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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 friend Yvette and I continue our discussion about perfectionism. The main focus of this part of the conversation is how perfectionist tendencies can cause problems in foreign language learning, particularly for adult learners. Another thing that comes up is a couple of usage differences between British and American English. So without further ado, here is the conversation:

Conversation Transcript

Lori: But you know, speaking about correction, it’s kind of interesting when you think about learning a language as an adult, how perfectionism and having, like, demands on yourself when it comes to performing…I think that’s one of the biggest differences between learning the language as an adult and, then, picking one up as a child.

Yvette: Yeah I remember when I was in university at the very beginning in the first year I spoke British English with a British English accent, and I was studying American English or American studies. And I had a lot of American-speaking professors who, umm, just, you know, I thought it was really odd to be using British language to talk to an American professor, so I switched to American English, which was really frowned upon because it was not the “proper” language. And everything that you did, every word you used, you had to think, “Is this the proper American word or is it a British-ism?” Because it was…you were punished much more severely for using British-isms as an American speaker than if you were a British speaker using American words. It was really weird.

Lori: Yet there’s this kind of weird…at least in some classroom contexts…there’s this weird elitism when it comes to British English and American English, and like there’s these weird synthetic rules about what you’re allowed to say and what’s acceptable and what isn’t. And, you know, native speakers out in the world, they mix and match as they see fit.

Yvette: Right. Right, because, like, I would have to look out and make sure that I didn’t use the word “pavement,” and you can say that very American-like…pavement…and then they would be like, “No, it’s ’sidewalk.’ So, you’re wrong.” And it’s like, “Oh, you know what I mean, though!”

I know that I got punished for that, and there were other things like “ten after six” or “ten past six”…I, you know, if you say something like “ten past six” in American voice it’s really wrong because you have to say “ten after six,” which is something I didn’t even know until I was corrected. And it was like, “Oops, I didn’t know there was a difference.”

Lori: Wow, well, speaking as American I would say say that’s something I didn’t even know.

[Laughter]

Yvette: There you go! So, but then you get to the perfection level, then you want to be absolutely correct.

Lori: But yeah, sometimes I wish I could get back to the state that I remember having as a kid. You know — when I’m trying to create something and start battling with perfectionist tendencies and procrastination and all the demands I place on myself, and the ones that I imagine that other people are placing on me — I wish I could just throw it all out the window and just approach it with the carefree abandon that I remember having as a little kid.

Yvette: The thing of course is when you…now you work, and it actually…you make money doing things and people expect a certain standard of you, and you try to hold to that standard but often that standard is in your own head and it’s not even what they’re expecting you to do. So you end up doing a lot more work for something that is really not worth the money that you get paid for it.
Lori: Yeah. There is that as well.

Yvette: On top of that! But you know, as a kid I think I was already quite perfectionist in everything, I… everything had to be perfect, everything had to be done properly.

Lori: Yeah.

Yvette: And I felt like I was going to get punished if I didn’t, so that — not to say anything bad about my parents, but, because I don’t think they ever held me to that standard; they always said, “Do your best and that’s good enough.” But for me it had to be perfect, and then it’s maybe “okay.”

Lori: Yeah. Yeah, but, but even so I can still remember, like, approaching new things and just being willing to just try new things that I knew I was going to suck at, because there’s no way you can be good at something right at the very beginning. And it just didn’t matter; you were willing to just give it a go anyway. And now I really sympathize with the people, my, my students that I used to have when I taught English, my adult students, how horrible it can be to sit in a group…and you know you need to try to speak the language but you know you’re going to make mistakes and you know it’s not going to be right but you have to force yourself to try anyway. And it’s…I think, yeah, for people like me anyway, it’s really hard to force yourself to do that.

Yvette: Well yeah it is, it is about letting go of the judgment that other people are going to have. You know, when I, went I went to the United States for the first time and I felt really kind of embarrassed about speaking English, people were very surprised that you were able to even speak the language and understand what they were saying because they had no idea of what you were saying if you spoke Dutch. I mean, they were like, you know, I could switch to Dutch and they were like, “I don’t know, that sounds really strange and odd.” And so that kind of helped me along at the time because I knew that my, you know, what I could do or how I could speak was better than what they could speak my language, and they very often would say, “Well, you speak better English than I do.” And I thought, “Oh, I don’t think so.”

