.
L: Oh, no! Naughty!
[laughter]
M: Well they’re all related on some level or another you know.
L: Oh my god. Yeah. Oh I don’t want to be dissing the royal family so we’d better not go there. Seriously, I would love to have a cute little doggy that I could take with me everywhere…

[This conversation will continue in part 4 of 4]

Download the vocabulary list here.

Final Words
That’s all for today. We’ll be back soon with part four. If you found today’s topic interesting, we’d love to hear your comments. You can leave a comment at our web site, www.betteratenglish.com, or e-mail us at info@betteratenglish.com. Bye for now!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Don’t step in the Dog Doo (part 3 of 4)

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com. I’m traveling abroad this week so I have had to edit this show on my laptop. There is no theme music today because I forgot to bring my music files with me. But I figured that having no music is better than making you all wait until I get home before I post this episode.

In today’s conversation, which is part 2 of 4, my British friend Michael and I continue discussing dogs and cats, and which we prefer. As always, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on our website, www.betteratenglish.com. OK, here we go!

Conversation Transcript

Note: Words in bold are explained in the vocabulary list.

Lori: Well anyway, we’re digressing. Enough about dog poo. What do you think the best thing about doggies is?
Michael: Well, it’s difficult to say any one thing. But I like the kind of nature and the relationship that dogs have with their owners. And they are generally interested. And they are genuinely affectionate — or they can be — genuinely affectionate to their owners, which is something that I really don’t see in cats.
L: Yeah, cats are interesting. They’re interesting. It’s hard to know where you have a cat.
M: Uh huh.
L: I mean, if a cat is coming up and rubbing against your legs and being what looks like affectionate, it’s like, are they really…?
M: Right. [laughter] That’s called cupboard love.
L: Cupboard love. Yeah, are they really just in it for the food? Or are they really…? You know, ‘cause dogs — I agree with you — dogs really can seem to be genuinely affectionate towards their owners. I mean, the best thing in the world has to be coming home, when you left your dog at home for a few hours, and you come home and your dog is so happy to see you. And you’re the best person in the world and it’s just the most exciting thing ever that you’ve come walking through the door.
M: Right.
L: One of my favorite sayings is “I wish were the person my dog thinks I am.”
M: Aww. Yeah. I know what you mean.
L: Because they just think that you’re just the best thing ever, and every time.
M: Well some people can be like that too.
[laughter]
L: Yeah, but not every time.
M: No. Maybe not.
L: I mean, seriously, with dogs it’s, like, every time. You only have to leave them for 20 minutes and then come back and they’re just all over you ‘cause they’re so…just…overwhelmed with happiness.
M: That’s true. Yeah. Without fail. Without fail.
L: Yeah it’s fantastic.
M: You know I like that. The interaction you can have with a dog. They really want to play. And yeah, that’s just… I’m a dog person.
L: Yeah…I think…I like cats too. I know we differ about that, but I do like cats. But I would have to say I feel more affinity towards dogs.
M: Well, I like kittens. You know?
L: Oh kittens! Don’t even get me started on little kittens.
M: Kittens… well yeah they like to play and they’re full of mischief. They can be fun. That’s before they turn into cats and that’s when it all goes horribly wrong for me.
L: Oh, yeah. Kittens are just the cutest thing. And…but cats like to play too. You remember Janne and Ozzie’s cat, with the laser pointer. What fun we had.
M: Yeah, that was a lot of fun, yeah.
L: Yeah. Cats go absolutely crazy if you have one of those laser pointers and taunt them with it.
M: Yeah, but…the thing is though, they’re trying to kill it.
L: [laughing] Yeah, that’s true again!
M: That’s the problem. While we’re going, “Aww, that’s so cute.” But the cat is thinking, “What is that little creature? I’m going to kill it and eat it.”
L: Exactly. [laughing] And, no, “I’m going to catch it and toy with it first and then I’m going to kill it.”
M: Right, yeah. “I’m going to toy with it until it dies of a heart attack and then I’m going to eat it.”
[laughter]
M: You know, “Tear it apart and bring its entrails to my master.”
L: Exactly. Yeah, that’s a funny thing that cats do. I don’t know if that is just anthropomorphizing, you know, when you want to, kind of, impinge human qualities onto animals. People tend to say that, if their cat has been out in the garden and killed a bird and left it inside the house, that the cat has left them a “present.” And I don’t know if the cat is just saving it for later…or something…you know, why does it have to be a present?
M: It’s bringing it to you saying, “Hey, can you stick this in the fridge for me?”
[laughter]
L: Exactly. “I want to save it for my dinner.”
M: That’s the reason. It is because the cat can’t open the fridge, that’s why.
L: When I used to have cats, I used to find dead birds and things in my room that the cat had…you know…killed and left under the bed…and…that’s kind of unsettling.
M: Yeah, that’s not so much fun.
L: Yeah, that’s horrible. Well, you don’t have a dog now, though, right? You personally.
M: No, not anymore…

Final Words

That’s all for today. We’ll be back soon with part three. If you found today’s topic interesting, we’d love to hear your comments. You can leave a comment at our web site, www.betteratenglish.com, or e-mail us at info AT betteratenglish DOT com. Bye for now!

Download transcript and vocabulary list.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Don’t step on the dog doo (2 of 4)

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com.

In today’s conversation, which is part one of four, my British friend “Michael” and I begin by talking about whether we are “dog people” or “cat people.” Then we move on to discuss the social etiquette of dog walking – particularly picking up after them in public places.

As always, you can find the full transcript of this podcast and vocabulary notes on our website, www.betteratenglish.com.

OK, here we go!

Conversation Transcript

(Note: Words in bold are featured in the vocabulary list [PDF])

Lori: Would you consider yourself a dog person or a cat person?
Michael: Oh, I’m a dog person, I can tell you straight away.
L: Really?
M: Absolutely, 100% confirmed, dog person. You bet.
L: [laughter] Dog person… Have you ever had a dog?
M: Yes, I have. Yes, I had — let me see, this would be about 10 years ago. I had my own doggy; I had a Norwegian Elk Hound.
L: Oh, was he cute?
M: He was very cute; he was painfully cute. He was great. But I don’t have a dog nowadays, but I have…I walk my neighbors’ dog.
L: Oh right, yeah, Bertie.
M: That’s right, I was telling you the other day. They’re a lovely old couple, who I’ve known for years, but they’re getting on a bit and they’re not so active, so I take their dog out for a walk quite often.
L: OK! Do you have a law in England or in your city that you have to pick up the dog poo when you’re walking your dog?
M: Well, I think it depends on the council, the local government. Because if you go to certain areas, they have signs up and it will say, “Don’t let your dog foul the footpath!” and they will actually tell you that there is a fine of fifty pounds or whatever. I think it can be a lot more than that, actually. But I don’t know whether it’s a blanket law, you know, I don’t know if it’s a law for everywhere. I think it’s more down to the local authorities.
L: OK. Do you notice that people are good about picking up dog poo when they’re out with their dogs? Do you find a lot of, you know, doggy doo?
M: I still see quite a few dog turds on the pavement, I’m afraid. And unfor- I’m sorry to say, and not nearly as much as in the seventies. That was part of my childhood. I remember.
L: Oh, stepping in dog poo, totally, in the summertime when you’re running around barefoot.
M: Oh when it squishes between your toes?
[laughter]
L: Oh. That is, oh, the worst. But at least if you’re barefoot it’s easy to wash off. It’s almost worse when you step in a pile with your sneakers on. It gets all inside the tread, oh man.
M: Oh. Right. OK. Like the Adidas trainers that used to have the ridged soles as well. So it would get.
L: Yeah, or any hiking boots or anything at all that has a, you know, a pattern and ridges and texture on the sole.
M: Well, my parents actually had a special stick and a scrubbing brush which was specifically for getting dog poo off your shoes.
L: Yeah, ’cause…that’s, oh, it’s such an annoyance. But I, you know, I have to say that here in Sweden I think it is some kind of law that you have to pick up after your dog. And when people go out walking their dogs they have little…special little plastic bags, little black bags…and there are actually special garbage receptacles for depositing the dog poo. And people are pretty good about it, I have to say.
M: Well we have those bins here, at least the area that…you know, around here where I take Bertie for a walk. There are quite a few of these special dog bins, these red bins, and there’s a picture of a dog on the front of it. So that’s never a problem. But, for me, still you find that people just let their dogs foul the footpath, even though there are these bins around. And I don’t know, I guess it’s not, it hasn’t quite caught on.
L: Maybe people think it doesn’t apply to them, or whatever.
M: Well, who knows? It’s no fun. I must admit I don’t relish…
L: No, it’s not nice.
M: …picking up the dog’s mess, but…
L: But you pick up after Bertie?
M: Absolutely I do. Yeah.
L: Do you have special little bags?
M: No, I just use my Tesco bags.
L: [laughing] Tesco bags?
M: Yeah, Tesco are great. You know how I feel about Tesco, but…
L: Yeah, maybe it’s almost like I feel about Google.
M: Yeah, Yeah. [laughing] It’s almost to that level. But the problem with that actually is because they’re typical plastic supermarket bags, you know, and so they’re actually perforated.
L: Oh, dear.
M: Yes. If you don’t hold the bag in the right place, then there can actually be contamination, and that’s not so nice. So…
L: Oh no. Oh dear. Well, are they…? That sounds like they could be big as well, so it could be a bit unwieldy.
M: All right. Quite. They’re quite big.
L: You should just take some little plastic baggies with you.
M: Well. Yeah. Yeah. I suppose so. But I manage OK with the Tesco bags. You know?
L: I could send you some from here…special plastic doggy-poo bags
[laughter]
M: No. That’s OK. We do have them here in England you know. But…
L: I hate to think of you getting contaminated. I think Bertie would probably hate it too.
[laughter]
M: He’s very cute. But I’m afraid, you know, his poo does smell. So it’s… you wouldn’t think so to look at him, but..Yeah.
L: Well anyway, we’re digressing. Enough about dog poo. What do you think the best thing about doggies is?

…hear the answer in part two!

Final Words

Thanks for listening. We’ll be back soon with part two. This is Lori from BetterAtEnglish.com signing off until next time. Bye for now!

Download full transcript and vocabulary list (PDF).

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Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Don’t step on the dog doo (part 1 of 4)

Hi everyone,

Despite the embarrassing lack of activity here at Better at English, I’m still very much alive and kicking. In fact, Ana from Inglês Online, a great online resource for Brazilian learners of English, caught up with me for a quick interview. You can find it (audio and transcript) here.

Thanks to everyone for your emails and comments the past few months. I’ll be back with season two as soon as I can figure out how to work creating at least one episode per week into my schedule.

Best of luck with your continued English learning,
Lori

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Interview with Lori from Better at English

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

TT01 - Spelling checkers (mp3)

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Transcript Hi, Lori here, welcoming you to tips and tools for ESL and EFL learners, from betteratenglish.com. This episode marks our first videocast, so those of you who have video iPods can listen and watch. If you have feedback or questions for us, you can email them to info [AT] BetterAtEnglish [DOT] com or stop by our forum, which you can find at www.betteratenglish.com/forum.

Today’s topic: spelling and spell checkers.

Judging from the email I get from many of my students, it seems as if some of them have a “who cares?” attitude toward spelling in email. Sometimes their spelling is so bad that I can tell right away that they didn’t even bother run a spell checker.

Maybe spelling doesn’t seem important anymore because modern English language teaching often focuses on “successful communication” and “just getting your message across” rather than “boring” details like grammar and spelling. While this may help give learners confidence in their ability to use English to communicate effectively, there is a downside. The covert message is that spelling isn’t important anymore.

Good spelling is still important. Very important.

Yes, even in email. In fact, I’d say that it’s particularly important in email and online. Why? In the world of email and online communication, your spelling and language reflect who you are. If you use sloppy spelling in your online communications, people may not see through it to discover the brilliant, charming person that you are. This is particularly important for first impressions – say, when you’re writing an email to someone for the first time. When people read your email, not only will they be interested in your message; they’ll be trying to form an idea of who you are. And if your email is full of bad spelling, their first impression of you could well be that you are a loser.

Is spelling really such a big deal? It can be. Remember the movie Forrest Gump? Well, writing to someone for the first time is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. And if you get someone like this, she’ll take one look at your bad spelling and careless mistakes and come to the conclusion that you are stupid (or careless or lazy).

Fortunately, there is some good news. Free tools are available, tools that make bad spelling piece of cake to fix. And they are really easy to use. In fact, it’s so easy to run a spell check these days that there really are no excuses.

Let’s look at some of the free spelling tools available for two of the most popular browsers, IE and Firefox. They will help you check your spelling in everything you write online: email, forums, comments on blogs, even filling in online forms. Of course, no spelling checker can fix ALL of your mistakes, but that’s still no reason NOT to use one. I estimate that using a spelling checker will catch a huge percentage of your errors.

First we’ll look at Internet Explorer, the most widely used browser today. There is a useful spelling and dictionary tool for version 5.0 or higher. It’s a plug-in called IE Spell, and you can download it at www.IEspell.com. Once you’ve installed it, it works in a similar way to the spelling checker in MS Word.

In addition to a spelling checker, IE spell also has a cool dictionary look-up function. When you are reading text online and come across a word you don’t know, you can simply right click on it to look it up in a variety of online dictionaries.

Moving on now to add-ons available for Mozilla Firefox. Now, I have to take a moment to rave about Firefox. Firefox freaking rocks. If you are not using it already, you should be. It is so much better than IE that I don’t even know where to start. You owe it to yourself to at least try it.

Why am I so keen on Firefox? It’s got tons of free language tools and useful add-ons, it’s safer than IE, and it’s not Microsoft.

Some of Firefox’s useful language tools for EFL and ESL learners include a spelling checker for multiple languages – you can switch between languages with the click of a mouse; it’s also got lots of different dictionary look-up plug-ins and translation tools in many languages. The Firefox browser and add-ons are all available for free download at www.mozilla.com.

For those of you who are web savvy, this is probably all you need to know to get started with spell checking in IE or Firefox. If you need more guidance or help downloading or installing these spelling tools, feel free to stop by our forum and ask for help.

Remember, checking your spelling can make a huge difference in how people perceive you in your emails. It only takes a minute to check your spelling, and I promise you, people will think that you rock for doing it.

That’s all for this time. We encourage you to check out our podcast and forum at www.BetterAtEnglish.com where we offer free help for EFL and ESL learners. Bye for now!

Links
IE Spell download page
Firefox download page
Dictionary Search add-on for Firefox)
Multi-language spelling dictionaries for Firefox.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Tips and tools for EFL and ESL learners: spell checking online (TT-01)

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

TT01: spell checking online - transcript PDF

A listener recently emailed offering some constructive criticism about my voice in the Better at English podcasts. I’m always grateful for tips on how we can improve our shows, and I am quite sure that she meant to be helpful. However, because of the language she chose, her critique sounded rather harsh. If I didn’t know how difficult it is to express yourself in a foreign language, I probably would have been offended. Luckily, I DO understand how difficult English can be for EFL and ESL learners, and am thankful for the advice

Being too direct and harsh when giving (constructive) criticism or making requests is a very common problem for the EFL / ESL learners that I teach, so I’ve decided to use this authentic email as a writing contest for you.

TASK
Your task is to rewrite the email below to get the point across more tactfully. Of course your spelling and grammar should be good too. Make it your most beautiful English!

DEADLINE
The deadline for your entries is 00:01 UTC Tuesday 7 August.

HOW TO ENTER
Post your rewritten text as a response to this topic on our forum. (You’ll have to join the forum, but it’s easy. And FREE.) I’ll choose the submission I think is best.

PRIZE
The prize is a 25-Euro gift certificate from Amazon. We had some generous donations to BetterAtEnglish this month, so it’s nice to be able to give something back to our dedicated listeners!

REWRITE THIS

Hi Lori

It would really help me and I’m sure a lot of others like me, if you’d speak with your natural voice, not so high pitched. I was listening to the phrasal verbs on your website ( the episode about spending money) and I was really turned off by your animated speaking.

Good luck!

P.S: I agree with the critique. My delivery in the early “2-minute English” shows SUCKED bigtime

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Better at English writing contest - win an Amazon gift certificate!

Download English lesson podcast and transcript

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to a new episode of Real English conversations from betteratenglish.com. I hope you’re all enjoying the summer. One of the typical summer pastimes in the USA is playing baseball. There’s even a saying that goes something like this: “It’s as American as baseball and apple pie.” But today’s show isn’t about baseball or apple pie. It is about food, though. Weird food combinations, to be precise. And after listening to today’s episode, you might want to change the saying to “It’s as American as donuts and peanut butter and jelly!”

Before getting into the conversation, I want to thank the anonymous listener who sent us three books from our Amazon wish list last week. Whoever you are, I hope you hear this message so that you will know how happy the books made me. Thanks so much!
I’d also like to encourage our listeners to visit our friends at China232. China232 is a free conversational English podcast similar to ours and I really think you’ll like it. That’s www.china232.com.

OK, let’s get on with today’s conversation.