Lori: Yeah, well you know most…your English is fantastic, as you know, as I’ve often told you.

Yvette: Well, thank you.

Lori: But…

Yvette: That’s right!

Lori: But, even so, most Americans, they’re just amazed that anyone can speak a language other than their own, because even though I think most of us do study a foreign language in high school, oftentimes it never gets past the classroom level, you know, the school level, where really, you can do okay on written tests but you can’t really have a conversation.

Yvette: Yeah, and that’s the thing, and it’s also, you know, other little phrases that people use all the time when they speak, which is probably what this is all about. it’s just speaking and listening to people just talking…normal phrases instead of these textbook phrases that nobody understands anyway. I mean, or nobody uses.

Lori: Yeah, they’re so far removed from what you hear out in the real world that it’s…

Yvette: Right. “I would like a hotel room…”

Lori: Please, for one. Please.

Yvette: With a bath. With a bath and a shower.

[Laughter]

Final Words

Vocabulary list
Download full vocabulary notes here

Picking one up
frowned upon
synthetic
mix and match
look out
There you go!
throw it all out the window
carefree abandon
end up
there is that
on top of that
suck
give it a go
letting go
far removed

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

Real English Conversations: Perfectionism 2

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Introduction
Hi, Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from Better@English.com. In today’s conversation I’m joined by my friend Yvette, who is a freelance writer specializing in screenplays. Her educational background is in American Studies, and she’s just an all-round energetic and creative person. I hope you’ll find her a welcome addition as my conversational partner here.

Our conversation today is about perfectionism and procrastination.

Conversation Transcript

Lori: Yeah, I was thinking that, that it would be fun to talk about perfectionism a little bit and about being a perfectionist and how horrible that is, and how it…and how it can really hinder you from…
Yvette: Being productive…
Lori: Yeah, being productive and moving forward with things that you want to do.
Yvette: Yeah.
Lori: Indeed I know it’s something that I struggle with a lot and that I’ve thought about a lot, and I know in the past we’ve talked about it from time to time, so…
Yvette: Yeah.
Lori: But, perfectionism as we all know and love it…
Yvette: Or hate it! It’s terrible!
Lori: Yeah!
Yvette: Well, it makes you not very productive. I mean, I just finished a text yesterday and I spent a lot more time on it than I should have… knowing that I wanted it to be absolutely perfect.
Lori: Mmm hmm.
Yvette: And I knew at some point…I just gave up, I, you know I just gave up and thought, “Well, it’s a lost cause,” even though I’m sure it’s fine, but err, you just give up.
Lori: Yeah, that’s good when you’ve actually already started working on something…and you’re working on it…err, that you can set a deadline for yourself, maybe, and say, “Okay, now I just can’t mess with it anymore; it has to be finished.” But what I find the most insidious and really destructive thing about perfectionist tendencies is that they can keep you from even getting started with something.
Yvette: Okay, the procrastination.
Lori: Yes. It’s very closely tied in with procrastination, I find
Yvette: Yeah. Yeah, there’s just two things that can happen. You know, you could be suffering from fear of failure or fear of success, one of the two. And err, you know, if you’re successful then you’re going to deal with, like, an additional amount of information that you need to process later on, and if you’re not successful you’re just a loser.
Lori: Yeah, exactly.
Yvette: At least that’s what I have.
Lori: Yeah, I find that, err, for me this idea of perfectionism… it’s not so much about striving to be perfect, it’s more like you’re, you’re constantly beating yourself up about things never being good enough.
Yvette: Yeah, that’s the problem. That’s pretty neurotic.
Lori: Yeah, it’s not that…I mean…you know intellectually that nothing can be perfect and nothing I do can be perfect…but…it’s, it’s… So you know that on an intellectual level, but somehow it’s like you’re still struggling with this idea that “Oh, but it’s not good enough,” or “I’ve not got all the information I really needed to make the perfect start.”
Yvette: That, that is usually the problem that I come up with, is you think you have all the information but you don’t, and then you start looking for more and more, and while you’re looking for all this extra information you’re just, well forget it, you’re not going to make it.
Lori: Yeah, seven hours on Wikipedia later…
[Laughter]
Yvette: Right.
Lori: You find you’re looking at something completely unrelated to what you started out with…
Yvette: Right. Right, that is the biggest issue is that you start looking for other information and then you discover 15 other things that are maybe also relevant or important, or maybe not, and by the time you’re done you figure out that, “Oh, that’s totally not what I needed to do.”
Lori: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Yvette: This is so unimportant, or that… you know, I remember in school that I, err, handed in a paper and it was so good and so well done he’s [the teacher] like, “This is way too much work for what was really required. So why did you do all this work?” I’m like, “Well, it had to be good, right?”
Lori: Yeah. Right. Right.
Yvette: So, you spend a lot more time working on something that another person might just dismiss more quickly, and nobody notices anything that’s wrong.
Lori: That’s the thing that…I find that a lot of the things that you worry about a lot qualitywise or things that are important to you, when you think about it oftentimes those things.. other people aren’t even going to notice those things.
Yvette: That’s right.
Lori: You know, the things that you’ve worked so hard on, the little details that are so important to you…and then other people don’t even notice, and then you can wonder “What’s the point?” and “Why spend so much time on all these little things?”
Yvette: Yeah, or you see someone else’s texts or something, like, some…you know, as a writer, you read about stuff and there’s all these errors in it, and I’m thinking “Is there really a… does it really bug me so much that this is happening; is it really a problem for me that there are all these errors there?” And I’m thinking, “I don’t really think that this person is doing a bad job,” I may think, “Ooh, that’s shoddy,” but oh well. You know.
Lori: Yeah, yeah.
Yvette: I’m not as harsh on other people’s work as I am on my own, I think, or I hope.
Lori: I know for me I’m harsh on my own, but I’m pretty mean and vicious about other people as well…I think maybe that’s why I’m so worried about what people will think about my own things, because I’m so horrible and vicious [laughs] myself.
Yvette: [laughs] you will destroy them all. Oh, yeah. Now I used to, I used to correct people all the time when they made errors…
Lori: Uh huh…
Yvette: Just because, you know, I knew. I just know… “You just made an error…ha ha!” Look at me being all clever. And they hate you for that, so…
Lori: Yeah, people really don’t appreciate unsolicited correction.

Final Words

Okay, that wraps up today’s Real English Conversation. We’ll continue with this topic in the next episode. Before I sign off, I just want to thank all of you who have emailed me this past year asking when new episodes would be posted. It feels really great to know that there are listeners out there who look forward to each new episode. Unfortunately, I can’t promise to post episodes as frequently as you might like because of my other time commitments. But you can be sure that I’ll do what I can to give you as many new episodes as possible for 2010! Bye for now!

Vocabulary

(Please download the pdf for full vocabulary notes)

moving forward – to move forward
from time to time
at some point – point (1)
a lost cause
mess with – to mess with something
procrastination – to procrastinate
tied in – to tie in with, to tie in to
loser
beating yourself up – to beat oneself up
neurotic
make it
totally
dismiss
qualitywise – the -wise suffix
point (2)
bug – to bug someone
shoddy
harsh
unsolicited

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

Real English Conversations: Perfectionism and Procrastination 1

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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)

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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?

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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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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)

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.

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

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?

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another edition of 2-minute English, here at Better at English dot com. This post is in response to an email question from E.G. (who I think comes from Greece).

I have a question about a phrasal verb that I read in a will. What exactly does
pay over mean and what does survivorshipmean?

Thanks very much for your question, E. Unfortunately, to give you a really great answer I would need to have a lot more context. And because I am not a lawyer, you should probably take what I say with a very large grain of salt. Legal documents use language in very special ways, and it’s easy to be misled if you apply everyday English knowledge to legal texts. So with that disclaimer out of the way, here is what my research has turned up for to pay over (I’ll cover survivorship separately).

Put very simply, from what I can tell “to pay over” just means to pay. To transfer money from one person (or entity) to another. In the context of a will or testament, it means that whoever has the deceased’s money or property would transfer ownership of it to the person it was bequeathed to in the will. For example, if I had left 1000 dollars to you in my will, and then I died, then whoever had the money (probably my bank) would “pay it over” to you once all of the complicated legal processes were finished.