Conversation transcript

Lori: When I was over in the States recently, I was reading one of my mom’s magazines. And in that magazine I read about a new hamburger.
Michael: OK.
Lori: That…it really takes the cake, this new hamburger. You know, we’ve talked about junk food before, but this is amazing. It’s a big beef burger, and they put sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon…
Michael: What… Can I just stop you there? What is sharp cheddar cheese?
Lori: Sharp cheddar cheese? A sharp cheese is a cheese that has a strong flavor.
Michael: Ooh, OK.
Lori: So cheese can be mild or sharp.
Michael: Right.
Lori: You’d think that the opposite would be “dull,” but you don’t talk about a dull cheese.
Michael: Or “blunt” cheese.
Lori: Yeah, a blunt cheese, right, exactly. Exactly. So sharp cheddar cheese. But anyway, back to the burger, it’s got…yeah, a big beef patty, sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon. And now here is the key.
Michael: Mmm, the bacon sounds good.
Lori: Yeah, but the key ingredient…the bun is actually a KrispyKreme glazed donut.
Michael: Uh huh.
Lori: Can you believe that? And it’s actually a baseball team, I think, the Gateway Grizzlies, it’s what they’re calling “Baseball’s Best Burger,” and they’re serving it at their baseball games.
Michael: Baseball’s weirdest burger, maybe!
Lori: Baseball’s most artery-clogging burger.
Michael: So you said that it was, the burger bun is a donut,
Lori: Mmm hmm. A donut, yes.
Michael: Is that, um, I mean, donuts are sweet though, aren’t they?
Lori: Yeah, it’s a glazed donut so it would be sweet. And apparently they cut it in half and toast it and use that as the bun on this burger.
Michael: That sounds horrendous.
Lori: It..I couldn’t…I thought it was a joke when I first read about it. I thought it must be a joke but apparently it’s true.
Michael: It really makes me wonder, you know, they have this, um this kind of, stereotype of American people being fat.
Lori: Right.
Michael: And I guess if, you know, they’re eating things like that whilst sitting down at the baseball game.
Lori: Yeah, sitting down watching other people do sports.
Michael: Exactly…that’s what I’m thinking, yeah!
Lori: Right.I just wonder, how would someone even come up with that, the idea of using a donut as a hamburger bun.
Michael: Well, there is something that you can, I mean, being an American you can tell me if this is true or not, I remember hearing about sandwiches that Americans like, and it’s peanut butter and jelly.
Lori: Well, that’s, yeah, that’s a classic kid’s sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly or even peanut butter and honey, you can have…
Michael: Well, what you call jelly, isn’t that what we [British English speakers] would call jam?
Lori: Yeah, jam.
Michael: So peanut butter and jam. So it’s the savory peanut butter, salty, peanutty tasting butter and something like sweet strawberry jam.
Lori: Yeah, but I guess it’s kind of like putting pineapple on your pizza. You know, some people think that’s just an aberration. But there’s something about the sweet, tart pineapple combined with the salty, savory ingredients of a pizza that is actually…I like it.
Michael: Well, I guess it’s like having gammon and pineapple, you know, the thick cut of ham which is also salty.
Lori: Yeah, or pork chops and applesauce.
Michael: Ah, right.
Lori: But you see, the thing is that in the States the peanut butter most people buy is actually slightly sweet anyway. It’s only natural style peanut butter that is just, you know, peanuts and salt with nothing added.
Michael: So how would you classify the peanut butter here in Sweden, that you and I eat? What’s…
Lori: Oh, that’s got sugar in it, definitely. It’s slightly sweet; if you just taste it on its own you can taste that it’s slightly sweet.
Michael: OK!
Lori: If you compare it with the taste of natural peanut butter that’s just peanuts and salt, you’ll really taste the difference and taste how sweet the normal peanut butter is.
Michael: I’m thinking, if you can combine something like peanut butter and jam, then combining a hamburger with a donut doesn’t seem so strange.
Lori: I’m sorry! I know what you’re trying to say, but just, even hearing you say that, just sounds so funny, “combining a hamburger with a donut.”
Michael: Well, yeah, it’s pretty loony.
Lori: Yeah, loony. I couldn’t believe that when I read that story in my mom’s magazine. But I went on the Internet and had a look, and there were people saying that it sounds disgusting and looks disgusting, but actually they were quite tasty, so what do I know?
Michael: I can’t even begin to imagine what it would taste like. You know, I have no frame of reference. My taste buds cannot picture it, you know, I have an image of a donut in my head and an image of a nice juicy hamburger with a couple strips of bacon on. And forget the cheese because I hate cheese as you know, but the hamburger with bacon, that’s something that…in fact we should cut this podcast short right now because I want to go to the store and get some bacon and some bacon and some hamburger because I’m getting hungry now.
Lori: Sounds like a plan, but let’s ix-nay on the donuts.
Michael: Right, yeah, Hold the donuts!

Final words
Thanks for listening to this episode of Real English conversations. And if you haven’t done so already, make sure to check out the show at www.china232.com. I’m sure you’ll like it! See you next time!

Vocabulary notes

takes the cake
(Informal American English) you can say that something takes the cake if it is something that you think is very surprising or annoying.
sharp
Sharp is a word to describe the strong taste of certain foods, such as cheese. Cheeses range from sharp (strong) to mild (not strong).
key
key (adjective) means very important
glazed donut
A glazed donut is a type of fried pastry covered with a thin coat (glaze) of sugary icing.
horrendous
terrible, horrible, extremely unpleasant
come up with
To come up with something means to invent it or think of it.
savory
Food that is savory is salty, meaty, or spicy, not sweet. In British English it’s spelled savoury.
aberration
An aberration is something that differs from the normal state of things, particularly the normal standard of morals or taste.
gammon
Gammon is also called ham. It is meat from the back leg of a pig, usually preserved with smoke or salt (or both).
loony
loony is an informal word for crazy, stupid, or foolish
ix-nay
Lori is using Pig Latin to play with the word nix. Nix is an informal word that you can use for negation (no, nothing, not, etc.).

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Weird food

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from BetterAtEnglish.com. My English friend Michael and I are back and ready to rock after our long-overdue vacations. In today’s conversation we talk about a fun electronic game that I found out about while on vacation in the States. But before we start with the conversation, I have a really cool tip for you. If you like what we do here at Better at English, you’re sure to enjoy Andrew and Addison’s ESL podcast at China232.com. Just like me, Andrew and Add are tired of the typical boring English learning material and podcasts, and have reacted by creating a fun and free conversational podcast. You can find it at www.china232.com. If you’re keen on improving your English in a fun and entertaining way, you definitely should check it out.

OK, let’s get on with today’s conversation. As always, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on our website, www.BetterAtEnglish.com. Here we go!

Conversation transcript

M: Right, I mean, I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s the kind of thing that you know…you play this as a party game, “I’m thinking of something” and then get everybody to ask a question.
L: Right.
M: Isn’t that what you call “20 questions?”

L: Yeah, 20 questions.
M: OK.
L: And usually, I think at least when I played 20 questions with my students, the questions have to be “yes or no” questions.
M: Sure, yeah you can’t…umm…say, you know, “What color is it?” and you have to say “green” or “blue” or something like that.
L: Exactly.
M: But yeah, on this little thing, there’s a yes and a no button, and then…but also there’s a “don’t know” and a “sometimes” button, so umm…the kind of questions that this little thing will ask is something like…umm…well, it asks you, “Is it an animal?” or umm…“Is it a mineral?” or a vegetable or something, and…
L: Right.
M: And obviously you have to say yes or no.
L: Exactly. But it asks some kind of…some questions that are kind of hard to answer. Like if I’m thinking of a guitar, one of the questions might be “Does it bring joy to people?” And you know, a lot of people get really happy playing guitar or…
M: Yeah, or listening to guitar, yeah.
L: Right, but maybe it’s…it’s hard, so I guess for a question like that I would tend to put “sometimes.”
M: Well, yeah because…I mean my father, for example, hates it when I play the guitar. He really…[growls]…it drives him up the wall.
[laughter]
M: I like to think that that’s actually more to do with…umm…you know, my father’s…umm…dislike of guitar than my inability to play the guitar!
L: Yeah, let’s…
[laughter]
L: One can always hope!
M: Yes, that’s right.
L: Just kidding! Anyway it’s such a cool little, yeah, little gizmo and I was…the thing is that I think…if you’re going to try it, it’s really most impressive if it guesses the first thing that you think about. Because the first time I tried it, it was my little niece came up to me to show me this cool thing, and she said, “Here, it’ll guess what you’re thinking!” And I was thinking “Yeah, right” – like it’s really going to guess.
M: Right!
L: What I thought would be this really hard word — I picked “telephone pole” — And the darn thing guessed it!
[laughter]
L: I couldn’t believe it! I thought from the questions, you know, sometimes you can tell from the questions it asks that “Oh, oh –- it’s going to guess.” But from the questions it asked me I couldn’t understand how it could possibly know that I was thinking of a telephone pole.
M: Because you remember last night when we were…err…playing with it, and what was it that we had? Meerkat? That it got?
L: Yeah.
M: Then…errr…Sea horse
L: Yeah.
M: As well, I mean, that’s fairly obscure.
L: Yeah.
M: I mean, I have to say I did manage to beat it…
L: Uh huh.
M: I think…two or three times. One was “string.”
L: Oh, right.
M: It couldn’t get that.
L: Uh huh.
M: Let me think. The other one was “titanium.”
L: Right. I wonder if you…I mean, do you know enough about the properties about titanium to give it good answers?
M: I think so, yeah. I mean, it’s something that err…you know that’s…err…it…I’d be impressed if it picked any other kind of metal.
L: Uh huh.
M: I’d be thinking, “Well, it got pretty close.” But it…it didn’t get anywhere near, so…
L: OK right. OK. So it didn’t pick “platinum” or “gold” or something like that.
M: No. I have to say…How long have you had this thing? You got it when you were over…
L: In the States, yeah.
M: OK.
L: So I think I opened the package about 2 weeks ago.
M: OK –- have you tried guessing anything rude with it?
L: Yeah, we did. We took it camping with us, see…to help keep the little girls entertained, who were with us. And us too, I mean sometimes it’s…we couldn’t have camp fires where we were camping, so that makes for kind of long evenings when you can’t have the camp fire. And at one point after several glasses of wine, we did go through the rude words stage!
[laughter]
M: OK, I was just wondering, yeah.
L: Yeah, but I don’t think it has rude words in its database.
M: Well, I think there is a gap in the market there!
L: [Laughs]
M: For an adult version…
L: Right!
M: …of 20Q.
L: Yeah, exactly!
M: Where the objective is to think of a rude thing, you know, perhaps parts of the body or a rude action or something.
L: Oh yeah, definitely! But that…that vocabulary is so limited though; you would have to make it…make it an addition to the normal 20Q.
M: Yeah, but it’s so much fun!
L: [Laughs] It’s…it’s fun when you’re easily amused, like we are.
M: So we certainly recommend this…this little toy to our listeners.
L: Yeah.
M: It’s lots and lots of fun.
L: Yeah, in fact I’ve ordered some extra ones because I think it’d be really good to use in my English classes.
M: Yeah, well…
L: It’d be fun for the students, and that you can practice question forms and things, so…
M: Right.
L: Yeah.
M: Good idea.
L: OK.

Bonus Links
You can try the 20q game for free on the internet, and in many different languages, at www.20q.net!

Final words

Before I go, there’s a favor I’d like to ask. I have gotten lots of email from people who want to improve their writing. The best way to improve your writing is to do LOTS of it, but it’s also important to get feedback and suggestions from others. So I’m wondering: should we create a forum for our listeners to make it easier for us all to work together and help each other get better at English? I envision it as a place where Michael and I can answer your questions and help you, but also where you can help each other. It sounds like fun! There’s only one problem: there’s nothing more pathetic than a forum with little or no participation. So I would like to hear from you listeners – would you like a forum where you can get free help with your English? If I get a yes from at least 50 people before July 5, I will create one. You can let me know in several ways: you can send an email to info [AT] betteratenglish [DOT] com, you can go to the website and post a YES comment on this episode, or you can vote in the poll in the sidebar of our website. If you want a forum, make sure to let us know! OK then, I hope you’ll let us know about the forum, and that you’ll visit our friends at China232.com. We’ll see you next time here at betteratenglish.com.

Vocabulary notes

gadget
A gadget is a small machine or device that is used for a particular purpose.
drives him up the wall If you drive somebody up the wall, you make them feel very angry or irritated.
niece
Your niece is the daughter of your brother or sister. The son of your brother or sister is your nephew.
Yeah, right
The expression “Yeah, right” is used to indicate that you don’t believe something that you or somebody else has said.
Meerkat
Meerkats are small mongoose-like animals that live in Africa.
got
In this context, to get something means to solve a puzzle or answer a question.
obscure If something is obscure, it is unclear and difficult to understand or know.
properties
A substance’s properties are its characteristics or qualities.
rude
In this context, rude means words or things that are related to sex or going to the toilet, as well as other naughty words or swear words.
to make for
To make for something in this context means to contribute to something or to help something to happen.
adult
In this context, the adjective adult means things that have to do with sex or other topics that are not considered suitable for children.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: 20 questions game

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Introduction: Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English conversations from Better at English dot com. In today’s conversation, my English friend Michael and I talk about superstitions. You’ll learn about the idiom “to have an itchy palm” as well as what superstition tells us that it means when you really do have an itchy palm. Are you superstitious? We are curious about how many of our listeners believe in superstitions, so we’ve put a poll up on the website where you can tell us. You can find it at www.betteratenglish.com.

Thanks to everyone who voted in last week’s poll about naked cats. I’ve just looked at the results. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of you think that hairless cats are ugly. But 45 per cent of you do say that I should still get one. Only 12 per cent of you think that they’re cute. Oh well, to be honest, my mind was made up before the poll; it’s only Michael who needs to be convinced!

Right then, here comes this week’s conversation!

Conversation transcript

Lori: Oh, I’ve got this itchy palm. It’s totally itching. Doesn’t that mean something when your palm itches?
Michael: It means you have to wash your hands.
Lori: No, really! Isn’t it some superstition, something to do with money?
Michael: Like some sort of old wives’ tale or something about…?
Lori: Yeah, that you’re going to get money or something like that?
Michael: Well, off the top of my head I don’t know, but the only thing for it is to see what Google has to say.
Lori: Yeah, consult the Oracle.
Michael: Consult Google.
Lori: The Oracle of Google. What does it mean?
Michael: Give me a second…Itchy palm…Ah, OK! It’s a desire for money, or greed, or wanting a bribe, apparently. Like a hotel porter, you know, “The porter has an itchy palm,” he’s expecting you to give a big tip. Or, you know, someone could be known for having an itchy palm; I guess that means they’re known for being greedy.
Lori: Oh, OK. But isn’t that the idiom? Like if someone says “So-and-so has itchy palms”? What does it mean if your palm actually itches?
Michael: Oh, OK, let me see. Let me move down the list and see what Google has to say.
Lori: I hope it’s getting money…
Michael: Yeah, well actually, yeah, you’re right…it says…apparently having an itchy palm is an indicator of fortune coming your way…
Lori: Yes!
Michael: Or something like that. Umm, OK, Oh, hang on a minute.
Lori: Does it say anything about money? I could really use some…
Michael: Well, yes…Oh, wait a minute! Which, which one of your hands is it, the left or the right hand?
Lori: What, does it make a difference?
Michael: Ah, yes, it makes a big difference actually.
Lori: It’s the left one.
[long pause]
Michael: Ah.
Lori: Oh, that didn’t sound good.
Michael: No, you’re not going to like this. If you have an itchy right palm, apparently that means that you will receive money.
Lori: OK.
Michael: Do you want to hear this?
Lori: Oh no.
Michael: If you have an itchy left palm, it means you have to give money.
Lori: Oh no.
Michael: But wait a minute, isn’t it? It’s the time of year when you have to do your taxes! That’s what it must mean, it’s because you have to pay your taxes.
Lori: Yeah, I was just doing my taxes, just…in fact, I just finished them today.
Michael: OK.
Lori: Maybe that’s what it is.
Michael: Maybe you’ll be OK and you won’t get some big bill in the post just for taxes.
Lori: Well, plus I’m expecting a bill because when I leave for my vacation in a couple of days, I’m going to take my computer in and finally get it fixed so it will stop acting up. And I can imagine that that’s going to cost some money, so maybe that is is. Darn! I thought that I’d be getting some…winning the lottery or getting some unexpected windfall.
Michael: Yeah, well, we don’t believe in any of that stuff anyway.
Lori: No, actually, yeah, that’s true. But man, it really itches! It’s driving me crazy!
Michael: OK, well, you go wash your hands, young lady!
Lori: OK.

Final words
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Real English Conversations. Michael and I will be interested to see how many of our listeners are superstitious, so hurry over to betteratenglish.com and cast your vote.

Before signing off, I have to say thanks so much to everyone who has donated to support Better At English this week and who has recorded messages for Michael and me on the website. We really appreciate your support, and getting messages from you totally makes our day. If you get value from our podcasts, please consider making a donation. It’s not mandatory, and we don’t expect it, but every little bit helps! That’s all for now, see you next time!

Vocabulary list

superstition
A superstition is an unscientific belief about the nature of the world, usually related to ideas about magic or the supernatural. People who believe in superstitions are superstitious.

old wives’ tale
An old wives’ tale is a piece of advice or information, usually about health, that people used to believe a long time ago but nowadays is known to be false.

off the top of my head
If you say something off the top of your head, it means that you are using the knowledge you have in your memory. People usually say this when they are not sure they are correct.

Oracle
An oracle is someone who knows a lot about a subject and can give good advice.

porter
A porter is someone who helps you carry your bags in a hotel.

tip
A tip (n.) is a small amount of money that you give to someone for performing a service for you. You might tip (v.) a server in a restaurant or a porter in a hotel.

hang on
Informal for wait (a short time)

do your taxes
Doing your taxes means calculating your taxes and preparing the forms to submit to the tax agency.

bill
A bill is a formal request for payment or money owed, often printed on paper.

acting up
To act up means to behave badly or not work properly. Both people and objects can act up.

windfall
A windfall is an unexpected amount of money that you win or receive.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Itchy palms (superstitions)

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English. I’m currently on vacation in the American southwest, but during a very long car trip I had some time to put this episode together for you. In today’s conversation, my English friend Michael and I talk about whether or not I should get a pet cat. We don’t agree: Michael thinks that the cat I want is ugly, and I think it’s adorably cute. To settle our dispute, we have put a poll on the website that will allow you listeners to vote and give me your advice. If you go to www.betteratenglish.com, you can see photos of videos of the kind of cat we talk about in the conversation, and use the poll to tell me whether you think about my choice of cats.
Are you ready? Here we go!

Go to the poll.

Conversation transcript

Lori: You know we talked before about whether or not we are dog people or cat people.
Michael: Oh sure.
Lori: Yeah, and I always thought I was a dog person but I think that might be changing a bit.
Michael: Oh no! Say it isn’t true!
Lori: I was over at my friend Monika’s the other day and she has a new cat, and it is the coolest cat; I totally fell in love with her cat. It’s all I can think about now is I want a cat like that.
Michael: OK, and what is so special about this cat?
Lori: It’s naked. Have you seen those cats? Naked cats? I think they’re called Sphinx cats.
Michael: Do you mean like Mr. Bigglesworth from the Austin Powers films?

Lori: Yes, like Mr. Bigglesworth.
Michael: Hmmm.
Lori: What, don’t you like them?
Michael: Well, keep talking, I’m not convinced yet.
Lori: No, I always thought that they were really ugly, you know, these hair hairless cats. I’ve seen pictures of them and…you know, Mr. Bigglesworth in the movie isn’t really a nice looking cat, but when I saw this cat in person it was so cute! It was so incredibly cute! They are so ugly that they’re cute.
Michael: OK.
Lori: And he was so friendly and affectionate…and just alert…and almost like a dog.
Michael: And what color is he?
Lori: Well, it’s hard to tell the color because you’re just looking at their skin, but he was a dark gray.