Here are some (very scary) example legalese sentences using “to pay over” in the context of wills and testaments. I warn you, these sentences are not for the faint of heart, so you might want to go to the website and actually read the transcript because it will be a lot for you to process aurally.

If such child shall have then attained the age of 30 years, my trustees shall transfer, pay over and deliver to such child outright the following amount: link

Nevertheless I empower by trustees to advance and pay over to my said sons any part not exceeding one half of the amounts ordered to be retained for their own respective absolute use and benefit if my trustees shall deem it to be for their advantage and expedient so to do link

Oh man, that was a mouthful.

And I hereby direct my executors, the survivors or survivor of them, within six months after my decease, to pay over the sum of two thousand pounds sterling to such persons as shall be duly appointed by the Selectmen of Boston and the corporation of Philadelphia, to receive and take charge of their respective sums, of one thousand pounds each, for the purposes aforesaid. link

Heavy sigh. That last one actually made my brain hurt.

I’m definitely not a legal expert, so those of you with more expertise in this area are welcome to help me out on this one if I’ve gone astray. Part of being a responsible teacher is being able to admit it when you don’t have all the answers!

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of 2-minute English. And thanks to everyone who’s sent questions and feedback about the site over the past few days. I’ll be recording a bunch of new podcasts for you all this weekend, taking your feedback and questions into account. Maybe by then I’ll be over this darn cold that I caught on my trip to Mexico…

As always, the full transcript of this podcast is available at our website, Better at English dot com.

Bye for now!

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

phrasal verbs: to pay over (wills and testaments)

A longish podcast today, where I do a bit more talking than usual. Just trying it out to see how you like it!

Transcript

Hi and welcome to another edition of Real English Conversations here at Better at English dot com. My name is Lori, and it’s a grey October day here at the Better at English studios in southern Sweden. Now, I’m really sticking my neck out with today’s podcast, because this informal conversation between me and Michael reveals some of my bad speaking habits. The worst offender: when I’m telling a story, I use the word “like” to introduce reported speech, a mannerism that “careful users of English” really don’t approve of. I also use some expressions that could be considered slang, such as score, gig, office-supply porn, and honking, yet more reason for the watchful guardians of all things good and proper in English to wrinkle their brows, harrumphing in disapproval.

But I’ll stick my neck out even farther and say that the vast majority of first-language speakers are probably not “careful users of English.” At least not in their informal conversations with their friends. And the whole point of Real English Conversations is to provide you with examples of informal, everyday conversations between first language speakers of English — the kind of language you don’t usually get in mass-market English teaching materials, but that you are very likely to get out in the real world, when you’re using English with real people.

I’ve not conducted a scientific study on this, but in my experience, the way I use “like” to introduce reported speech is a very common feature of informal conversation between American English speakers from my generation, the so-called Generation X. Your listening skills benefit from understanding this common feature. But I don’t suggest that you use “like” the way I do here, simply because it is frowned upon by careful users of English.

You’ll notice that I also repeat words and pause to search for words, just like most native speakers do when they are speaking about a topic they haven’t prepared in advance. Remember, this is an informal CONVERSATION between two good friends, not a formal speech that was prepared in advance and practiced to be given in front of an audience!

As always, you will find the full transcript of this podcast and a vocabulary list on our website, www dot betteratenglish dot com.

Conversation transcript

Lori: Yeah, something kind of funny happened to me when I was shopping for office supplies today.

Michael: OK, what happened?

L: Well, my boss had, had given me a list of office supplies to buy on my way home from a teaching gig, because I drive right past the office supply shop.

And I’m always happy to do it, ’cause, as you know, I LOVE office supplies — it’s almost like my, my “office-supply porn” — I can go in and get my daily fix of all the nice things for, you know, keeping organized, and folders and notebooks, and…I had a whole list of things to buy.

And when I got up to the register and the clerk was ringing me up, the total came to over a thousand Swedish crowns. Which is not a problem, I mean, they just just send us an invoice; it wasn’t like I had to worry about money. But then he said, “Because you spent so much money here today, you can go pick one of those rolls of toilet paper over there.”

M: Toilet paper!

L: Yeah, toilet paper! And, I mean, we’re always happy to get free toilet paper; you know, it’s one of those useful things that, that, you know, a business has to buy…

M: You can never have too much.

L: Yeah, exactly. But the thing is, I looked at where he was pointing, and it was these HUGE, GIGANTIC, industrial-sized packages, all shrink-wrapped in plastic, of toilet paper…I mean, it was HUGE, I could NOT BELIEVE that I was getting one for free.

M: OK, like a year’s supply of toilet paper.

L: At least.

M: [laughs]

L: I’m serious! When…standing on end, the thing comes up almost to my chest.

M: OK.

L: I mean, it’s huge. I, I forgot to count the rolls, but it was…it had to be…maybe… At least 20 packs of six rolls each.

M: Wow.

L: Seriously, it was one big, honking supply of toilet paper. And it was GOOD toilet paper as well!

M: And this is free?

L: Yeah, free just because I’d spent, you know, in one, you know, one purchase, we had spent over a thousand crowns. And I, but I could not believe they were giving away for free, and so I had to ask the guy, “Really? Are you kidding? You mean I get to take one of these?”
And he was like, “Yeah, yeah.”
I’m like, “No!”
He was like, “Yeah!”
“No!”
And he says that, “You know, you can look, see the sign up above…it says…I can show you.”
I’m like, “No no, it’s not that I don’t believe you, I just can’t believe you are giving away such a huge supply of toilet paper!”

I was REALLY happy. And of course there was a line of Swedes standing waiting to pay for their things, and they were raising their eyebrows at me, you know, someone getting SO excited about getting a huge supply of toilet paper. But you know, I thought that was just a really really cool thing…

M: Mmm, definitely.

L: …for or the company to do.

M: Yeah.

L: ‘Cause say they had just given away one little pack, or two little packs. Like, oh, wow, 12 rolls of toilet paper. [rolls eyes]

M: Right, right

L: For spending a thousand crowns…

M: Yeah. No, free stuff is good!

L: Yeah, and the good news is, you know here at home we’re on our last roll…

M: [Laughs}

L: And because I scored this huge supply of toilet paper for my boss, she’s like, “Take some, take some!” And…

M: NOW I see why you’re so happy.

L: That’s why today I came home with that, you know, with…

M: Your arms full of toilet paper.

L: Exactly, exactly.

Vocabulary

funny

Something is funny if it makes you laugh, or if it is strange or unusual.

boss

Your boss is the person you work for, your manager, the person you report to. It’s an informal way to refer to this person.

gig

Here, Lori means a teaching assignment out at a company.

office supplies

Goods and materials that you need in an office, e.g, paper, paper clips, folders, binders, printer ink, coffee. In the USA there are huge stores that specialize in office supplies, such as Staples or Office Depot.

office supply porn

Porn is short for “pornography.” Here, Lori doesn’t mean real pornography, of course. She is using the word “porn” in a playful way to describe the unusual (perhaps even unhealthy!) pleasure she gets from shopping for office supplies.

my daily fix

Lori talks about her “daily fix” of “office supply porn.” Again, this is a playful use of language. A fix is ” a supply or dose of something strongly desired or craved” usually said about addictive drugs. But people often use it in a humorous or playful way, e.g. “my daily fix of coffee” or “my chocolate fix for the day.”

register

a cash register. The machine that records the transaction when you buy something, and where the cashier or clerk keeps the money

ringing me up

To ring someone/something up means when the cashier pushes buttons on the cash register to record the items you are buying.

invoice

When you buy something from a company but don’t pay right away, they send you an invoice, like a bill, that tells you how much money you must pay and when you must pay it.

huge, gigantic

Synonyms for “extremely large”

industrial-sized

large packages of goods for businesses and industries

honking

Informal slang for “very large,” often used in combination with big: I can’t believe I ate that entire big, honking piece of chocolate cake!

Are you kidding?

This is an informal way to ask “Are you serious?” or “Is this really true?” We usually say this when we’ve heard something that we find hard to believe.

raising their eyebrows

If you talk about someone raising their eyebrows at someone or something, it means that their facial expression is showing disapproval of that person or thing. The stereotypical Swede is known for being quiet and reserved, so Lori’s open (and somewhat loud) enthusiasm about getting the huge packet of toilet paper for free was probably breaking a Swedish social taboo

on our last roll

To be “on one’s last X” means that you are using the last item in your supply of something. For example, “We’re on our last carton of milk; could you buy a carton when you go to the shop later?”

scored

To score something in the sense Lori uses here means that you manage to buy or receive something that you find very attractive.