Michael: Oh, cool.
Lori: A dark gray color with these big, beautiful, green eyes, and he just…I picked him up and was holding him and just fell in love with him, this awesome cat. And supposedly they can fetch! They’re almost…they’re more…their personality is more like dogs than cats.

Sphinx cat fetching

Michael: So essentially what you’re telling me is that you used to be a dog person but now you feel that you’re becoming more of a cat person because you found a cat that acts more like a dog?
Lori: Yes! See, you know I’ve been feeling lonely and depressed? And, you know, people have been telling me that a cat or a dog, you know, a pet would be something good to get. But dogs are such a huge responsibility! I was thinking maybe a cat, you know, a cat you can leave for a day or two and all they really need is food and water and you don’t have to take them out.
Michael: Right, right.
Lori: And I’ve heard you can even teach them to use the toilet! So you won’t have to have a stinky litter box.
Michael: Yeah, I saw a little video of that on YouTube I think it was, of some cat using the toilet — don’t ask me why I was looking for things like that on YouTube, [laughter] but I do remember something. Yeah that would be cool. It must be difficult to train them to do that though.
Lori: You have to take it slowly step-by-step. You just move the litter box closer and closer to the toilet, and then you gradually raise it, and then you actually put it on top of the toilet, and then you put a bowl down in the toilet, and eventually they are used to it and all you have to do is get them to actually stand on top of the toilet. And once they’re doing that then you take the bowl away and that’s where they go. I’ve heard you can even teach them to flush.
Michael: Oh, goodness! I would be frightened that the cat would fall down the loo.
Lori: Oh, he would just jump out again if he fell in.
Michael: Yeah, I suppose…I guess.
Lori: They would probably only ever do that once and then they would learn.
Michael: Yeah, that’s true, yeah. And you’ll never get them back again.
Lori: Yeah, but the cool thing about these cats — a lot…the these naked cats that are hairless — a lot of people think that they’re hypoallergenic, but apparently they’re not. But since they don’t have hair, you’re not getting the hair everywhere, and you’re supposed to give them a bath a couple of times a day [this is incorrect – Lori meant "a couple of times per WEEK"], and supposedly even people who are allergic to cats, a lot of them can actually tolerate these cats.
Michael: Well, aren’t you allergic to cats?
Lori: Yeah, I used to be really allergic but now it doesn’t seem like it’s so bad.
Michael: Yeah, I’m the same. They used to make me sneeze really badly but….hmm, OK.
Lori: Yeah, so I thought maybe I would ask Monika if I could borrow her cat if they go away for vacation or something. [laughter] No, I’m serious! If they go away for vacation I could just let the cat stay here and see if I develop allergies or if he bothers me.
Michael: Right.
Lori: Because if not, I am so getting one! I want one of those cats so bad; it’s…all I can think about is my naked cat! I want one!
Michael: Well, I don’t know, I mean, it would be interesting to know what our listeners think about naked cats. Or what did you say that the proper name was, a Sphinx cat?
Lori: A Sphinx cat, or I think they’re called Canadian hairless. I’m not sure; I would have to check. And I’m, I mean, they’re the kind of thing that you either think they’re horribly ugly or you think they’re adorably cute, because they look like gremlins or even like Yoda.

Michael: Well, that’s what I was thinking, that maybe we could ask our listeners whether they, are they for hairless cats, do they think hairless cats are attractive, or do they think they are really ugly?
Lori: Yeah, bald, naked cats. Are they, is it thumbs up or thumbs down? Should I get one or not?
Michael: Aren’t they really wrinkly?
Lori: They can be.

Sphynx kittens

Michael: Because that’s the thing that looked strange to me is when they’re all wrinkled. I mean if they were smooth, you know? No hair but smooth then that would…
Lori: Well they’re fairly smooth; they have some wrinkles on their forehead, and I guess some breeds are wrinklier than others, but I just think they’re so cute. I love them, and they’re so friendly and affectionate, and I really, really want one.
Michael: Well, we’ll see.
Lori: Yeah, we’ll see. I’ll put some videos and photos up on the website so people can have a look if they want to.
Michael: OK, well I’m not convinced yet, but…
Lori: Well, you know if the answer is yes there will be no excuse: I will have to get one.
Michael: OK, well, we’ll see about that. I’ll see how many of our listeners I have to bribe to say no.

Final words
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real English conversations from Better at English. As always you’ll find a full transcript and vocabulary notes for this and all other Better at English episodes on our website. Make sure to go to the website, www.betteratenglish.com, have a look at the photos and videos of my beloved hairless cats, and vote in our poll to let me know what you think.

Before I sign off, I want to say thanks to everyone who has donated since the last episode. Michael and I really appreciate your generosity. Your donations are a big help to us in keeping Better at English online and free for everyone to enjoy. To contact us, use the contact form on the website, post in comments, or email us directly at info [AT] betteratenglish [DOT] com. That’s all for now; see you next time!

Vocabulary list

dog/cat people
A dog person is someone who very much prefers dogs to cats. A cat person very much prefers cats to dogs.

in person
When you see someone or something in person it means that you see them in real life rather than a picture or film.

affectionate
If a person or animal is affectionate it means that they show feelings of liking or love.

awesome
Awesome is American English slang meaning “very interesting, very impressive, or extremely good.” Many people disapprove of this usage. In standard English awesome is used to describe something that causes feelings of great admiration, respect, awe or fear.

fetch
If you teach an animal to fetch, you teach it to bring you objects. For example, you can throw a ball and the animal will go pick it up and bring it back to you. Dogs usually think this is a lot of fun, and will play fetch the same ball over and over. It is very unusual for cats to learn to fetch.

litter box
A litter box is a special box filled with special sand (cat litter) that is for indoor cats to go to the toilet in. They have to be cleaned very frequently or they smell terrible.

are used to
To be used to something (or somebody) means that you are familiar with it.

loo
Informal British English for toilet.

hypoallergenic
If something is hypoallergenic it doesn’t tend to cause allergic reactions in people.

I am so getting one
The construction to be so +ing is grammatically incorrect in standard English. But it is commonly used for emphasis in informal, conversational American English, particularly among younger people. Usually the so is stressed, and the vowel sound is drawn out – the longer it is held, the stronger the emphasis.

for
If you are for something, then you approve of it. If you are against something, you disapprove of it. These two words often come in pairs, for example, “Are you for or against Lori getting a hairless cat?”

thumbs up/down
Making a gesture with your thumb pointing up means that you approve of something. If you gesture with your thumb pointing down, you disapprove of something.

bribe
If you bribe someone, you try to get them to do something for you by giving them something they want in return (such as money, gifts, services).

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Lori wants a naked cat

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com. In today’s conversation, my British friend Michael and I discuss our reactions to a presentation about “What leads to success,” given by Michael St. John. Everyone wants to be successful, right? But have you ever wondered what it is that leads to success? Richard St. John spent several years interviewing hundreds of successful people, asking them about the factors that led to their success. In a three-minute presentation at the TED conference, he presented his findings, some of which you might find surprising. I highly suggest that you watch the video either before or after listening to this episode. I have embedded the video on our web site, www.betteratenglish.com. You can also find it on the TED web site, www.ted.com.

By the way, the technical difficulties that I mentioned last week have supposedly been resolved now — please do let me know if you have any further problems downloading our audio files.

OK, here we go!

Conversation transcript

Lori: I have a lot of business English students when I teach in the classroom and a lot of times we end up talking about things like success and what leads to success, and it’s interesting that many of them mention the element of luck.
Michael: Right, OK.
L: That luck is important to success but as you know, since you’ve seen that fantastic video on the TED Talks web site by Richard St John…
M: Sure.
L: He doesn’t mention luck at all.
M: Right, I’m a firm believer that people can make their own luck. I mean what people regard as being luck, you know, you can actually create to a degree.
L: Right, right. I think a lot of what people consider luck is…is really…it’s down to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.
M: Yes, very good point, yeah.
L: Seizing the opportunities. But was there any point in the video that you thought was particularly interesting?
M: Umm…yes, actually there was. Something very close to my heart is a lot of people think in the same way that you say that these folks are saying they think that luck is important, that people think that innate talent is something that you have to have to be successful. And in the video that we saw, the point about getting good at something, and it’s not about…umm…having some innate talent, it’s all about practise, practise, practise.
L: Mmm, definitely yeah.
M: You know, and creating your own, you know, if you want to be good at something then you practise you…and you make yourself skillful at doing something; it’s not that, you know, people are all…err…you know, born that way it’s just…
L: Right.
M: It’s hard work and that’s what you do, you know?
L: Yeah, there…I mean, talent of course, if you have…umm…a predisposition that favours a certain talent or…
M: Yeah.
L: …of course that’s going to help. But at the end of the day, you really do need to put your nose to the grindstone and do the work and get really, really good at what you do.
M: Sure.
L: Umm…I thought one of the interesting things in the video was the idea of passion being so important.
M: Oh yeah, yeah definitely.
L: And that people who really love what they do — of course you’re going to tend then to want to work harder and put the time and effort into it — and the funny thing is that if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.
M: Well, yeah I…I think with that point as well is that if you really love what you’re doing, then hard work doesn’t actually seem like hard work.
L: No, that’s another point he takes up that it could actually, you know, that that the people he interviews — all of these 500 successful people — that they do work very hard but that they have fun while they’re working.
M: Right, right.
L: Yeah, and another thing that I thought was important was the idea that you have to push yourself through all kinds of setbacks and hard times.
M: Yeah umm…I mean that’s…that’s something…err…all the time…is that like the motivational sort of thing? You’ve got to always keep going and regardless of all the things that get in your way; it’s not going to be a smooth ride is it? So…
L: Yeah. you have to be prepared for setbacks and all kind of problems that get in your way and if you just give up when things get tough…
M: Yeah.
L: You will never succeed.

M: I’m sure in a lot of cases, people who’ve been successful, it’s not the first idea that they had or it’s not the first person that they brought it to that took them on and financed them or helped them, you know? I mean, how many venture capitalists said no before, you know, umm, finally one said yes?
L: Yeah I’m sure that there’s a lot in that…that a lot of successful businesses have pushed through setbacks and hard times and just not given up.
M: Yeah, it’s not like you succeed and — I mean, sure, maybe some people succeed first time — but I don’t think that’s very common.
L: Exactly…umm…yeah. And then another thing that I thought was really interesting was the idea of having to focus.
M: Yeah…umm…I mean if you’re going to…if you’re going to do something…I mean I think they’re all kind of connected in some way, these things…I mean, the idea about getting good at something…umm…it’s not just enough to be good…umm…at doing something; you’ve got to apply yourself…
L: Right.
M: ..and really concentrate.
L: Yeah, and there’s the idea of being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none!
M: Oh…
L: You know, trying to be too good at too many things; it’s never going to work, It’s better to pick the thing that you really are passionate about and that you really, really want to devote yourself to.
M: Yeah, that was a good one, yeah.
L: Yeah and…and just push. So I thought that was really interesting…umm.
M: Nice and positive as well.
L: Yeah, I really love…it’s a fan-…don’t you think it’s a great presentation?
M: Yeah, I mean I thought it was very concise and to the point and also…
L: Yeah.
M: …the positive message, because the idea about luck and innate talent is a bit disheartening to people because you have…there’s nothing much you can do about those things.
L: Right. Well, the background is that he goes around to high schools and gives this talk and normally, I guess it takes him about 2 hours, but at TED he condensed it down to 3 minutes, which I…I was actually quite impressed…
M: Yeah, me too.
L: …by that. But I think his slides are really great too; you know you don’t see…I mean there are some bullet points, but it’s not heavy. There’s not too many words on the slides and he’s got nice images and it’s…it’s just a really tight, interesting and funny presentation as well.
M: Yeah. Well it’ll be good for our…our…our…listeners can take a look at the…
L: Yeah, yeah I hope so!
M: …at the video
L: And I hope that the…the video, if they do watch it that it will inspire them as much as it inspired me.
M: OK!
L: Yeah!

That’s all for today. If you found today’s topic interesting, we’d love to hear your comments. You can leave a comment at our web site, www.betteratenglish.com, or e-mail us at info@betteratenglish.com. And remember, your continued donations make our shows possible. Bye for now!

Vocabulary notes

down to
If X is down to Y, then X is the main reason for Y, or the main thing that is important for doing Y.

close to my heart
If something is close to your heart, it means that it is very important to you.

innate
If something is innate, it is something you were born with, not something you learned.

predisposition
To be predisposed to/towards something means that you are likely to behave in a particular way or to exhibit certain characteristics.

put your nose to the grindstone
The idiom to put one’s nose to the grindstone means that you work very hard for a long time.

setbacks
A setback is something that causes delays in success or prevents you from making progress.

a smooth ride
The idiom a smooth ride means having an easy, trouble-free time doing something. The opposite is a bumpy ride, which means facing lots of difficulties and problems.

venture capitalists
Venture capitalists help start-up companies by investing money in them.

given up
If you give up, you stop trying.

jack-of-all-trades
A jack-of-all-trades is someone who can do many different jobs.

heavy
In this context, heavy means tedious and boring.

slides
In presentation software such as Powerpoint, each “page” is called a slide.

tight
If you describe a talk or presentation as tight, it means that it was concise and well constructed, with no unneeded parts or excess.

Bonus links

• See the original video and many other great presentations on the TED website.
• Richard St. John’s webpage about success, and another video presentation.
• You can even buy his book about success on Amazon.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: What leads to success?

Hi everyone, Lori here with a quick announcement. Last night I updated the betteratenglish feed so that from now on all of our previous episodes will be accessible through iTunes and other podcatchers. Unfortunately a few of the older episodes are not available yet because of a technical problem with the service that hosts our mp3 files. I have notified them of the problem, and hope to have it resolved as soon as possible. Thanks to those of you who notified us of the problem. We really appreciate it. Bye for now!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Announcement: Technical problems

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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com. Today’s episode is the third in a three part series in which Michael and I discuss the English government’s recent ban on commercials for junk food before 9 pm, when children are likely to be watching. In part three, we go on to discuss banning commercials for cigarettes as well. This conversation features some common slang and idiomatic expressions. If this is your first time listening, you might want to go back and listen to parts one and two before moving on to part three.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Conversation transcript

Michael: Well, well how about cigarettes? You know?
Lori: Oh, don’t even get me started on cigarettes.
M: Well, I can remember back in the 70’s umm…when I was very young, umm that cigarettes I’m pretty sure could be advertised on television.
L: Yeah, I remember cigarette ads on TV.
M: Yup
L: When I was a kid.
M: And even…the irony of this, I mean, in England, I mean, the…the national game, aside from…from football…soccer, is cricket. And all the…the cricket…the big cricket matches would be sponsored by cigarette manufacturers, you know, so, umm, but you’d be bombarded with these adverts for cigarettes and showing how cool cigarettes are. But eventually it was made illegal you…no more TV ads for this — cigarettes — because we…it’s accepted that they’re bad for you. Umm…So I mean I guess, I mean cigarettes are pretty extreme, they give you cancer, err…
L: Yeah, they do all kinds of horrible things to you.
M: Right.
L: And I’m sorry, anyone out there who really, honestly believes that cigarettes don’t harm you if you smoke them…
M: That’s crazy.
L: You need a serious reality check.
M: Absolutely.
L: I mean, of course you’re…you’re going to find people who are resistant, who can take a lot of, you know, everyone has this story of their “old uncle Joe,” who…
M: Who lived till they were 85…
L: …drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney and…umm…you know, lived until he was 95 when his old ticker just finally gave out. You know we all have stories like that, but overall I mean…
M: Sure
L: You’re just kidding yourself if you think…
M: Well, maybe…
L: That cigarettes are not just pure evil.
M: Right, right. But I think, I think this is good that they…they’re…they’re drawing the line with this because…
L: Definitely.
M: It’s a moral thing, umm…
L; Yeah it will be interesting to see if it has any repercussions. Um, I’m actually looking at…was this on the BBC?
M: That’s right, yeah, it was on the BBC news site which I go to for the…
L: Right,they have a lot of great stories on there. I’m looking, they actually have a poll now up now up on the web site, umm, where the question is, “Should TV junk food adverts be banned?” And I’m looking at the results here of the poll…so far, over 8000 people have voted. And 46% say that “Yes, entirely.”
M: Entirely!
L: Yeah, entirely.
M: Not just for under-16s?
L: No…yeah, that the junk food adverts on TV should be banned entirely. 46% of the voters have voted for that. And then there some other options that both are “yes,” you know, “yes, before 9pm,” or “yes, only on children’s TV”…
M: OK.
L: …that all together add up to 80%.
M: And so…
L: So only 20% of the voters have said that “no”…
M: That they shouldn’t be…
L: That TV junk food adverts should not be banned. Only 20%. So that…I know you can’t draw too many conclusions from a, you know, an online web survey…
M: But it’s and indicator, though.
L: Yeah, that at least it’s a question worth exploring.
M: Absolutely, yeah.
L: I think.
M: OK, so shall we go to McDonald’s now?
[laughter]
L: Yeah, I could really use a Big Mac!
[laughter]

Final words
The article and poll that we discuss in the conversation are still up on the BBC website, except now over 12 000 people have voted. The proportions are still about the same, though. I’ve put a link to the article at the bottom of this episode’s transcript on betteratenglish.com.

That’s all for this time; thanks very much for listening! You can send your questions and comments to our email address: info [AT] betteratenglish [DOT] com. We love hearing from you! And thanks so much for your continued donations; Michael and I really appreciate your support. Bye for now!

Bonus link

BBC junk food article and poll

Vocabulary list

irony
There are many types of irony (in drama and literature, for example), but here Michael means that the pairing of football and cigarettes is not what you would expect. Football/soccer is an athletic sport that you wouldn’t expect to be associated with something unhealthy such as cigarettes, and vice versa.

reality check
This is an informal way of saying that someone needs to consider facts, not just their emotions or beliefs.

resistant
If you are resistant to something (in this case) it means that your body is not affected by something generally considered harmful. If you are resistant to damage from cigarette smoking, it means that you suffer few or no harmful effects.

take
If you can take (a lot of) something, it means that you accept or tolerate it.

drank like a fish
If someone drinks like a fish, it means that they drink a lot of alcohol. Usually somewhat disapproving.

smoked like a chimney
If someone smokes like a chimney, it means that they smoke a lot of cigarettes (or other smokable substance).

ticker
Ticker is an informal/slang word for heart.

gave out
If something gives out, it stops working, usually after a long time of working well.

kidding yourself
If you are kidding yourself, you are fooling yourself or not being honest with yourself. Informal.

drawing the line
If you draw the line, you don’t do or support certain actions because you think they’re entirely wrong.

repercussions
A repercussion is the (usually bad) effect of an action, situation, or event.

draw (too many) conclusions from
This idiomatic phrase means that you form an opinion or make a decision about something after considering the available information and evidence.

I could really use
This is an idiomatic way of saying that you have a strong desire or need for something. For example, “Wow, it’s stuffy in here; I could really use some fresh air.” Or “I’m having a terrible time with my boss lately; I could really use your advice.”

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversation: junk food (part 3 of 3)

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Hello, Lori here welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English.com. In today’s episode, Michael and I continue our discussion about the English government’s decision to ban junk food ads on television before 9 pm, when children are likely to be watching. This is the second of a three-part series, so if you missed the first part you might want to listen to that first. In this episode we inadvertently end up discussing some differences in British and American English vocabulary. As always, you’ll find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on the website, www.betteratenglish.com.

Here we go!

Conversation transcript

L: …do you know what their rationale was, why children, and not just ban them across the board?

M: I don’t know the exact reason, but I assumed it was because of this, umm…this…the difficulty that that parents have in, you know, the kids going, “Mum, Mum! I…” You know? I don’t know the exact reason.

L: OK, because I…I would think that, I mean, that that’s one reason, but another reason could be that when you’re a child, that your basic eating habits and your relationship to food, that a lot of that is formed by the habits you form as a child.

M: OK.

L: And so that’s all the more reason to not be making it any harder on kids than it already is…

M: That’s inter- yeah…

L: …to develop good, healthy eating habits and…

M: Right.

L: Umm…

M: Well, do you remember when, I mean, back when you were at school,

L: Uh huh?

M: Uhh…did, I mean you…I assume that you ate your lunches at school? Did you have school dinners?

L: Yeah we had school “lunches” we would call them.

M: Oh, OK, OK.

L: Yeah, school lunches, yeah.

M: Umm, but I mean, what was the food like then? I mean was it healthful, healthy food or?

L: It’s…it’s hard to say I think it could have probably been healthier. I know in high school they always had salads and things, but there was so much junk food, just fried food.

M: And what did the kids eat? Which did they choose? Do I need to ask?

L: It would depend. You know, the health conscious ones would try to be healthy but there was a lot of, there’s a lot of umm…denial and sort of strange rationalization going on when it comes to food. For example, I know that I had girlfriends who would buy for their snack, they would buy this big bag of trail mix, thinking that “oh yeah, it’s healthy because it’s natural.” But the thing is, is that you know, eating this huge bag of nuts and dried fruit, you know all that concentrated energy — and there were little bits of chocolate and things as well — that that really, unless you’re out climbing mountains all day long, which is when you need something like trail mix…

M: That’s why they call it trail mix!

L: That if you just, yeah, you know you don’t need this huge gigantic pouch of trail mix just to get you through your biology lesson.

M: Sure, that’s right, right.

L: But you know, still…

M: No, totally.

L: …rationalizing it saying that, “Oh, oh I got this because it’s healthy.”

M: Yeah.

L: Umm…”because it’s natural.”

M: Well I thought, yeah, the…the school meals thing, let’s call them school meals — you call them err…school lunches and I call them school dinners, umm, but with the school meals, err…it’s something that when you’re…you’re a kid…err…at school, I can remember back at school and there would be chips or what, err you, err “French fries.”

L: Yeah, “fries.”

M: Yeah, err for you, they’re always on the menu, always and no matter what myself or my friends would eat, we would always have chips, and loads! As many as possible, they were the yummiest thing going! Umm but there was something…are you familiar, you know who Jamie Oliver is?

L: Oh yeah, sure, the Naked Chef!

M: TV naked chef!

L: Yeah.

M: Umm…but he was being very outspoken just recently about how really, really bad the choice of food…is in school, umm and he was trying to bring this to people’s attention, using his celebrity status, and I don’t…I don’t think…this wasn’t a money-making thing or anything like that, he was just using his…his position to make people aware of it and pointing out all these…all these things. So in the light of that, because this is a…this was a very recent thing too, in the light of that, this is very interesting that the government has taken this step.

L: Yeah, I think…I think it’s a move in the right direction. I would…I would support …a total ban on advertisement, because that’s just one reason, you know, one more reason that you might watch TV — to get at the good things that TV has to offer — is that you know you won’t be subjected to all of these, these advertisements that you don’t want to see.

M: Right, well I mean, there are, I mean.

L: You know, advertising things that are bad for you, that hurt you but that are…
M: Of course.

L: …still so compelling that maybe in your life you’re doing everything you can to cut out the junk food and then you’re sitting there, maybe even on a diet, if you’re someone who’s trying to lose weight…

M: Oh yeah.

L: …so you’re watching TV at night and the Haagen Dazs ad comes on.

M: [laughs]

L: With this…beautiful images of these gorgeous ice cream creations in front of you and…

M: Oh.

L: I mean it…it is really hard; that just puts the idea of food into your head and…

M: That’s torture, that’s torture.

L: Yeah, horrible torture…

[To be continued in part 3]

Final words

That’s all for this time, thanks for listening! We love to hear from you, so if you’ve got questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to e-mail us at info [AT] betteratenglish [dot] com. Your continued donations make Better at English possible, so if you are a regular listener who enjoys the show, please consider making a donation. See you next time!

Vocabulary list

going
In informal conversation, native speakers often introduce reported speech with the verb go. Many careful users of English disapprove of using go in this way, so you should not copy it.

making it (any) harder on
To make it harder on someone means to make it more difficult or unpleasant for them.

school dinners/lunches
In British English, the meal you eat at midday is often called “dinner.” In American English, this meal is most often called “Lunch,” and the evening meal is often called “dinner” or “supper.” Note that there is much regional/dialectal variation in the area of meal names.

healthy/healthful
In everyday English, healthy means (1) contributing to good health, and (2) possessing good health. So it’s OK to say “a healthy diet” (a diet that contributes to good health) and “a healthy child” (a child who possesses good health). But some careful users of English say that meaning (1) is wrong, and that to talk about things that contribute to good health you should use the word healthful. If you are writing a paper for someone like this, you should use healthful to talk about things that contribute to good health. Otherwise, you use healthy for both meanings, as most native speakers do.

health conscious
If you are health conscious, you are very interested in good health and try to live a healthy/healthful lifestyle.

trail mix
Trail mix is a type of food for backpacking, hiking or other endurance activities. It is designed to be very calorie-dense for its weight. It typically contains nuts and dried fruit, and may also contain bits of chocolate (such as M&Ms or Smarties) or other candy.

rationalizing
If you rationalize, you try to find valid reasons to explain your decisions or behavior, usually to make yourself feel better about it. The noun form is rationalization.

outspoken
If you are outspoken, you express your opinions and views very directly without worrying about what other people will think about them.

torture
Torture is the act of inflicting extreme mental or physical pain on someone to get them to do what you want them to do, such as confess a crime or reveal a secret. Sometimes people torture others just to be cruel and horrible. But the word torture is often used informally to denote any unpleasant experience.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversation: junk food (part 2 of 3)

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Hello and welcome to Better at English, the podcast that focuses on real English for real people. My name is Lori, and today I’m going to give you a quick and easy way to find the meaning of idioms that aren’t in your dictionary.

Idioms are notoriously difficult for non-native speakers, because they usually don’t make sense if you translate them word for word. For example, the idiom “to kick the bucket” has nothing to do with buckets and everything to do with dying. Most learners are eager to learn about idioms because native speakers use them so frequently. So understanding idioms is important for understanding native speakers, and for sounding more native-like yourself!

If you are reading or listening to B@E, you are probably already and independent learner of English who is used to looking up idioms in your dictionary. If you’re really keen, you might even have a special dictionary of idioms. Dictionaries are indispensable tools for learning the meaning of idiomatic words and phrases. But they are not perfect: we’ve all experienced the frustration of discovering that the idiom we’re looking just isn’t in our dictionary. Luckily, there is a simple trick for finding idioms on the Internet. Here is how you do it:

Go to Google and search for the word idiom plus the key words from your idiom. The search results are almost guaranteed to lead you to a helpful definition. Here is an example:

Imagine you heard this conversation:

Michael: Would you mind if I tried your new guitar?
Lori: Sure, knock yourself out!

The idiom is “knock yourself out,” or “to knock oneself out,” in the dictionary form.

To find the meaning of this idiom, do a Google search for the word
idiom
and add the phrase “knock yourself out” in quotation marks.
Like this:
idiom “knock yourself out”

All you need to do is scroll through the results, which, with luck, will be a combination of online dictionary definitions and online forum discussions. Make sure to check out any forum discussions that you find; they often contain interesting and useful discussions about meaning and usage and give you far more insight than you will get from a dictionary definition.

If you don’t get useful results on your first search, try adjusting your search query. For example, for “knock yourself out” you can try
idiom “knock oneself out”
or
idiom knock oneself out

Google is not a perfect corpus by a long shot, but it is a fantastic tool for doing quick’n'dirty research into meaning and usage. I highly recommend that you spend a few minutes reading the Google search help file so that you can take full advantage of this wonderful tool.

I use the trick I’ve shown you today all the time; in fact, Google is my number one reference tool for double-checking my native-speaker intuition. This is just one of several tips that I’ll be sharing with you over the coming weeks. I hope you find it useful.

That’s all for now; thanks so much for listening. As always, you can find the full transcript at our website, www.betteratenglish.com. Bye for now!

Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (Online, free!)

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

How to find English idioms that aren’t in the dictionary

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Introduction
Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from BetterAtEnglish.com. In today’s conversation, which is the first of three parts, my English friend Michael and I talk about junk food and television advertising. Before you listen to the conversation, you might want to warm up and activate your existing vocabulary by thinking about the following questions:

1) What is junk food anyway, and how does it differ from healthy food?
2) Do junk food ads on TV influence you in any way?
3) Do you think that junk food ads should be banned on TV when children are likely to be watching?
4) What challenges do parents face when trying to get their children to eat healthy food instead of junk food?

If you want to read along as you listen, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on our website, www.BetterAtEnglish.com.

OK, here we go with the conversation!

Conversation Transcript

Michael: You know, I was reading an article just yesterday in the news that the government in England is bringing in a law to make it illegal to show TV advertisements for junk food. On any…

Lori: Really?

M: …but on any programmes that are targeted at the under-16s, so kids’ programmes…

L: Ah ha.

M: Umm, they’re going to completely outlaw it, umm…and…and… I mean, junk food, I mean, it’s anything — that’s from McDonalds to any kind of food that’s high in fat or sugar or anything like that — it’s…and it’s something that people have been talking about for years, you know, that…that…how bad junk food is for people.

L: Right.

M: Umm…but I was just really amazed that the government is taking such a strong action you know, just something across the board.

L: Yeah.

M: You know, umm…but I think…errr…from what I can remember, the advertising standards were…people were saying that they wanted to ban all junk food ads before 9 o’clock.

L: Ah ha.

M: Which…which in…in…in Britain, we have this thing called the…the “9pm watershed.”

L: Right.

M: I don’t know if you’re familiar with that?

L: Yeah, I think it’s the same…In the…the States, they talk about a watershed.

M: Right…right it’s sort of like after…after 9pm then they’re allowed to show more “adult” programmes, where they have maybe nudity and violence and things like that, so…

L: Yeah, all that good stuff!

[Laughter]

M: So, umm…You know, but it…I just thought that it was really amazing that the government would take such a strong stance because…errr…do you remember the film…ahh…what’s it called? The…the…the one…ummm… Supersize Me?

L: Oh yeah, yeah, the documentary.

M: Yeah, the documentary that they…

L: Yeah.

M: You know, I mean, I don’t see how anybody could watch that documentary, see the evidence and then try to deny how unhealthy junk food is.

L: Right…well you have to remember that was a study of “n=1” and, I mean, that there…there was probably some bias going into it, so I mean…

M: Oh…yeah…

L: …as far as a scientific study goes, you know, you…you really couldn’t…couldn’t…umm read too much into that, but I mean, it is suggestive, it does suggest that… that you know, that junk food isn’t good for us, and it’s basic sound…principles of sound nutrition…

M: Right, yeah.

L: ..that if you’re eating a lot of processed, carbohydrates and sugars…

M: Yeah, sugary, yeah.

L: …and fats and no fiber and no vegetables and…

M: Yeah.

L: …especially in such huge quantities.

M: Right…right, I mean it’s…it’s the thing with the advertising though is that ummm…with the junk food manufacturers targeting young kids…

L: Mmm.

M: Ummm…I mean, this is something that…that advertisers have been doing for years because they know that if you can get in…into…appeal to a child, then the child will go to his or her parents…

L: Oh sure.

M: and say “Mum, Dad, I…you know, I… I want to go and have a McDonald’s Happy Meal or, I want to go to Burger King.”

L: No, tha…that’s not what they will do, they would say “Mom, Dad, can’t we eat at McDonald’s? Mom please? All the other kids can eat at McDonald’s!”

M: [Laughs] Right! And…and then when Mum and Dad say errr… “Well no, because we ate at McDonald yesterday! Umm…”
[Laughs] “Let’s have something…” push something healthy on the children, the…the kids don’t…they don’t want to know, because the…you know, McDonald’s is portrayed as something that is cool, and of course it’s yummy! I mean…

L: Yeah.

M: I think McDonald’s is yummy!

L: Junk food is yummy! Are you kidding?

M: Yeah! Umm…

L: Given the choice between junk food and…and healthy food…

M: Salad?

L: Just…just, yeah, well, I love salads, that’s…that’s the weird thing is I really, truly love a good salad.

M: OK.

L: But even so, given the choice between a really yummy, good salad…

M: Yeah, well I like…I like salad too, but on…on my burger…

L: …and a big, honking, stinking great pizza full of all my favorite toppings…

M: Right.

L: I mean, I would have to be really in the mood for salad for me to choose the salad over the pizza.

M: Yeah, yeah I think that’s but it…it’s kind of…

L: Or the ice cream sundae.

M: Aaahhh! Now…

[laughter]

M: You’re bringing out the heavy artillery there!

L: Yeah…yeah.

M: Yeah, but it…I think it’s umm…I think this is the only way that they can…they can tackle something like this because I’ve seen this situation too many times, and…and what parent err…really wants to be saying “no” to their…their child and being a killjoy all the time?

L: Well there’s another more sinister aspect of the whole thing is that, you know, imagine being a parent and you’ve worked all day long at your job that maybe you don’t like so much and that drains so much of your energy, and then when you come home and you have the choice, “I can either go into the kitchen and start cutting up vegetables and…spending an hour preparing a healthy home-cooked meal for my family…”

M: Yup.

L: “…or, I can give them what they’re telling me that they want by just stopping at McDonald’s on the way home from work or, you know, some other fast food, or popping a frozen dinner in the oven… and giving them what they want.” I mean it just makes it that much easier to…

M: Of course, of course.

L: …to resist doing the right thing

Final Words
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real English Conversations at BetterAtEnglish.com. Before signing off, I’d like to thank the anonymous listener who sent me the book, “Grammar for English Language Teachers” by Martin Parrott. I really love the book. For any listeners who are native or near-native speakers, either teachers or learners, who are interested in a comprehensive book about English grammar, I can highly recommend this one. It’s even got exercises and key so you can test yourself as you learn.

If you missed my announcement last week, Better at English has a new sister site, UncensoredEnglish.com, where Michael and I discuss all the naughty slang, swear words and other topics that some listeners here might find offensive. That way we can keep B@E fairly clean, and really go for it on a separate site. You can find the new site at www.uncensoredenglish.com. Thanks for listening, and for your continued donations. Your donations and support make our shows possible.

Bye for now!

Vocabulary notes

the under-16s
The group of people who are under 16 years old. You can also talk about the over-16s. Any age group can be referred to this way, e.g., the over-65s, the under-30s.
taking such a strong action
To do something severe. Notice that take and strong collocate (go together) with action in this case.
across the board
Complete, affecting every level of something. The ban is on all foods considered junk food, not just ice cream and candy.
watershed
The time (usually 9 pm in the UK, 10 pm in the USA) after which programs not generally suitable for children can be shown on TV.
take such a strong stance
to take a stance means to have a certain opinion or way of thinking about something, usually that you express publicly. Notice that take and strong collocate with stance.
n=1
In scientific studies, n is used to denote the number of people who participated in the study. An n=1 study would be a study of only one person, a sample size of 1.
bias
Bias is the tendency to let your personal beliefs and preferences influence you when you are supposed to be neutral. If scientific studies are biased, it means that the scientists let their personal beliefs and agendas influence the results.
read too much into
to read something into something means to believe that an action, event or remark is more important or significant, even if it is not necessarily true.
sound
In this case, sound (adj) means valid and in agreement with accepted views
mom / mum
Mother. In American English, mothers are moms. In British English, they’re mums.
yummy
Delicious, tasty. Often used by children, but even by adults in informal situations.
Are you kidding?
Are you kidding means are you joking? But in this case, it is used to ad emphasis to the truth of Lori’s utterance, i.e., “I’m not joking, I’m being very serious!”
honking
Am.E slang for large.
stinking great
Br.E slang for extremely large. Stinking can also be used alone as an adverb, for example in the phrase “stinking rich” (extremely rich).
bringing out the heavy artillery
Literally, heavy artillery is a class of very large and powerful military guns, usually moved on wheels or metal tracks. In this case, “bringing out the heavy artillery” means doing or saying something as a means of impressing, arguing, or persuading.
killjoy
a killjoy is someone who spoils the pleasure of other people.
sinister
The main sense of sinister is evil. In this case, Lori talking about a general feeling of apprehension or worry.
popping
Informal for to put. To pop something in(to) something = to quickly put something in(to) something.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversation: junk food (part 1 of 3)

Hi everyone! Lori here with a quick announcement.

Even though many of you have told me that you don’t mind the occasional swear word or bit of off-color language, I’ve decided that it’s best to keep B@E a relatively clean site, and put all the naughty stuff on a different one. Today I’ve launched the evil twin of Better At English:
UncensoredEnglish.com. On Uncensored English, Michael and I will be teaching you all kinds of colorful idioms and slang — even swear words — because we think that learners benefit from knowing about ALL sides of the English language, not just the clean, polite side. So if you are curious about learning more of the edgy, gritty side of the English language, and if you’re not easily offended by vulgar language, then head on over to UncensoredEnglish.com and give our first shows a listen.

And for those of you who are not interested in off-color language, don’t worry. We’ll continue with the clean stuff here at B@E.

Thanks for listening!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Uncensored English - New English learning podcast

Download English lesson podcast and transcript

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of 2-minute English from BetterAtEnglish.com. This episode is in response to a question from Seref, a teacher of English in Turkey, who sent in a question about the sentence I feel like kicking myself. Seref is curious about the level of formality of this idiom and wonders if there are any synonyms.