Thanks very much for tuning in to this edition of Better at English. Before I sign off, I’d like to mention two things. Firstly, we have a new feature on our website that lets you use your computer and a mic to record your questions in a 2-minute voice mail message. Just click the “record a question” button at the top of the sidebar on the website. This will open a window to the Mychingo online recorder. You may need to click “OK” to allow the Mychingo recorder to access your mic, but don’t worry, they aren’t doing anything evil to your computer. Please don’t be shy about asking questions: maybe your question will be a “guest star” of a future podcast!

Secondly, if you are one of our many iTunes listeners and enjoy our podcast, I would be absolutely thrilled if you could write a review on the iTunes site. Better at English isn’t a job; it’s something I do in my free time, and it would really make my day to have some reviews come in.

That’s all for now! Here’s hoping that soon, very soon, something will happen to make you as happy as that big honking package of free toilet paper made me. See you next time here at Better at English dot com.

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

Real English conversations: Lori scores a year’s supply of toilet paper

Transcript

Hello and welcome to 2-minute English. Brought to you by Better At English dot com.

Today’s word is bubble sitter. It’s a fairly new “slang” word in real estate and economy.

Joe Barker is a bubble sitter. He sold his expensive house just before he retired so that his biggest investment wouldn’t suddenly lose value right before he needed it.

Bubble sitter

Meaning

Bubble sitters are people who think that the bubble is about to burst. They sell off their investments, such as their houses, because they want to get as much money as they can before the prices fall. Another type of bubble sitter is people who wait to invest money in something — or to buy something — because they think that the bubble will burst soon and that the prices will fall again. For example, if you buy a house during the bubble you could lose a lot of money when the bubble bursts and the prices fall again. So you’ve wait. You wait to see what will happen. You wait for prices to fall before you buy. You are a bubble sitter.

So people are bubble sitters. But you can also talk about bubble sitting as an activity or a general economic concept.

Authentic example

Today’s authentic example comes from CNN.

Bubble sitting the pros and cons.

Waiting for home prices to drop before buying a home is tempting. But making the right call isn’t simple. Convinced home prices will fall? So are lot of other Americans. Some, known as bubble sitters, are acting on their conviction. They’re cashing out by selling their homes and renting, figuring they’ll return to the market after prices have fallen. Bubble sitters also include those people who have never owned a home and are waiting to take the plunge, along with folks who are relocating and holding onto their cash until the market in their new hometown softens.

That wraps up this edition of two-minute English. We’ll see you next time, here at Better at English dot com.

Links
Read about economic bubbles on Wikipedia
Lots of articles about bubbles (in the economic sense) are listed here.

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

Business English vocabulary: bubble sitter

New podcast format: Real English Conversations

Hi, this is Lori from Better at English dot com, comin’ at you with a brand new format today: Real English conversations.

Here at Better at English, we believe that learners need to hear authentic conversational English as it’s spoken by first-language speakers, not just the simplified, stilted, unnatural, boring, wishful-thinking language you find in most mass-market English teaching materials. So we’re proud to introduce our new format: Real English Conversations. This format will feature first-language speakers of English engaging in unscripted, spontaneous conversations.

Now because Better at English is based in southern Sweden, my access to first-language speakers of English is somewhat limited. So for the time being, you’ll mainly be hearing me and my friend Michael, who is from England. That way you can hear both American English and British or “English” English in the same podcast. We’ll keep these short and snappy, between two and five minutes long, and we’ll always provide a transcription and vocabulary list. So if you’re listening to our podcast via iTunes or some other podcatcher, remember that you can surf to our website, W W W dot Better at English dot com, to read the transcript and get the vocabulary list. We hope you’ll enjoy and benefit from our new format. So, without further ado, here we go with our first episode of Real English Conversations.

Conversation Transcript

Lori: Uhh, I came across this really funny website the other day… It’s, umm, designed to where people can anonymously send an e-mail to an annoying coworker…

Michael: Mmm hmm…

L: Saying things like, “You really need to use deodorant [laughter]…but we’re too shy to tell you”… and they, you know, you just put in their e-mail address…

M: Okay

L: Umm, and it got me thinking about annoying coworkers…

M: Okay

L: Can…Do you have any memories of particularly irritating and annoying people at work?