Idiom
According to my trusty Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, if you kick yourself you feel “annoyed with yourself because you did something foolish or missed an opportunity.” You can also see the definition of to kick oneself in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms.

Lori is kicking herself for not buying Google stock back in 2004

Michael bought Google stock when it was at 300 dollars a share, but he still kicks himself every day for not doing it sooner.

Formality
The phrase to kick oneself is neutral, informal and conversational. So it’s perfectly OK to use it in all but the most formal situations.

Synonyms
The core meaning of the idiom to kick oneself is the idea of regret: regret for something you did or for an opportunity that you missed. So Seref, if you need a synonym that would suit formal situations, you can use the verb regret.

to (deeply) regret (v +ing) something

In general, many people consider idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs to be less formal than lexical verbs. So in formal situations of a grave or somber nature, you should definitely go with regret, or you may end up kicking yourself.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of 2-minute English, and special thanks to Seref for the question. By the way, if I’ve been horribly mispronouncing your name I will totally kick myself! You can find some additional links and the full transcript of this show on the website, www.betteratenglish.com. And remember, your continued donations make this show possible, and we really appreciate them. Bye for now!

Research authentic English Usage

Google provides the worlds biggest corpus for doing quick’n'dirty research into language usage. Follow the link below to see examples of how to kick oneself is used “out in the wild.”
See usage examples of to kick oneself on Google.

Related Link: English Writing Software with Text Enrichment - Synonyms and Idioms WhiteSmoke is the most comprehensive English Writing Tool available with advanced grammar correction and a patented text enrichment engine.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Idioms: to kick oneself

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Introduction

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from BetterAtEnglish.com. In today’s conversation, my English friend Michael and I talk about how much we use and depend on the Internet in our daily lives, particularly Google. In our conversation, which was completely unplanned and spontaneous, we ended up using quite a few phrasal verbs. I have highlighted these phrasal verbs in the vocabulary notes, as well as some idiomatic expressions. As always, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes on our website, www.BetterAtEnglish.com.

Here we go!

Conversation Transcript

Lori: Can you imagine what life would be like without the Internet?

Michael: Without the Internet?

Lori: Yeah

Michael: Like in the good old days? Way back and…

Lori: Yeah, the Dark Ages! [Laughs]

Michael: Oh goodness! Yeah. It’s…it’s funny I mean, that…that’s we joke about it but, umm… Thinking about that yeah, it would be like the dark ages because we’re so…people are so reliant on the Internet.

Lori: Yeah, I know I am.

Michael: Yeah, oh me too, for sure. Umm…

Lori: Yeah

Michael: Ahh…Yeah, aside from obvious things like…email, umm…and, ahh, Skype and, aah, MSN and these sort of things, just for chatting with people, umm, it would just be…it would be crazy not having all that information at your fingertips.

Lori: Yeah, yeah.

Michael: Because for me, that’s the main thing, with the Internet, is looking things up.

Lori: Oh yeah, can you imagine me going even one day without my precious Google?

Michael: Err…I think you’d crack up!

Lori: Yeah! [laughs]

Michael: I think…

Lori: I’d be outside talking to lampposts.

[laughter]

Michael: Yeah that’s…

Lori: Going crazy!

Michael: Umm… No, I really hope that you don’t get a power cut this winter because you’ll go…err…going cold…errr…what is it?… cold turkey without—

Lori: Yeah I won’t be able to google things! Oh my God!

Michael: Oh no!

Lori: No, I love Google so much, it’s so useful; it’s such an awesome tool.

Michael: Sure, I mean it’s…it’s funny I was just thinking recently umm…that apart from the usual websites that I would go to, to get news or perhaps some of the music websites where I’ll just log on and have a look and see what’s new in the world, umm, the vast majority of the time that I’m on the Internet is actually going to Google and then looking something up.

Lori: Oh yeah, yeah.

Michael: Because if there’s some information I need to know about, then it’s straight to Google.

Lori: Yeah.

Michael: Umm…You know, it’s unlikely that I would go to some other site, I’d just let Google do the finding for me and then see where it takes me…

Lori: Yeah.

Michael:…and…

Lori: No, it’s amazing.

Michael: It…it’s like having umm…just the biggest encyclopedia [laughs] at your fingertips you know, it’s quite amazing…

Lori: Yeah, sometimes I would say I use Google hundreds of times a day.

Michael: I’ve seen you do it! [laughs] I’m sure…

Lori: Yeah, you know constantly googling things and checking things and it’s…

Michael: Right.

Lori: I don’t know what I would do without it; it puts you in touch – you know, the Internet in general and…and email and chat and the different social networks – it just puts you in touch with people all over the world.

Michael: Well, absolutely, I mean I know of at least one fantastic relationship that came about through the Internet!

[laughter]

Lori: Yeah, and no matter what your niche interest is, you can find other people all over the world who are interested in…in that same thing.

Michael: Absolutely!

Lori: You know, it’s underwater basket-weaving, or whatever it is, you’ll be able to find forums and…

Michael: Rolling around…rolling around naked in dog food, whilst barking, umm…

Lori: Yeah, I guess! I’m sure! It wouldn’t surprise me!

Michael: I’m sure there’s a whole community out there.

Lori: Yeah, yeah, who are…who are into that.

Michael: Yeah.

Lori: Umm, and it’s…that’s really cool that you can connect with people all over the world and…

Michael: Sure

Lori: Share the things that you love, it’s…I think it’s really cool.

Final Words

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real English Conversations at BetterAtEnglish.com. And to those who have donated since last time, thank you very much for your support. We really appreciate your generosity. These casts take a lot of time to produce, and your continued donations are an enormous help. But donations aren’t the only thing that make us happy; we love when you email us or record messages for us, like this: Thanks so much Rocío, messages like yours make all our effort totally worthwhile! See you next time!

Vocabulary notes

the good old days
When people talk about the good old days (sometimes spelled the good ole days), they are referring to a previous time period that they remember fondly and preferred to the present. This phrase is often used whimsically (as Michael does here), or even ironically, as in “Back in the good old days when children were thrashed and women were bashed.”

the Dark Ages
The term Dark Ages refers to a period of European history stretching from about AD 400 to 1000. Lori’s reference to the Dark Ages here is a form of hyperbole, or extravagant exaggeration.

looking things up
To look something up (or look up something) means to search for information in a book or other source. For example, you can look up words in a dictionary, or look up information on Google.

going even one day without
To go without something means to not have something that you usually have, or not use something that you usually use.

crack up
To crack up (informal) means to become mentally ill or experience severe mental distress.

cold turkey
To go cold turkey means to abruptly stop using an addictive substance, such as narcotics, alcohol, or other drugs. This informal phrase is often used when talking about abruptly stopping any habitual activity, rather than taking a gradual approach.

awesome
The adjective awesome is Am. E. slang meaning excellent, superb, impressive, and related synonyms. Some usage experts react very negatively when awesome is used in this way, and prefer that awesome be used in its traditional sense of “inspiring great awe.” Lori thinks Google is awesome in both senses of the word.

at your fingertips
If something is at your fingertips, you can access it and use it very easily. For example, “Google and the internet put all the world’s information at your fingertips.”

I would say
Used as Lori does here, I would say means “I estimate” or “I believe.”

puts you in touch with
To put someone in touch with somebody means to make direct contact between them possible.

came about
To come about means to happen, start, or occur.

niche
In this context, a niche is a small area of specialized interest. You often hear about niche markets, i.e., smaller, specialized markets for particular products or services.

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Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: The pre-Google Dark Ages

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Introduction

Hi, Lori here welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English dot com. In today’s episode, Michael and I exchange some opinions about television, particularly with respect to commercials and advertising. In this conversation we discover some differences between British and American English vocabulary, and use some everyday phrasal verbs. As always, you’ll find the full transcript and vocabulary list on the website, www.betteratenglish.com.

Before listening to the conversation, you might want to pause and think about the following questions:

1. Are you influenced by TV advertising?
2. If so, then how are you influenced?
3. Do TV commercials attempt to appeal to people’s logic or to their emotions?
4. Is watching TV is a constructive activity, or is it more a waste of time?

OK, without further ado, here is the conversation.

Conversation Transcript

Lori: TV is so evil.

Michael: [laughs]

L: I mean, don’t…don’t even get me started on TV – what a time waster and a time sucker it is, and…and all of the horrible…all of the horrible messages that you’re bombarded with if you are, you know, just one of these people who comes home in the evening, turns on the TV and just has the TV on kind of in the background until you go to bed at night. Some people even fall asleep in their bedrooms with the TV on.

M: Yeah, well I don’t know…I think people would perhaps use this for different reasons. If you just want some background noise, maybe they just regard it the same way they would do putting on a piece of music…

L: Yeah

M: …in the background, just to have some ambiance…

L: Yeah.

M: …as they’re going about their evening, but I do know what you mean. I think that a lot of programs are a complete waste of time.

L: Well see, that’s the thing. I don’t think people should be limited to watching things that are educational. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with watching something that’s just entertaining. [It's just] that there’s so much…umm…just really negative stuff out there.

M: Yes. I…But I think that’s…that’s the commercial side of it, and unless you have something like in England for example – the BBC – they don’t have advertisements.

L: [laughs]

M: They… they get their…

L: Ads!

M: …revenue from…

L: Do you really say that, advertisements? You don’t say…?

M: Yes! That’s right, well we would say adverts but, or advertisements, yeah.

L: Even for the ones that are on the TV? You don’t call them commercials?

M: No, no! We wouldn’t…I mean, I know…we know what commercials are, but no, we would say the adverts.

L: Really?

M: “I’m going to make a cup of tea whilst the adverts are on,” that’s what we would say.

L: Oh that’s funny because as…I can’t speak for all Americans, but for an American we would definitely call those things you see on TV commercials.

M: Right, right that’s… that’s what I hear Americans calling them but we…

L: Yeah.

M: …we call them adverts.

L: OK, interesting

M: But that’s, umm, with the BBC they don’t get their money from adv-…advertising, they get it from the TV license, which you have to pay just for owning a TV every year, and that’s what… you know, they keep it free from adverts.

L: OK.

M: So you don’t have to put up with that, which is really quite nice because all the satellite channels and the independent TV channels in England are umm…full of adverts, all the time, and you really get that impression that people are trying to sell things to you all the time and it’s, err…all the things showing you that you have to be young and beautiful and all this kind of…

L: Yeah.

M: And “If you buy our products. you will be like these people in these… perfect people…”

L: Yeah, the myth of transformation.

M: Yes, exactly, exactly.

L: Yeah it’s like, “let’s create things that make you feel bad about yourself and then show you the things you need to buy to…”

M: That’s it!

L: “…improve yourself so you will feel better.”

M: That’s it, and I think that’s… that’s mean, that’s… that’s not nice.

L: It’s horrible!

M: So, but I… that’s… that’s what I see when I see the adverts, I… I see through it so…

L: Yeah.

M: But I… I don’t watch much TV either, so umm…

L: Uh huh. No, it’s horrible – horrible time waster.

Final words

Thanks for listening, and thanks to those of you who have donated since last time. I can’t tell you enough how much Michael and I appreciate your support. Remember, your continued donations make Better at English possible. Bye for now!

Vocabulary list

Don’t even get me started
If someone says, “Don’t get me started (on X)” it means that they have strong feelings and a lot to say about the current topic. The idea is that if they start talking about it, you won’t be able to get them to stop. You can say it about other people, for example “Don’t get him started on butterfly collecting…he’ll bore you for hours!”

going about
In this context, to go about something means to continue an activity for a period of time. If you are going about your evening, you are engaging in your typical evening activities.

revenue
Income (money) that a business, organization or government receives regularly. TV licenses generate revenue (money) for the government.

to put up with
To put up with (something or somebody) means to tolerate it, even though you don’t like it.

mean (adj)
Mean in this context means unkind (or even cruel). In Br.E, the adjective mean can also mean being selfish and ungenerous (particularly about money).

see through it
In this context, to see through something/somebody means to understand the truth about a person or situation that is intended to deceive or manipulate you.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: TV adverts, advertisements and commercials

Introduction
Hi, Lori here welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations at BetterAtEnglish.com. Today my British pal Michael and I compare working in an office with working at home, and talk about how difficult it can be to put up with rude treatment from nasty customers when you work in a job providing service. As usual, we end up touching upon some of the differences between British and American English vocabulary.

Download English lesson podcast and transcript

If you have a job where you have to look busy all the time, or where you have to tolerate rude customers, I encourage you to post your stories in the comments section on the website! It would be fun to hear what you have to say.

Before moving on to the conversation, I’d like to thank everyone who has donated since the last episode. Michael and I really appreciate your generosity, thanks so much! I also wanted to let you know that because of illness the past few weeks, I’ve not been able to keep up up with my email as well as I’d like to. Fortunately, I’m feeling a bit better now, so if you’d emailed and not received an answer, you will be getting one soon.

Right then, on with the conversation! [Download transcript from links above]

Final words
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Real English Conversations. Before I sign off, here are this week’s announcements.

First, because I really want to post more frequent episodes for you, I’ve been looking for ways to streamline my work process. So from now on, I am not going to put the transcript on the web page itself. I’ll just provide PDF and Microsoft Word documents for you to download from the website. Not having to format the html for each episode will save me between one and two hours per podcast. I’m curious to know how you react to this, so if you have strong feelings one way or another, please let me know. I’ve put a new poll up in the sidebar of the website to make it easy for you to have your say.

Second, thanks to everyone who has voted in other poll on the website. It appears that close to 80% of you are learners of English, 9% are teachers, and another 9% are both. About 2% of you are neither teachers nor learners of English.

That’s it for this time! As always, the transcription and vocabulary notes for this podcast are available at our website, www.betteratenglish.com. And remember, if you enjoy our show, please consider leaving a donation. We really appreciate your support. Bye for now!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: The customer is always right, right?

Transcript

Introduction
Hi, Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English dot com. Today’s conversation is continued from our previous episode about chick magnets. In the previous episode I had wanted to talk to Michael about about a gym in Holland that offers its clients an unusual way to exercise. But we got sidetracked talking about dogs and chick magnets. Luckily, this time we are back on track talking about gyms, a topic that brings up some idioms and slang related to fitness, exercise, and human bodies.

Before we begin, some thanks are in order: since our previous episode, Better at English has received generous donations from Jörg, Christa, and Christian (from Germany); Nicola (from Italy); and Philipo. Thanks so much for your support! Remember, these podcasts take a lot of time to produce, so your donations are really appreciated. So if you enjoy our podcasts, you can find the donation link on our website, www.betteratenglish.com.

Right then, let’s get on with the conversation!

Conversation Transcript

Lori: Okay, but anyway, the reason I asked you if you go to the gym is I read this kind of funny article on CNN the other day. Apparently there’s a gym in the Netherlands that is planning to introduce training sessions for nudists. So people can go…

Michael: Why am I not… why am I not surprised?

L: Why, why would you be not surprised?

M: Well, that…everything else is legal in Holland, from drugs to prostitution, so why not a bit of naked working out?

L: Yeah, pump up in the buff! Got the drugs, got the hookers, all we need is a naked gym! Yeah, no, but apparently it’s true, they’re going to have Sunday morning sessions, and the reason that they’re going to try this is, umm, that they, they’ve had a lot of demand for them.

M: Oh, really! And…

L: Yeah! Special nudists’ sessions.

M: Okay, so I guess there’s a big nudist community, then, in Holland.

L: Yeah apparently so, at least around this gym. The article didn’t say… or actually, it did say, it was in a place called, uh, I’m not sure if I can pronounce it…Heteren? Heteren? Anyway…

M: Oh, I don’t know…

L: I don’t know where that is, but, they’re also, they’re worried that people will find out about it, and just show up, you know, just to ogle people.

M: Ah, well, yeah!

L: You know, not genuine nudists, so apparently they’re going to have, umm, they’re going to be really strict about who they’ll let in, and anyone who shows up just to gawk will get thrown out.

M: Well, I wonder if, I wonder if that would backfire anyway, ’cause, um, from my experience a lot of people who go to the gym to work out really need to go to the gym to work out, if you, you know…

L: Yeah!

M: Kind of weighty and somewhat rotund, um, so seeing people like that in the buff, jumping around wobbling and jiggling in the breeze…

L: Oh my god, doing deadlifts and squats and things like that…

M: That’s right, I mean, doing things like, what’s that, star jumps with your tackle hanging out, you know, is really…

L: Exactly! Yeah, really out-of-shape people. But I guess it really depends on which gym you go to, because where I grew up in Southern California, a lot of gyms you, you only really saw fit people in the gyms.

M: Full of beautiful people.

L: Yeah, in thongs.

M: Oh, I’m sure. Bright pink thongs.

L: Yeah, and pink leg warmers and stuff like that.

M: Oh man, that must’ve been the 80s then.

L: Uh, yeah back, back in the 80s. And even nowadays if you go somewhere it really depends on the gym because some gym, gyms are geared more towards, you know, the kind of trendy clientele who are really into fitness. And then other gyms are more like family gyms where you find all kinds of people going there. So it really depends.

M: OK

L: But my, one of my biggest concerns about this Dutch gym, you know, for the nudists, would be hygiene. And in the article they do mention that they’ll pay special attention to that, and make sure that people cover the machines and the equipment with towels and, and things like that.

M: I would hope so!

L: But…I don’t know, it just…

M: People’s naked, sweaty behinds sitting on the hydraulic machinery…

L: Yeah! Or just anything.

M: …you know, the things where you have to sit. Yeah, it’s really not…

L: Yeah, I mean, getting on the [stationary] bike, you know, right after someone’s just been on there… I don’t know.

M: Oh my god! Well, I’m never going to a gym in Holland that’s for sure. Not now.

L: Yeah, well, it’s only this one gym. But hey, who knows? If it’s a big success it might spread to other gyms, you know, that’s how capitalism works, I guess.

M: Who knows what be “spreading” to other gyms, if that’s what…if they’re all going in the nude. Oh, goodness!

L: Yeah!