M: Well, I don’t remember anyone who was…smelly, ummm

[laughter]

M: But there was there was one guy who was rather irritating, umm, he was, actually, he was someone who I, who I answered to, he was…

L: He was your manager?

M: He was…yeah…he was, he was a manager at my department.

L: Uh huh.

M: And..umm…what he would do would be if myself ..or..or..and one of my colleagues were having a conversation that was in any way, uhh, related to something other than the immediate job that we were working on…

L: Uh huh.

M: …he would, uhh, jump in there and and and, uhh, tell us off! For doing it…

L: Really?

M: For doing it…yeah!

L: For just chatting while you were working?

M: Yeah, oh yeah! It it it could be…you could be sitting at your desk and your friend is sitting across from you and you could say, “So…you have a good weekend, Steve?” and before you’ve even got a chance to start the conversation, you know, our boss would, would chip in and say [imitating odious boss] “Ah, gentlemen I don’t think that’s work-related, could we have a bit less chatter please?”

L: [laughter] No! Did he..

M: And he did actually use to speak like that as well.

L: Really?

M: Yeah, that was, that was, his tone of voice was annoying but that wasn’t the point, it was, it was just that he wouldn’t allow non-work-related topics of conversation. Which…okay…

L: That’s right, because everyone knows that we all work much better and more efficiently when we’re miserable.

M: [Laughter] Well, yeah… That’s uhh, I..he..I don’t think he cared about that, but, okay, I mean, if if if that was … If it was going to be a very draconian and strict regime at work, then I guess that’s fair enough. But it wasn’t a two-way system and and and this was what was particularly annoying, because when it was lunch time or break time this same manager would not be averse to approaching me and asking me about work-related issues whilst I was trying to eat my lunch or, you know, whilst I was…

L: OK, and you were on, then, on your own time not on company time while you’re eating lunch…

M: Oh yeah! Yeah, this this is company allotted, daily company time when you know you’re supposed to go out and have a cigarette and do whatever you do on your break time.

L: But it’s really considered your own personal time…

M: Absolutely! Yeah…

L: …your break from work…

M: Yeah

L: …and he had no problems encroaching on YOUR time.

M: No no.

L: OK.

M: No no..that was…so..

L: He sounds like somewhat of a jerk.

M: It was a..He was a hypocrite, for sure.

L: Can you do the voice again?

M: [Imitating odious manager]: The voice, oh he used to speak like that… “But I don’t think this is very work related, so think we should stop now.”

L: [laughs] OK, let’s stop now.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Better at English. Remember, transcripts and vocabulary lists are available at our website, WWW dot Better at English dot com. See you next time!

Vocabulary list – key words and phrases

To come across something – phrasal verb

To find something

anonymous

If someone is anonymous, their name is unknown or not made public

annoying

If someone or something is annoying, it makes you feel angry

irritating

If someone or something is irritating, it makes you feel angry or annoyed

coworker

A coworker is somebody you work with

to answer to someone – phrasal verb

If you answer to someone, then you report to them. You take orders from them.

manager

Someone who controls and organizes other people in a business. A boss.

department

A part of a business or organization that deals with a certain area of work. For example, the finance department, the accounts department, the customer service department

colleague

Someone you work together with (like coworker). Also, someone who is in the same profession as you

immediate

In this conversation, immediate means “directly related to”

to jump in — phrasal verb

In this conversation, to jump in means to interrupt someone who is speaking

to tell someone off (for something) — phrasal verb

If you tell someone off, you speak angrily with them because you think they have done something wrong.

to chip in – phrasal verb

In American English, “to chip in” usually means to contribute something. People in an office may all “chip in” to buy a co-worker a birthday present. In informal British English, “to chip in” means to interrupt. This is what Michael means in the dialog here.

to allow (someone to do) something

to permit

the point

The most important part of what someone says, the main idea

fair enough

You say “fair enough” to show that you understand why someone does something, but don’t really agree with it.

efficient(ly)

using your time well and working in a quick and organized way.

draconian

draconian is a word used to describe rules, procedures and methods that are unreasonably severe

regime

a (usually disapproving) word to describe a government or a business’s methods and practices. In our podcast, Michael is showing disapproval of the odious manager’s strict “all work – no chatting” rules.

averse

If you are averse to something, you strongly dislike it or are opposed to it

to approach someone

To come near someone. Here, the manager approaches Michael during his breaks to talk to him about work.

to be on your own time

American English: during time when you are not being paid to work. British English “IN your own time”

to be on company time

time when you are being paid to work

jerk

An unpleasant or stupid person. Usually said about men

hypocrite

Someone who claims to believe in one thing, and then acts in a way that is the opposite.