Vocabulary list

nudist
Nudists are people who think that it is healthy for people to be naked and who enjoy being naked in mixed social settings. You can read this article for an overview of nudism and nudist philosophy.

working out
To work out (in this context) means to exercise strenuously, usually at a gym and using a combination of weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise.

hookers
Informal word for prostitutes

pump up
To pump up (or get pumped) means to exercise your muscles (usually with weights) so that they swell up and look bigger. With strenuous exercise, blood flow to the muscles increases and makes them look bigger and feel harder. To pump up is sometimes used in a more general sense (as Lori does here), meaning “to exercise” (to work out). So “To pump up in the buff” means “to exercise while naked.”

in the buff
Informal expression that means naked (used about people only, not about other objects or animals).

ogle
To ogle someone is to look as someone in a way that shows you are sexually interested in them. It’s usually used in a negative sense.

gawk
To gawk at someone or something is to stare (usually in a rude or stupid way).

backfire
If something backfires, it has the opposite result from the one you intended (and is usually a failure).

deadlifts
A deadlift is an exercise in which you pick up a heavy barbell and lower it again, keeping your arms straight and bending at the knees. See this link.

squats
A squat is an exercise in which you balance a heavy barbell across your shoulders, then bend down into a squatting position and stand up again. It is considered the “king of exercises” by many body builders. See this link.

star jumps
A star jump is a vigorous exercise which involves jumping up into the air and extending one’s arms and legs out in a “star” shape while in midair. You can see a video here.

tackle
Slang expression for male genitals

out-of-shape
In this context, shape means overall physical condition. If you are in good shape, you are fit and healthy. If you are out of shape, then you are in poor physical condition. The phrases “to be in good/bad shape” and “to be in shape” and “to be out of shape” are all very common.

fit
If you are fit, you are in good physical shape. In Br.E, the word fit is also used to describe someone who is physically very attractive.

geared (more) towards
If something is geared toward(s) something or somebody, it designed to be suitable for a particular purpose or attractive to a particular group of people.

clientele
The group of customers who use a particular product or service.

into
In this context, to be into something means that you are very interested in it. People who are into fitness are interested in working out and staying in shape.

in the nude
Naked (used only about people)

Final words

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Real English Conversations. If you are listening to us via iTunes or some other podcatcher, remember that if you go to our website you’ll find the full transcript for this and all previous episodes, vocabulary lists, illustrations, and related links. It’s all waiting for you at www.betteratenglish.com. Bye for now!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English conversations: pumping up in the buff

Transcript

Hi, Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better At English dot com. Today, my English friend Michael and I talk about the irresistible attraction power of dogs and puppies, and how
you can exploit this if you’re in the market for a romantic partner.

As always, you’ll find a full transcript and vocabulary list on the website, www.betteratenglish.com. And remember, your continued donations keep Better at English going – thanks very much to Kristof and Taz from the Netherlands, and Peter from Switzerland for your generous donations since the last episode. And thanks to Paul from France, who donated three awesome books about English from my B@E Amazon wishlist!

OK, enough of my yakkin’ – let’s get on with the show!

Conversation Transcript

Lori: Do you ever go to the gym?

Michael: I don’t go anymore; I used to go many years ago, but…

L: What…why don’t you go anymore?

M: Well, it’s very expensive, for one thing. And also it’s a long way to travel from where I’m living at the moment; it’s a long way to get to the gym, so I go walking with the dog and that’s my exercise.

L: Ooooooooh, doggie! Doggie! What kind of dog is it?

M: It’s a border terrier.

L: Ooooh, is he cute?

M: Which is…Oh he is very, very cute, and he’s very friendly. And also gets me lots of attention while I’m out, because everybody wants to say hello to my dog, so…

L: I know, isn’t that funny about dogs, they’re total conversation starters…

M: They’re a great way to get chicks as well!

L: Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard!

M: If you, if you have a very cute dog, then, yeah, then girls want to come over and pet your dog, and then of course you can start talking to them, so yeah, it’s a great way to meet friends.

L: Don’t you call that “chatting them up” in British English?

M: Yes, chatting somebody up is, I suppose, flirting with somebody, and um…

L: Trying to get their phone number?

M: Yes! That’s the kind of thing, yes.

L: Well I think that the ultimate weapon, you know, the ultimate chick magnet would probably be a cute little puppy.

M: Oh, oh, most definitely. For sure.

L: Because I can tell you from experience – and being a girl – that, oh, it takes all my power to resist going up to total strangers with cute little puppies and asking if I can pet the puppy. Seriously, it’s…oh my god!

M: Okay, I’m going to get rid of the … [line drops out] …then.

L: Sorry?

M: I’m gonna get rid of the dog and get a puppy instead; he’s too old now.

L: Oh yeah, total…total chick magnet. But you’ll also be attracting a lot of little old ladies as well.

M: Pardon?

L: You’ll also be attracting a lot of little old ladies as well.

M: Oh okay, so there is a downside to it.

L: Yeah, there is a downside…unless you like little old ladies.

M: It’s not really my thing, no, no…

Vocabulary List

I’m living at the moment
Grammar: this is a good example of the present continuous for temporary situations.

Doggie (or doggy - both spellings are very common)
Adding an ie or y to the end of a word is a diminutive in English. Diminutive forms make the object sound familiar, lovable (or pitiable), or just small.

Total conversation starters
Using the word total in front of a noun has an intensifying effect, typical in informal, conversational American English. Compare “He’s an idiot” with “He’s a total idiot.” A conversation starter is any object or tactic that helps get conversations started (usually with people whom you don’t know).

Chicks
In this context, chick is an informal word for girl or woman. Women often consider this word offensive. When men talk about “getting chicks,” they usually mean establishing romantic relationships (even the one-night variant) with attractive, desirable women. In the literal sense, a chick is a baby chicken (baby birds of many species are referred to as chicks).

Chatting them up
To chat someone up (BrE) means to talk to someone in a way that shows that you are sexually or romantically attracted to them.

Flirting
To flirt with someone means that you behave as if you were sexually/romantically attracted to them (but you are not necessarily serious about it).

Ultimate
To describe something as the ultimate X means that it is the best or worst possible example of something. This is often used rather loosely in conversation just to make a point that X is very good (or bad).

Chick magnet
A chick magnet is an informal word for any person, object, or quality that attracts women (romantically or sexually).

To get rid of
To get rid of something means to throw it away, to dispose of it.

Sorry?
When you haven’t heard what someone has said, you can say “Sorry”? (rising intonation) to alert them of this and get them to repeat. Sorry? is one of many phrases that have this function. Others include Pardon? (see below), Excuse me? And (I) beg your pardon?

Little old ladies
If you describe a woman as a little old lady, people tend to think of a stereotypical gray-haired, good-natured, somewhat fragile, elderly woman. It is usually used in a playful or affectionate sense, but sometimes is used disparagingly. Even though Michael certainly likes sweet little old ladies, he’s not interested in “chatting them up!”

Pardon?
Saying pardon? with rising intonation at the end signals that you have not heard what someone just said, and want them to repeat it.

Downside
The downside something is its bad or undesirable aspects, its disadvantage(s).

My thing
If someone says X is not my thing, it means that they are not interested in X. It can also be a diplomatic way of saying that you don’t like something. For example, saying “Getting up early is not my thing” sounds much softer than “I hate getting up early.”

Final words

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real English Conversations at Better at English dot com. Before signing off, I have a small request: I’m trying to find out more about what type of people listen to B@E, so I’ve put a little poll up in the sidebar of the website. It’ll take less than a minute for you to visit the website, www.betteratenglish.com, and complete the poll. Knowing more about our listeners will help us make better podcasts for you. And remember, your continued donations make Better at English possible. Bye for now!

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Chick Magnet (idiom)

Introduction

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English. Again, I apologize for the poor audio quality this time, but I’m still posting from abroad, using my laptop. This is the third and final episode of a three part series in which Michael and I discuss some of the potentially embarrassing differences between British and American English dialects. This episode takes up right where we left off in part two, so if you are a new listener you might want to go back and listen to parts one and two before you listen to part three. You can find all the previous episodes and full transcripts on the website, www.betteratenglish.com.

Hey ho, let’s go!

Conversation Transcript

Michael: Well, do you know, just to change the subject slightly, you just reminded me of something, of a very good friend of mine, an English computer programmer who went on a business trip to the United States. And when he was over there, somebody asked him where one of the other programmers was 'cause they couldn’t find him. And my friend Peter said, “Oh, I think he’s just popped outside for a fag.”

Lori: Oh, dear!

M: Now, in British English the word fag is a very, very common, perfectly innocent slang word for a cigarette.

L: Right.

M: And everybody knows it, everybody uses it, and you would be far more likely to talk about a fag and fags as being cigarettes than you would actually say cigarette.

L: Uh huh.

M: So, but, but the look that the American fellow gave to Peter, saying that he nipped outside for a fag, was quite priceless. So he had to explain on the spot, “No that’s not what I meant,” because, as we know, the word fag in American English is a slang word for somebody who is homosexual.

L: Yeah, usually, a male, male…and it’s not a very nice word I think, from what I’ve understood. It’s a derogatory word for…

M: That’s, that’s what I understood.

L: …it’s not very nice to say.

M: But it was a perfectly innocent mistake, but you just reminded me of that.

L: I know! No, it’s funny. And these are the kind of things…I’m not sure they even teach those types of words, you know, I’ve never seen that taken up in a mainstream ELT [English Language Teaching] course book.

M: Well, probably not. But it’s the kind of thing that, as we know from experience, this kind of mistake is very easy to make. And if you wanted to sound particularly, umm, if you wanted to sound like your English was British English, then knowing words like that, that fag for cigarette, is…would be a very important one. You would need to know what it was—and not to get it confused.

L: Exactly.

M: You know, umm, so, I mean, a typical thing, “I’m just going to the shop to buy some fags,” you know is an ev–

L: [laughs] It’s like, what kind of shops do you have over there?

M: [laughs] I know, I can understand…

L: Didn’t know they sold those!

M: That’s, well, when you come back from abroad in the duty-free you can get 200 fags very cheaply!

L: OK, yeah, they have them on discount. Oh, funny!

M: But I can understand this must sound ridiculous to you [as an American], but as a British guy this is just normal speak, this is what we say.

L: Well, that’s another thing: Do you consider yourself British or do you consider yourself English, or, does it matter?

M: Well no, I’m English. I’m very much English. I’m sure you don’t want to know about my family history, but no, I think of myself as being English.

L: OK

M: And certainly the other countries, I mean, Scotland and Ireland and Wales, they like to think of themselves as being exclusively Scottish and Irish, they don’t really like to be thought of as being British.

L: Mmm hmm.

M: I think they prefer to be thought of as independent. So…But, I don’t know, I think foreigners tend to think of…the people on that little green island in the middle of the sea, umm, as just being British. It’s just easier to say, to say Britain, you know.

L: Mmm hmm.

M: Umm, but no, I’m English. That’s it, yeah.

L: OK, and is it actually offensive to be called British, or…?

M: Not if you’re English. But in…actually, some…as I was suggesting, that the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh people could be offended to be called British.

L: Really?

M: Oh yeah, because, umm, they very much, you know, they like to have their independence, and I’m not completely sure, but I think that some…we have an independent Irish parliament now. They’re still governed overall by the English parliament, but they try to break away, really. And certainly in southern Ireland, which is known as Eire, they’re not British. I mean, they’re not part of the United Kingdom. It’s all, it’s all kind of complicated—I’m from the country and I don’t even understand it properly!

Final words

OK, that’s it for this episode of Real English Conversations at Better At English. Before I sign off, I just want to thank you all for listening and for your continued support. Paul’s generous donation came in right after I posted my latest message to you all—thanks so much, Paul! And Michael, your donation just popped in a few minutes ago as I was preparing this episode—thanks so much!

If you’d like to leave feedback about the site, you can email me at info AT BetterAtEnglish DOT com, or leave a message on my voicemail line at 1 (for the USA) 206 350 2283. And don’t forget that your donations make the Better at English possible, so if you get value from the show, please visit the website www.betteratenglish.com and make a donation. Your support really means a lot!

Vocabulary list

Popped
To pop [+ adverb or preposition] is an informal way of saying “to go quickly” in Br.E. For example, “I’m just going to pop into the post office to buy some stamps.”

Fag
An informal word for cigarette in Br.E. In Am.E, fag is a disparaging (i.e., not nice) word for a male homosexual. It has several other meanings as well — see here.

Oh, dear!
A common exclamation of surprise.

Nipped
To go quickly. Similar to to pop (see above).

Priceless
If something is extremely amusing to see or hear, you can describe it as priceless.

On the spot
If you do something on the spot, you do it immediately. In this example, Michael’s friend had to immediately explain that “fag” means cigarette in British English.

Derogatory
If something is derogatory, it shows disapproval or disrespect.

Duty-free
The duty-free is short for “the duty-free shop.” Duty-free shops are usually found in airports, and are special shops where travelers can buy goods that are free of government taxes. Duty-free shops usually sell “luxury” items that normally carry heavy government taxes, such as alcohol, cigarettes, perfumes, and cosmetics.

On discount
If something is on discount, it is being sold at a reduced price.

Offensive
If something is offensive, it means that it causes someone to feel upset, angry, or hurt. People can be offended by something, or take offense at something.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Cultural Differences (part 3 of 3)

Transcript

Introduction

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another edition of Real English conversations from Better at English DOT com. This is the second in a three part series in which Michael and I discuss some of the differences between our British and American English dialects. This edition takes up right where we left off in part one, so if you are a new listener you might want to go back and listen to part one before you listen to part two. In this podcast, we focus on some pronunciation differences between British and American English, as well as one potentially embarrassing difference in vocabulary.

But before getting into the conversation, I want to thank you again for your continued support of Better at English: Alberto and Yuichi, I received your generous donations this week—thanks so much! So to all listeners out there, if you get value from my podcasts, please consider making a donation; see the link in the sidebar at www.betteratenglish.com for all you need to know about how to donate. And as always, on the website you’ll find the full transcript and a vocabulary list. OK, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Conversation Transcript

Lori: …what has happened? What has happened?” And it turns out…

Michael: Well, I think that would be the same for me if someone was just a sharp intake of breath like when you take your car, to the garage, and you say, and they tell you how much it’s going to cost to have your exhaust fixed. And you respond with [gasp], that’s what you would do.

L: Exactly. It’s funny you said garage.

M: That’s, I think, is a regional thing with English people. Because you could say garage or garage or garage. People would understand you in English; it just depends whereabouts in the country you come from.

L: But it’s funny, where I’m from—and it, this might differ—you know, America is so big and I haven’t…I’m not really up on all the different regional dialects. But I would say I took my my car to the shop, or to the workshop. I wouldn’t even say the garage, or I would say garage. But the garage for me is the place you, at your own home…

M: Oh, that’s interesting

L: …a special building where you park your own car, that’s your garage. And usually you keep a bunch of tools and junk and, and things…in there…

M: Yeah, oh yeah. And your lawnmower, and things like that.

L: Exactly. Yeah.

M: It…that’s what we would call it in England too, but also it doubles as where you take your car to have it fixed, to have it repaired. But if you said that you were taking your car to the shop in British English, they would look at you really funny. Like thinking you’re going to sell your car in a shop; you don’t have it fixed, but they would understand workshop, you know, that engineers and mechanics work in a workshop, but a shop in British English, it’s where you sell something, newspapers and things like that.

L: Yeah, so that could be a misunderstanding, then.

M: Oh yeah definitely, definitely.

L: But, I mean, wouldn’t you be clever enough to figure it out? Don’t they know enough about American English from TV and things like that to… to pick up on that?

M: I think so, I think so now because there’s so much of the TV in England, are American programs, and if you want to understand what’s going on you just have to get up to speed with what people what people say and the names they have for things, so I think most people would be able to figure it out, umm, but I can’t speak for everybody.

L: It’s funny, there’s a lot of expressions in British English and American English that can completely…screw you up if you’re not careful. One of my very, very favorites is the word rubber.

[laughs]

L: Can I borrow your rubber? Have you got a rubber I can borrow?

M: That’s disgusting.

L: Yeah I know but, I mean, isn’t that what… because I learned…and I learn most of my British English from, from reading and from these English teaching materials and vocabulary lists that you have, because it’s almost always based on the British English model. And in these teaching materials a rubber is what I would call an eraser, what you use to rub out pencil marks, or erase pencil marks. But what do you call it, you know, spontaneously with what you know about British English, would you call it, a rubber or an eraser?

M: It’s quite funny that you brought this up, because when I was young I would, without even thinking, we’d just talk about this as a rubber, you know, I need a rubber. When I was a child we used to write in pencil at school and so everyone, every school child, had to have a pencil and a rubber—this was important equipment for going to school. But it was only when I went to secondary school in England that I realized that rubber could actually mean something else, and particularly in, with American English. And so I had to consciously start calling it an eraser, and that actually felt really false.

L: Oh funny! You say you eraser and I say eraser. Do you hear the difference?

M: Oh did I say that? Oh yeah, eraser, eraser. Yeah I say it with as if it’s a Z (zee). Or a zed, as we would say. You call it a zee, We call it a zed. You know, eraser.

L: Exactly. Exactly.

M: But yeah, I have to consciously do that because to me, to be honest, it’s still a rubber.

L: Uh huh! It’s still a rubber! And you know maybe people don’t understand what a rubber actually is in American English… and as far as I know…

M: Perhaps we should…

L: … the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word rubber used as a noun, for like, a thing, is a condom.

M: That’s right that’s it that’s it it’s a slang word for a condom, yeah.

L: Yeah! And I can just imagine the, you know, unintentional fits of merriment that could occur at a business meeting if you said, “Oh darn! Can I borrow your rubber?” If you were sitting there with a bunch of Americans, that they, you know, they might laugh at you.

M: I, well do you know…? Just to change the subject slightly, you just reminded me of something, of a very good friend of mine, an English computer programmer who went on a business trip to the United States…

[to be continued in episode 3 of 3]

Final words

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Real English Conversations here at Better at English dot com. You’ll hear the rest of Michael’s story in part three. Until then, I wish all of you the best for 2007. Stay inspired, stay positive, stay focused on what’s important to you, and don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from seizing the opportunities that come your way.

If you’d like to leave feedback about the site, you can email me at info AT BetterAtEnglish DOT com, or leave a message on my voicemail line at 1 (for the USA) 206 350 2283. And don’t forget that your donations make this podcast possible, so if you are feeling generous please visit the website www.betteratenglish.com and make a donation. Your support does a lot to keep me going. Bye for now!

Vocabulary list

Funny
Funny is a tricky word in English, because it has two different meanings: amusing/humorous/comical or strange/unusual. Something is funny in the amusing sense if it makes you laugh. Something can be funny in the strange sense it is unusual, weird or strange. Sometimes the distinction is not entirely clear, because some events that are weird or strange can also be rather amusing! For example, seeing a man wearing nothing but a chartreuse glittery tophat running (streaking!) through a crowded football stadium is probably funny in both senses of the word. At least Lori would think it was.