Link

Here is the website Lori mentions in the conversation – Annoying Coworker. Beware, sometimes the content is not exactly work-safe.

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

Real English Conversations: annoying coworkers

Transcript

Hi and welcome to 2-minute English, brought to you by Better At English dot com. Today’s phrase is

to wing it

"I didn’t have time to prepare this speech, so I’ll have to wing it."

" She didn’t spend much time getting ready for the meeting; she just kind of winged it"

"I don’t have time to study for the test tomorrow, so I’ll be winging it"

to wing it

Meaning

To wing it is an idiom that means to improvise, to do something without proper preparation or time to rehearse. People often talk about winging it when they have to do something difficult that they didn’t have time to prepare — like a make speech or give a presentation. They might say something like "Sorry if I seem a bit disorganized, I’m totally winging it." You tell people that you’re winging it, that you’re improvising, so that they won’t expect too much from you, or so that they will be more forgiving if you make a mistake.

I have a little note about pronunciation for you. In rapid native-speaker speech, the final g on the i-n-g tends to disappear. So it sounds like

I’m wingin’ it
I’m wingin’ it
I’m wingin’ it here

Rather than I’m wingING it. Do you hear the difference?

WingING
Wingin’

Authentic example

In today’s authentic example we’ll hear a bit of Seth Godin’s presentation at the GEL 2006 conference.

And I want to…talk about what I think seven of those reasons might be. But first I gotta take a minute…I gotta explain…I’ve never given this presentation before, not one word of it, not one picture, and I may never give it again. But I’m wingin’ it so we’ll see what happens…But…what does it mean to be broken?

If you are an upper-intermediate or advanced learner, I highly recommend you watch the full presentation on Google video. It’s really funny, entertaining and full of useful vocabulary.

Thanks for tuning in to 2-minute English. We’ll see you next time!

Look up to wing it in the dictionary.

See examples of how to wing it is used.

Link to further listening resource

You can find the full video of Mr. Godin’s presentation, “It’s Broken,” at Google Video. If there are words or phrases you’re curious about, let us know: we may feature them on an upcoming podcast!

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

English idioms: to wing it (to improvise)

Transcript

Welcome to 2-minute English! Today’s word is perk.

One of the perks of my job as a salesperson is that I get to travel around the world.

Perk.
Meaning

In business contexts, a perk is an informal advantage or benefit that you get because of your job. In everyday English contexts, a perk is some kind of advantage or benefit in general.

Authentic example

We have two authentic examples for you today. The first is from CNN, from an article describing how a company gives its employees free towels to use in the company gym. The benefit, the perk, is that the employees save time and energy.

As the economy rebounds and the labor market tightens up … companies are once again trying to find new ways to attract and retain talent. And time-saving perks seem to be the answer.

Here is the second authentic example, about perks in everyday English. It’s also from CNN.

Bourbon, Spam and ski weekends are just some of the things you can get free or at discounted prices as long as you’re a shareholder. Shareholder perks are a pleasant, if monetarily insignificant, diversion from the normal headaches of owning most stocks. Unknown to many shareholders, they are sometimes eligible to receive free or discounted goods and services from the companies whose stock they own…While none of [the] perks are good enough reason to buy a company’s stock, they do spice things up a little.

Thanks for tuning in to 2-minute English. Don’t forget to contact us with your comments and questions! Write to [ADDRESS]. Bye for now!

Look up perk in the dictionary.

See how perk is used.

Business Writing Software – Business English Writing Tool: WhiteSmoke is a unique, all-in-one solution for your business writing and Business English needs – grammar, spelling and punctuation check.

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

Business English vocabulary: perk