I’m not really up on
To be up on something means to be well informed about it, to know a lot about it.

Shop
In both British and American English, a shop is a store, a place where you go to buy things. In American English, it’s more common to talk about grocery stores or supermarkets (where you buy food and other household items). Lori (American) would be much more likely to say, “I’m going to the store—do we need milk”? Michael (British) would be more likely to say, “I’m going to the shop—do we need milk”? In American English, shop is often used as a short form of workshop, particularly the type of workshop that repairs cars. “I’m riding my bike to work this week because my car’s in the shop.”

Figure it out
To figure something out means to understand something or find a solution to it, usually after a lot of thought.

Pick up on
To pick up on something means to notice something and understand it or make sense of it.

What’s going on
To understand what is going on means to understand what is happening or what something is about.

Get up to speed
To get up to speed on/with something means to learn what you need to know about it.

I can’t speak for everybody
This is one of many phrases you can use to show that what you are saying reflects your own experience or opinions, and that other people may have different opinions or experiences.

Screw you up
If something screws you up, it causes you problems, difficulties, trouble, confusion or (in the worst case) causes you to fail at what you are trying to do.

Rubber
In American English, a rubber is an informal (and rather vulgar) word for a condom. In British English, a rubber can mean either an eraser or a condom.

Eraser
An eraser is a piece of rubber or soft plastic that you use to rub out (delete) pencil marks.

Brought this up
To bring something up means to mention it or introduce it as a topic of conversation.

Fits of merriment
A fit is a sudden and uncontrolled period of doing or feeling something. Merriment is when people laugh and have a good time. Lori means that Americans who don’t know that a rubber is an eraser in British English might (involuntarily) laugh at you if you ask to borrow a rubber.

Bunch
A bunch is an informal word for group. You can use bunch about things and people, for example:

I still have a bunch of Christmas shopping to do. (uncountable)

I still have to buy a bunch of Christmas presents (countable).

There is/are a still bunch of people I have to buy Christmas presents for. (Bunch is a collective noun (like group, committee, jury, etc.), so verb agreement is up to how the speaker views the bunch — as a unit or a group of individuals).

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Cultural differences (part 2 of 3)

Transcript

Introduction

Hi! Lori here with another edition of Real English conversations from Better at English dot com. This is my first podcast in a while because the computer I use for podcasting broke down a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, it’s still broken, but today I managed to MacGuyver enough hardware and software together to prepare some new podcasts for you.

Since the previous podcast, several people have been kind enough to send donations to support Better at English. Thanks so much to Hiroyuki from Japan, Matteo and Antonio from Italy, Franz from Germany, and to Pietro, Patrik, Ted, and Mirko. I really appreciate your generosity! Donations from listeners are enormously helpful and encouraging. If you would like to donate, just follow the link in the sidebar at the website, www.betteratenglish.com. On the website you’ll also find the full transcript for this podcast, as well as the audio and transcripts of all previous Better at English listening podcasts.

In today’s conversation, Michael and I discuss how native speakers use fillers such as “umm” and “uh” and “mmm hmm” in conversations, and how these fillers are not always the same in different cultures. This is the first part of a series of three: in parts two and three we go on to discuss some rather amusing pronunciation and vocabulary differences between British and American English. Here is part one: Enjoy!

Conversation Transcript

Lori: I got some e-mails from people saying that they wanted to have more of the British English guy because they like hearing the difference between British and American English.

Michael: Oh well, that’s very kind of them; I’d be happy to oblige you.

L: Yeah, but there was also one guy [who complained], do you remember when I transcribed all of the umms and uhs and stuff like that?

M: Oh yes! Yeah, I try not to do that too much, to say umm and ah and uh, like so many people do, it’s something I’m very conscious of, so instead of doing that I just tend to repeat what I just said instead.

L: You know that’s really hard to transcribe.

M: I’m really sorry about that, but it’s something that I think I get from my father. He speaks that way. It’s a family thing.

L: So you don’t think it’s just a British English thing?

M: I don’t think so, but now that you mention it I’ll start to listen out for things like that. I just… you can be very conscious of the pauses, the gaps in a conversation, and people I think find that kind of awkward. As you’re thinking of the next thing to say, it’s better to be making some noise than just have a complete silence. So I think maybe that’s why I do it; it’s subconscious really.

L: And what about, you know, I’ve had some of my students say that they think that it’s really weird that if you’re listening to a speaker, you make these little encouraging noises like “Mmm hmmm, mmm hmmm”?

M: Oh yes. Yeah. Well, do you know I think that people tend to do that because it would be completely rude to interrupt somebody when they’re in the middle of a sentence and saying, “Oh yes I agree.” But you want to give the other person confirmation that you are agreeing, and encouragement. And also I think when you’re on the telephone or using Skype or something like that, you want to let them know that you’re actually still on the other end of the phone…That you haven’t lost the collec— the connection.

L: Some of my students have said that they think that would be really annoying, you know, some of my Swedish students, particularly.

M: Is that something that Swedish people don’t do then when you’re speaking to them on the phone?

L: They make this weird sound instead of, of “Mmm hmmm,” “Uh huh,” “Oh, right,” they do this thing where they sort of suck in air. They go [imitates gasping sound]

M: Oh yes, I’ve heard of this, OK. Yeah, I’d think that they were gasping for air.

L: Yeah, when I first moved to Sweden and I heard people like that on the phone when I couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation, that’s the sound that we make in…where I’m from in southern California, anyway…we make that sound when we’ve heard something really horrible and surprising, like if you’d heard there’d just been a terrible accident, that’s the sound you would make. So I was always thinking that, “Oh my God! What had…what has happened? What has happened?” And it turns out…

M: Well, I think that would be the same for me if someone was just a sharp intake of breath like when you take your car, to the garage, and you say, and they tell you how much it’s going to cost to have your exhaust fixed. And you respond with [gasps], that’s what you would do.

L: Exactly. It’s funny, you said garage!

[to be continued]

Final words

In the next podcast in this series, Michael and I talk about some funny pronunciation and vocabulary differences between British English and American English. Well, I think they are funny, anyway! But then again, I don’t watch TV, so I’m easily amused…

Thanks for tuning in, and thanks again for your donations and supportive emails and comments! It makes my day to hear that Better at English is useful for your language learning. You can email me at info AT BetterAtEnglish DOT com, or call the voice mail line at 1 for the USA, 206 350 2283. Bye for now!

Vocabulary list

I’d be happy to oblige you
[I’d = I would] This is a phrase you can use to show that you are eager and willing to help someone. To oblige someone means to help them or do something that pleases them.

Transcribed
To transcribe something means to write down something that was spoken (or played or written in another form). Lori transcribes [writes down] the spoken conversations so that Better at English listeners can read along as they listen to the podcasts.
Conscious
If you are conscious of something, you are aware of it.

Tend to
If you tend to do something, you are likely to do it (but you don’t necessarily ALWAYS do it).

Hard
If something is hard to do, it is difficult to do.

Something…I get from my father
In this case, get means inherited or learned. Michael means that his own speaking style has been influenced by his father’s style.

Subconscious
If something is subconscious, it means that you are not conscious or aware of it. Something that is subconscious can influence your actions even if you are not aware of it.

Encouraging
Something that is encouraging makes you feel more confident, or makes you more likely to want to do something.

Confirmation
If you give someone confirmation of something, you show them that it is certain or that you understand.

Annoying
Something that is annoying makes you feel angry or irritated (annoyed).

Go
In informal conversation, native speakers often introduce reported speech with the verb go. Many careful users of English disapprove of using go in this way, so you should not copy it.

Gasping
If someone gasps, they breathe in very quickly and sharply through their mouth.

Turns out
In this case, to turn out means to happen in a certain way or have a particular result. Lori didn’t finish her sentence, but she meant to say: “It turns out that the gasping sound means something different than I thought it did.”

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: Cultural differences (part 1 of 3)

Transcript

Introduction
Hi there! Lori here, welcoming you to another edition of Real English Conversations at Better at English dot com. Thanks to everyone who’s answered my question about the vocabulary notes in Better at English transcripts. Your answer is an overwhelming “Yes, we need the vocabulary notes.?? So to help you learn English, as time permits I will continue to post transcripts and vocabulary notes for all Better at English podcasts. However, there is something you can do to help: if you are feeling generous, you could always support my work by making a donation. Just click the “donate?? button on the website, www.betteratenglish.com, to learn about how you can help.

Warning: some of you might find today’s conversation topic somewhat offensive, because Michael and I talk about a rather vulgar and disturbing video that we saw on the Internet, and a related story on the BBC website. It’s about people doing amazingly stupid things to their own bodies, and involves talking about a body part that is considered rather vulgar. So if you are sensitive or easily offended, you should not listen to this conversation. For those of you who are not easily offended, there are links to the video and the BBC article on the website. And as always, the full conversation transcript and accompanying vocabulary notes are also available on the website.

So hey ho, let’s go!

Conversation transcript

Lori: Do you remember a while back there was this horrible video going around, you know one of these, umm, video links that friends pass around in email forwards?

Michael: Mmm hmm

L: And the video was of…I think it was a teenage guy who took a rocket…

M: a firework

L: a firework rocket, and put it in a very, very sensitive area and actually lit it, and you could just see him running around and screaming and, and the flame and…do you remember that?

M: That, I have, umm, the image of that is burned in my memory, no pun intended.

[link to video: warning, it is rude and vulgar watch at your own risk]

L: Yeah, and it makes you, you know, the whole Darwin Awards thing, like, so that?

M: That was actually…Interestingly enough it was Bonfire Night, November the fifth, as we call…Bonfire Night in England just recently, and I saw on the BBC a news report that somebody had done something similar just recently. I mean this is, what, you know…ten or eleven days ago… that someone had done the same thing with a firework, a rocket, and, uhhh, inserted it into, uhhh…

L: An area that doesn’t normally see the sun.

M: Yes! That’s a good way of putting it. But the difference here… and I remember the video that you mentioned, I remember seeing that, where the rocket as it was, the firework was facing outwards.

L: Uh huh.

M: Okay? This guy had put the rocket facing inwards.

L: Oooooh!

M; I think the idea was…yeah the idea was…

L: To shoot it?

M: Well, I think he wanted to make it look like “Hey, look I’ve got, ummm, I’m a rocket-powered guy!?? You know…

L: Oh dear!

M: …it was propelling him forwards, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out and the rocket propelled itself into him.

L: Okay so he wanted to make it look like he was shooting flames out of his nether regions…

M: That’s right, that’s right but…

L: And it actually went inside and…

M: It went inside him, yeah.

L: Oh my gosh!

M: And this, I mean, this was on the national news in England, I mean how embarrassing would that be?

L: Oh yeah, did they have his name?

M: Ummm…

L: Can you imagine applying for a job after something like that, if your name had been…? And, umm, ‘cause that’s the kind of thing people will pass around as well, “Oh look at the stupid thing THIS guy did!??

M: Well I’m never going to forget that, that’s

L: Yeah that’s horrifying. I mean even the first one was horrible, I mean…how, why do people do such stupid things?

M: That was the…yeah…The thing that really struck me is “What were they thinking???

L: Yeah, what were they thinking? And how can you even get past the age of… three… and not understand that sticking a firecracker or rocket, you know, up your…

M: Up your bum.

L: Yeah! That’s just not a good idea! How does this happen?

M: Well, I don’t know I think, ummm, I mean, it’s okay in cartoons!

L: Is that it? That they can’t, that they really just don’t have a concept of, “Wow, these are flames and, and, you know, flames can burn you, and this is a sensitive area, and even a tiny, tiny little flame would just really not be very nice to have…???

M: Well, when you were, when you were young, at sch- I mean at school, ummm didn’t you ever have, ummm, things like the fire brigade come and tell you about these things? Because…

L: Oh yeah, yeah, the firefighters would come.

M: Because we have, ummm, Bonfire Night every year, traditional for letting off fireworks November the fifth… Just a few days before, the fire brigade for the different local fire brigades would go around to all the schools in Britain and you would have a lecture and they would show a video or slides, a slideshow, showing you the dangers of fireworks. And they would really hit it home. I mean we were told year after year after year that you…all these ground rules…and I can still remember them now. I mean, that you never hold a firework, you know, when you light… you don’t…If you light a firework and it doesn’t go off, you don’t go back to it.

L: Oh right, yeah.

M: You know, you leave it, because, just because you can’t see the flame burning on the blue touchpaper doesn’t mean it’s not going to go off.

L: Right

M: You never carry fireworks in your pocket. You never throw fireworks.

L: Right

M: This stuff, you know, they couldn’t have been stricter about it. I guess they still do that now; they must do that now.

L: Mmm

M: But maybe people just think they’re invincible.

L: Yeah, I guess so, because that to me is just so obvious that that’s just not a good idea.

M: Sure, I mean, the guy in the video actually pulled his pants down, and…

L: Yeah I remember.

M: Terrible.

L: That was, it was so horrifying to watch, I remember…

M: Yeah yeah

L: …just thinking, “Oh my god,?? and “What happened to the poor guy??? And at the same time it serves him right, you know, for being such an idiot.

M: I still can’t believe he actually did it.

L: I know, me neither!

Final words
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Real English Conversations at BetterAtEnglish.com. Remember, I love your feedback: you can email me at [email address], or call the voice mail line at 206 350 2283 and leave a message, ask a question, suggest a topic, or whatever you like. And remember, if you get value from my work, then share the love by leaving a donation. Don’t leave it up to other people…be the first to show your generosity! If enough people donate, I can a use a transcription service to reduce my workload and post more frequent podcasts. Heck, if all subscribers donated 10 dollars per YEAR, I could quit my day job and do B@E full time. Hmm, a girl’s gotta dream a dream…

Links
Stupid bum rocket video (view at your own risk, it’s vulgar and disgusting)

BBC article about a stupid idiot and what he did with a rocket on Guy Fawkes night

See the Darwin Awards website for a compendium of human idiocy.

Vocabulary list

going around
If something is going around it is being passed from person to person or from place to place.

email forwards
emails that people copy and send to their friends, usually because they are funny, entertaining, or interesting

burned in my memory
If something is burned in/into your memory (or mind), you have a strong, vivid memory of it.

no pun intended
If what you say is a pun that you didn’t intend, you excuse yourself by saying “no pun intended.??

Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards are given by an organization that “salute[s] the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally remove themselves from it…ensuring that the next generation is one idiot smarter. Of necessity, this award is generally bestowed posthumously.” See http://www.darwinawards.com. In short, an award for killing yourself by doing something ridiculously stupid, thus removing yourself from the human gene pool (so you can’t pass on your stupid gene to your children).

Bonfire Night
Another name for Guy Fawkes Night. “In Britain, the evening of November 5th when models of men, called guys, are burned on large fires outside and there are firework displays. This is in memory of the failed attempt by Guy Fawkes to destroy the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605 with explosives.”

Inserted
If you insert A into B, you put A inside B.

see the sun
In this context, to see the sun means to be exposed to sunlight. In Western culture, the buttocks (bum (Br. E), rear end, posterior, derrière, butt, etc.) are usually covered by clothing (that is, not exposed to sunlight). Because the buttocks are usually not considered polite to mention, there are lots of euphemisms for talking about that body part. You might also hear the phrase “stick it where the sun don’t shine.” This does not mean “put it in your pocket”; it is a rude and vulgar way to angrily disagree with someone.

facing
If A is facing B, is turned toward(s) B.

propelling
To propel something means to push it or move it somewhere, usually with a lot of force.

work out
In this context, to work out is a phrasal verb meaning to be successful or to achieve the desired result.

nether regions
A euphemism for the male and female body parts that are usually covered by underwear (the buttocks and genitalia).

Oh my gosh!
An informal exclamation of surprise or other strong feelings.

did they have his name?
Did they have his name? in this case means Was the man’s name published in the news article?
In authentic, natural conversations, speakers often omit details because they assume that their interlocutor (the person they are speaking to) has enough background information to fill in the blanks.

pass around
In this case, pass around means be inclined to talk or gossip about.

horrifying
If something is horrifying, it makes you feel a strong sense of horror or shock.

horrible
If something is horrible, it is very unpleasant or bad.

struck
(From the verb strike) If something strikes you, it causes you to feel strongly about it, to think deeply about it, or to remember it.

sticking (sth up)
In this context, to stick something up something means to insert it into certain bodily orifices. The man in the BBC story stuck a rocket up a bodily orifice where it did not belong. You often see little children sticking their fingers up their noses. But you stick something in your mouth or ear.

cartoons
Usually funny or amusing films made using animated (drawn) characters and images rather than real actors.

fire brigade
(Br. E). The organization that is responsible for stopping unwanted fires. In Am.E, fire department)

firefighters
(Am. E.) A firefighter is a man or woman whose job is to stop unwanted fires (usually as part of the fire department or fire brigade). It is the gender-neutral form of fireman. Apparently, the term fireman is still quite common in Br. E.

letting off
To let off a firework or rocket means to fire it or make it explode.

go around
To travel from place to place

hit it home
If you hit something home it means you make your point about something in a way that makes people understand it. If something hits home for you, it means that caused you to realize and understand it.

ground rules
Basic principles or rules about something, usually about how you are supposed to behave.

go off
In this context, to explode. If a firework doesn’t go off, it doesn’t explode.

go back
To go back to something means to return to it

touchpaper
(Br. E.) a small piece of (usually blue) paper on one end of a firework, which you light in order to start the firework burning. In Am. E this is usually called the fuse.

stricter
If you are strict about something, you make it very clear that there will be severe consequences if someone disobeys you or doesn’t follow your rules.

invincible
impossible to defeat, harm or injure

poor
In this case, an adjective that shows that you think the person (or thing) you are describing deserves sympathy.

it serves him right
If you say it serves somebody right, it means that you think the person deserved what happened.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: What was he thinking?

If you are an upper-intermediate to advanced student of business English, you should definitely listen to the Manager Tools podcast over at www.manager-tools.com. This cast is aimed at native speakers of English, so they don’t provide transcriptions or vocabulary lists, but if you are at all interested in management, productivity or business etiquette, you should find these casts an interesting and fun way to improve your business English listening skills and learn new business English vocabulary.

The two hosts, Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne, use an informal conversation format, but they are meticulously well prepared and their content is always thought-provoking and interesting. If you listen actively, you can learn lots of idiomatic American English as well as business English vocabulary. The Manager Tools website also has a forum you can sign up for (it’s free), and there you will be able to learn more business English vocabulary as well as discuss business topics in English with other listeners. Here is the blurb from the Manager Tools website:

Manager Tools is a weekly podcast focused on helping you become a more effective manager and leader. Each week we’ll be talking about new tools and easy techniques you can use to help achieve your management and career objectives. If you’re tired of a lot of management theory and would rather learn specific actions you can take TODAY to improve your management performance, we think you’ll enjoy the manager tools podcast.

I hope you’ll enjoy the Manager Tools casts as much as I do!

Here is the link to their list of all previous Manager Tools Podcasts.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Advanced listening tip for students of Business English

Transcript

Lori here, welcoming you to another edition of Real English Conversations at Better at English dot com, the website that focuses on real English for real people. I will warn you right away: the topic of today’s conversation could be considered somewhat provocative: silicone breast implants. So you should listen further only if you are not offended by that topic.

Before we get into the conversation, I have a question for you listeners. You know, I love making these casts to help you learn English. However, transcribing them – particularly writing up the vocabulary notes – is very time consuming. So I would like to know if you learners of English out there actually use the transcripts, in particular, the vocabulary explanations. There is a poll in the sidebar of the website where you can vote. I will leave the poll up until I have enough votes to get a good idea of what my listeners want. You can also email me or post in comments on the website or call the voice mail line at 206 250 2283.

This conversation is much longer than usual, so I’ll shut up now and let you get to it. Enjoy!

Conversation Transcript

Lori: I have to ask you: As a man…

Michael: Yes?

L: What is your take on the whole silicone implant thing?

M: Umm… Do you mean…Do I….Well I don’t… [laughter ] What a question! Umm, well, aside from the “enhancement” aspect of it — I thought silicone implants…I thought were kind of dangerous. But as far as the enhancement goes, I can tell you I once took an online survey…

L: Mmm hmm

M: …which showed a series of pictures of naked breasts…

L: Mmm hmm

M: And you had to click a checkbox and say whether they were natural or enhanced.

L: Mmm hmm

M: And I can tell you I got them all correct.

L: OK.

M: Umm, so I, you know, I think they look fake. I’m not impressed…with that sort of, that sort of thing.

L: OK. So now if you think about it if you think about, yeah, men’s magazines…

M: Right, yes

L: …which I know that, I mean, you’re a healthy, red-blooded man, you must have some experience with men’s magazines.

M: [laughs] How can we put this delicately? Yes, I am familiar with these things.

L: Would you say that, the models that you see in the magazines, that they [their breasts] are real or fake?

M: Most of the ones that that I see tend to be fake… But I can tell you this: and that…when a model comes along who IS natural, they tend to be much more popular…

L: Really!

M: Yes, I think so, but they’re few and far between because so few people are really built that way.

L: Mmm hmm

M: I mean, let’s think about it, umm, you know, it’s, umm, you know, there are so few people that are, you know, perfectly proportioned. But we can see…

L: Well, yeah, you have to be caref…careful with the word “perfect” as well…

M: Well, I mean

L: Because that implies a value judgment.

M: Yes, whatever the current trend is, whatever the latest fashion is. Ummm

M: In the 50s compared to the 60s compared to the 70s — what they would, I mean I would say “perfect” — the ideal shape for the Hollywood starlet kind of sex symbol, umm, has changed. I mean, the 50s the accent was on the breasts, and it was quite a voluptuous look, I mean Marilyn Monroe or Diana Dors, or somebody like that. I mean, the 60s it was the legs, you know, the mini skirts and this kind of thing, and the skinny thing. And the 70s is a little bit more back to a fuller figure. And then I think it all went horribly wrong in the 80s.

L: What happened in the 80s?

M: Well there’s the plastic surgery thing for one thing.

L: OK

M: But also things like, ummm, MTV, umm, magazines that are targeting…the whole umm, bombarding young people with magazines that are showing “This is what you must look like” “This is what is attractive,” “This is perfect, and if you don’t measure up to this you’re something less than that,” you know? And I think it’s…

L: Even if a lot of it is…It’s implied. But I would have to agree with you, that, you know — I don’t read women’s magazines.

M: MM hmmm, OK.

L: And I think that a lot of the problems that I’ve had as an adult, with my own self-esteem and, you know, problems that you have about how you feel about yourself, are…they sort of have their root in reading my mother’s women’s magazines, from a very very young age…

L: Because…

M: OK, yeah

L: …I was a really really, really early and really eager young reader. I would read anything I could get my hands on.

M: Sure, yeah.

L: And so from the age of, probably six or seven, I was reading my mother’s women’s magazines

M: Right…well, do you know this kind of transfers in the same way to males…I can tell you that I was also very keen reader when I was young…

L: Mmm hmm

M:… And I read, umm, a lot of my dad’s men’s magazines, shall we say…

L: Mmm

M: …aaah when I was young. So, umm, you got the impression that this is what attractive women are supposed to look like as well, from a male point of view. So yeah, it seems like this is all guided, you know, umm, that both males and females are being guided into this thing, you know, we’re supposed to find THIS attractive, and that you’re supposed to live up to this thing. You know? Ummm…

L: Exactly. And then you see when you’re watching TV, you know, mainstream junk TV, how, you know, it’s the beautiful people who good things happen to…

M: Yeah.

L: ..the beautiful woman who gets rewarded and…

M: Right, and the villain in the movie is usually very ugly because, you know, we’re not supposed to sympathize with this.

L: Exactly, and we all know…

M: And the hero is a fantastic chisel-jawed, rugged-looking guy.

L: Yeah, exactly.

M: And the love interest is a stunningly beautiful…It’s predictable.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Real English Conversations. As always, you can find a full transcript of the entire cast, plus vocabulary explanations, on the website – www.betteratenglish.com . And please stop by the website and cast your vote in the transcriptions poll in the sidebar.

That’s all for now. See next time!

Vocabulary List

Have to
To have to do something means you must do it. Here Lori uses “have to” because she feels such a strong desire to ask Michael’s opinion that doesn’t have a choice. She must ask him.

Your take on
Somebody’s take on something means their opinion or ideas about it.

Thing
Lori and Michael use the word thing 11 times in this conversation, and with several different meanings. In this example, thing means “overall issue” – everything related to the phenomenon of silicone breast implants.

Enhancement
To enhance something means to make it more prominent, salient, or noticeable. Enhancement is the noun form. Here Michael is trying to find a socially acceptable way to talk about women making their breasts larger with silicone implants.

As far as the enhancement goes
The phrase as far as X goes is an idiomatic way to say, “My opinion on X is” or “I think that X is” or “concerning X.”

Took
From the verb take. Here took means participated in or completed. Michael participated in an online survey; he completed the survey. (Survey = questionnaire).

Say
Here Michael didn’t actually say anything by speaking, he transmitted his message by selecting from the available answers on the survey. The verb say can be used even when you (or objects!) transmit a message in various ways. For example, “This book says that men are stupider than women” or “Darn, that sign says ‘no parking,’ so we can’t park our car here.”

Fake
Fake (adj.) means not real, not genuine.

Men’s magazines
Men read all kinds of magazines, but when people talk about men’s magazines they usually mean magazines that feature scantily clad or naked women. Playboy magazine is a good example.

Healthy, red-blooded man
Saying that a man is a healthy, red-blooded man a polite way to say that it’s natural for heterosexual men to be interested in beautiful/sexy women, and thus to want to look at men’s magazines.

Put this delicately
To put something delicately means to say something unpleasant or rude in a way that will not be offensive.

Models
In this conversation, models are women whose profession is to look sexy in photographs in men’s magazines. In general, a model is a person who is employed to be photographed or painted.

Comes along
To come along is a phrasal verb that means to appear or to arrive at a place.

They’re few and far between
To be few and far between means that something is scarce. Literally, there are few of them and they are separated by a lot of time or distance or both.

Built
If you describe someone as being built a certain way, you mean that their body is shaped a certain way or that their body has certain proportions.

Implies
To imply something means to communicate an idea without saying it explicitly or directly.

Shape
Here shape refers to body shape, the overall form of someone’s body

Hollywood starlet
A starlet is a young, attractive, hopeful actress who (usually) shows some sign of possible fame and success. It is often used in a disapproving way (compare wanna-be).

Sex symbol
Sex symbols are famous people who many people in our society consider sexually attractive.

Accent
If the accent is on X, it means that X is considered very important.

Voluptuous
Voluptuous is an adjective that describes a soft, curvy, sexually attractive woman’s body shape.

Skinny
Skinny (adj.) means having an extremely thin body, usually to the point of looking unhealthy. Sometimes this is considered attractive and desirable from a fashion point of view.

Fuller figure
A woman’s figure is her overall body shape. If her figure is full, it means that her shape is curvy. A woman’s curves are mainly created by her body fat. Describing a woman as having a full figure can either be a compliment or an insult, depending on who says it and how they think women should look to be considered attractive.

Bombarding
To bombard somebody with something is phrasal verb that means to direct an overwhelming amount of something at someone.

Measure up
To measure up (to something) is a phrasal verb that means to be good enough, or to be as good as something or somebody.

Self-esteem
Self-esteem is your belief and confidence in your own value and abilities.

Have their root
If X has its root in Y, it means that X is (more or less) caused by Y.

Women’s magazines
Women’s magazines traditionally feature a contradictory mixture of recipes for delicious (and fattening) food, diet and exercise plans, and articles about how to be beautiful, sexy, and successful. Being beautiful and sexy is related to looking and behaving a certain way (dictated by the magazine articles either overtly or covertly). Women’s magazines also feature advertisements and hidden or overt sales pitches for products to “help” women transform themselves into the very ideals created by the magazines. Lori sees these magazines for the garbage that they are, and chooses not to read them.

Early
If you describe someone as an early X, it means that they started doing X at a relatively early age.

Eager
If you are eager to do something, it means that you are interested in it and want to do it very much.

Get my hands on
To get your hands on something means to obtain something.

Keen
Keen is a synonym for eager (see above).
Got the impression
To get the impression of/about something means that you form an idea or opinion about what it is like.

Are supposed to
To be supposed to has many subtle meanings. In this sentence, “what attractive women are supposed to look like” means “what attractive women are expected to look like.”

Junk
Junk (adjective) means worthless or useless. For example, junk mail, junk food, or junk TV. Of course, one person’s “junk” is another person’s treasure…

Villain
The villain in a story/book/film is the person who harms other people. Usually we do not like the villain. A villain can be either a man or woman.

Hero
The hero (female form heroine) in a story/book/film is the person who is good or does good things. We like the hero and want to see him succeed.

Chisel-jawed
A chisel is a tool for carving stone. Sharp and attractive facial features can be described as chiseled. So a chisel-jawed man is a man who has a striking, attractive, strong-looking jaw.

Rugged-looking
If you describe a man’s features as rugged, it means that they are strong and attractively formed.

The love interest
The love interest in a story/book/film is the attractive character whose main dramatic purpose is to attract the romantic attentions of the hero or heroine; the “romantic sub-plot” provides added tension to the story.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English conversations: Do men prefer real or fake?

Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another edition of Real English Conversations here at Better At English dot com. Before we get into the conversation, I want to thank everyone who has submitted book recommendations – I’ve started listing them on the website and will continue to list them throughout the week. And I’d also like to thank everyone who has let me know how you feel about mild swearing in these casts. The verdict has been overwhelming: swearing it OK with you. Only one person has said it’s not OK. In fact, many of you actually think that understanding the more vulgar or “colorful” side of English would actually be useful. But I don’t want to offend anyone, so here is what I’ll do: if any of my casts contain vulgar words or provocative, semi-naughty topics, I will alert you at the beginning. That way you can choose not to listen if you don’t want to. So here is my first alert: the following cast contains one very-mild-but-still-vulgar expression. So if that would be offensive to you, then I suggest you not listen any further.

OK, enough of my yakkin’ – here’s the conversation.

Real English Conversation Transcript

Lori: Have you ever played the game Rock, Paper, Scissors?

Rock, Paper, Scissors link to YouTube video

Michael: Yes, umm, but I’m not very good at it.

L: You’re not very good at it? Well, I was just reading that there was an actual competition, a world championship in Rock, Paper, Scissors, and that the UK, the UK kicked America’s ass in the rock paper s…

M: Well that makes me proud to be British! That we… Rock, Paper, Scissors!

L: I mean, it’s such a childish game — I can’t even imagine that that there would even be — I mean that’s like having the championship in thumb wrestling!

Thumb Wrestling link to YouTube video

M: Nnn.. actually, no, I disagree. Because I think that thumb wrestling, with thumb wrestling there is a lot of skill involved.

L: Oh yeah, definitely. It’s all in the technique
.
M: Abso- exactly. But with, with Rock, Paper, Scissors — I could be completely wrong — umm

L: Uh huh

M: But I think that it’s all down to luck.

L: Uh huh.

M: Umm, or maybe that’s just my excuse for being so bad at it. I always seem to lose and so I can put it down to bad luck, that I, I seem to pick the wrong one, but umm…

L: Yeah, well, in the, in the article that I was reading — it was also on the BBC –

M: OK

L: Umm, in the article they were talking about the tactics and saying that — they were comparing it to poker…

M: O-

L: …actually, saying that…

M: -K

L: …that they have to do a lot of hard work and spend a lot of time practicing and training, learning about tactics and body language, and that it’s act…that they bluff so much, just like you do in poker.

M: I’m trying to imagine how you bluff making a fist or, you know, holding your hand flat, or making the scissors shape.

L: Yeah, they’re actually that they have a special word for it; they called the bluffing they do priming, and that allows the players to sort of fake a move…

M: Oh, make it look like you…

L: And sort of trick their opponent into making the wrong, you know, making the move that they want them to make… with all the subtle body language and umm, you know, psychological tactics… so actually there might be more to it than meets the eye…

M: Mmm, well there, I suppose there must be…

L: …with this Rock, Paper, Scissors thing.

M: Umm, but to be honest Lori, I think that the reason, umm, when you…telling me about this, I, I compare it to something like, umm, world championship coin flipping.

L: Mmm hmm. Oh right yeah, that it’s…

M: Heads or tails.

L: Exactly.

M: I mean, OK, so there’s one extra, I mean, so there’s three sides that we’ve got to consider…

L: Well, I think…

M: ummm…but, no, that’s amazing.

L: I think were going to have to put it to empirical test…

M: OK

L: And I think — just to do right by my own country — that I’m gonna have to challenge you.

M: [laughs]

L: …to a Rock, Paper, Scissors contest…

M: Oh goodness me, I don’t know whether I can…

L: …fighting for the dignity of my own country.

M: …possibly…you’re only saying this ’cause I’ve already admitted I’m terrible!

L: Yeah, well, so am I. And you al-, you already kick my ass at thumb wrestling, we know that so…anyway

M: OK, we’ll have to, OK we’ll do that, we’ll do that.

L: OK

Link to BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6159658.stm

Vocabulary list

Rock, Paper, Scissors
A two-player game played with hand gestures. Each player makes a rock, paper, or scissors gesture on the count of three. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock. Sometimes adults use this game as a friendly way to settle a dispute.

The UK kicked America’s ass
To kick someone’s ass is informal slang for “to beat someone at something.” In this example, the UK beat the USA at Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Thumb wrestling
Thumb wrestling is a child’s game (but adults can play too) in which two opponents lock fingers and try to “wrestle” with their thumbs. The winner is the one who manages to pin the opponent’s thumb down. (See photos).

It’s all down to luck
The expression “x is all down to y” means that x is caused by y, or that x is depends on y. Michael means that winning Rock, Paper, Scissors is a matter of luck, not skill.

Put it down to bad luck
To put something down to x means to attribute it to x, to say that it is caused by x, to blame x for it. Michael means that he doesn’t win at Rock, Paper, Scissors because he has bad luck in the game; he loses the game because of bad luck, not a lack of skill.

Pick
To pick something means to choose it or select it
Tactics
Tactics are a strategic plan you have to win or achieve something.

Bluff
If you “bluff” in poker, you pretend to have better cards than you actually have, to try to get your opponents to give up (fold). In general terms, “to bluff” means “to deceive someone by making them think either that you are going to do something when you really have no intention of doing it, or that you have knowledge that you do not really have, or that you are someone else”

Priming
To prime something means to prepare it. In the Rock, Paper, Scissors game, if you “bluff” you are priming your opponent to make the wrong move.

Fake
To fake something means to pretend. For example, you can fake a feeling or an illness, that is, pretend you have a feeling or illness that you don’t really have. The Rock, Paper, Scissors players can “fake” a move: pretend that they are going to execute a different move than the one they actually make.

Move
A move is an action you take in a game. In this case, the moves are forming your hand into the rock, paper, or scissors shape.

Trick
To trick someone is to fool or deceive them, usually as part of a plan.

Subtle
In this case, subtle (adj.) means “small and difficult to notice, but still important.”

More to it than meets the eye
If there is more to something than meets the eye, it is more difficult to understand or involves more things than it seems at the beginning. At first it might seem that Rock, Paper, Scissors is a simple game of chance with no skill involved, but it you analyze it carefully you might find that being a champion player takes a lot of skill.

Suppose
If you suppose something, you think it is likely, but you are not sure enough about it to say “I know.”

Coin flipping
Michael compares Rock, Paper, Scissors to coin flipping (tossing a coin in the air and letting it fall down on its own – chance will determine which side it lands on). Coin flipping (or coin tossing) is often used as an example of a random event. He means that there is no skill involved in Rock, Paper, Scissors; it’s a matter of chance just like coin flipping.

Heads or tails
The two sides of a coin are called the “head” (front side) and the “tail” (back side). Usually the “head” side features the head or bust of a famous person.

To put it to empirical test
If you put something to (a) test, it means you experiment to see if something is true. Empirical means real-world experience rather than theory or opinion.

To do right by my own country
If you do right by somebody or something, it means that you do the right thing for them, to treat them well or do something that is good for them.

Oh goodness me!
Oh goodness me is an expression used to show surprise, similar to “Oh my goodness”

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Real English Conversations: skill or luck?

Thanks to everyone who’s responded to my question about your favorite books in English. Reading books in English about topics that interest you is a wonderful way to improve your English and have fun at the same time. Your suggestions are listed below. There is no deadline for making suggestions, so if there is an English book that you love, please let me know so that I can add it to the list.

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

English book recommendations from Better at English readers

I guess it’s the best book I’ve read
in English. It displays different writing styles in a very unique
narrative structure, built by assembling diary entries, paper articles,
letters and more. Everything is written in an old but most fascinating
manner and the story is so deep! The characters are, if possible, even
deeper. I mean, this book is DEEP!

If your students are “frightened” of reading a whole book in English I
think you could also suggest some “faster stuff”, like good magazines.
My favorite one is National Geographic Magazine.

Matteo (ITALY)

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Readers’ recommendations: Bram Stoker’s Dracula