In many countries, August is a popular time for vacations, and for me vacations have always meant (been associated with) reading lots of books. Here are some of the books that I have either read recently or plan on reading in the next few weeks.
These aren’t necessarily recommendations for your reading, since reading books in a second language dependson (is determined by) your general vocabulary, interests, and especially background knowledge (what you know already about a topic). (Look here if you want to get some ideas on what to read in English.) But I always enjoy hearing what other people are reading, so I thought I would share (tell you) some of my current “reads” (books). (And, no, my list doesn’t include TheLiteracy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, as featured in a recent Internet video.)
Some of the topics I’m interested in include economics, psychology, technology, productivity (how to use your time best in planning projects; how to get organized), Internet commerce (business), the art world, ancient Greek and Roman history, and financial planning (how to invest your money; practical advice on money matters). Here’s my current list:
The Invisible Gorilla: and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive(trick; fool) Usby Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. The authors of this book are psychology professors (I think at a little university called Harvard) who discuss recent research on the way we perceive (look at; see) and understand the world around us. The book has a very broad range (covering many different topics), all of them related to the notion (idea) that the human mind isn’t always as powerful or as reliable (dependable) as we think.
168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Thinkby Laura Vanderkam. This book falls into (is part of) the category of productivity, specifically time management. There are 168 hours in every week, yet (however) many of us think that we don’t have time to do the things we want to do. The author challenges (questions; criticizes) this idea by showing that people work less and waste more time than they realize. (Note: Still reading this one — haven’t had time to finish it!)
Hamlet ‘s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Ageby William Powers. Powers is a journalist who looks at how computers and the Internet have changed our lives and the way we relate and communicate with each other. (Hamlet is a character from a play by Shakespeare of the same name, and a Blackberry is a kind of “smartphone” that allows you to send email as well as make telephone calls.) I just started reading this one, but it looks good. (I should tell you that I typically read two or three books at a time (at the same time), which I probably shouldn’t do, but I get bored easily).
Why We Buy: the Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill. This book, written about 10 years ago, uses what we may call an anthropological approach to understanding how people make their decisions when they go to a store to shop (to buy things). Anthropologists observe how people act and react in a certain environment, and tries to describe and understand how and why they do what they do. This book takes an experience common to all of us — shopping — and shows how the physical design of a store influences us in small but important ways. Why We Buy is really a mix of economics, psychology, and anthropology, but written from the perspective (point of view) of a businessperson. (It’s more interesting and less confusing than I’m making it sound (describing it).)
So, what are you reading, either in English or your own language? Share with the rest of us your current reading list of either nonfiction (true events; not stories) or fiction (stories; novels) books.
ON MONDAY ESL Podcast 602 – Calling for an Ambulance
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “to black out” and “wound.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Emergency Medical Technicians.”
“In the United States, “EMTs” (“emergency medical technicians”) are “healthcare providers” (people who provide medical care) who help sick and injured people before they can get to a hospital…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 252
Topics: Famous Authors: Raymond Chandler; the Pony Express; to be involved in versus to be involved with; to make sense; hard on its heels
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about the “Pinkerton National Detective Agency.”
“In books and movies, the private investigator is often “portrayed as” (given the image of) a romantic character, involved in solving mysteries. In real life, private investigators, or P.I.’s, are professionals who do a “wide array” (many different kinds) of work…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON FRIDAY
ESL Podcast 603 – Praising a Performance
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “number” and “lead.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “How Audiences Express Appreciation.”
“When an audience enjoys a performance, it has many ways to “express” (show) its appreciation. Depending on the type of performance, it can be “rude” (not polite) or inappropriate to show appreciation during the performance…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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QUESTION:
A listener, Yarek, asked this question: “In one of your podcasts (ESL Podcast 499 – Marrying a Gold Digger) you talk about boy toys. Can you use this term for girls, too? If not, what do you say?”
ANSWER:
In ESL Podcast 499, we defined “boy toy” as a young, attractive man whom an older, wealthier (with more money) woman dates for fun or for a short period of time, without being very serious about the relationship. This term, or “girl toy,” are not used for women. There is no direct equivalent (something that is exactly the same for some other person or situation) for women.
However, people often use the term “gold digger,” also mentioned in ESL Podcast 499, for a person who tries to be in a relationship with or marries another person for money. This term can be used for a man or a woman. Another term, “arm candy,” is sometimes used to refer to an attractive person who goes with someone to a public event, mainly so that this person can show off (display for other people to see) and gain status (how other people think of you socially or professionally) by being with a beautiful or handsome person. Sometimes, the “arm candy” is not romantically involved with that person and sometimes they are. If you see a famous singer or movie star with a lot of models (people who are paid to wear clothes and other things for display or for photographs) with them, these models may be arm candy. For example, Jeff never goes to a party without 10 women as arm candy.
If Jeff divorces (legally ends his marriage with) his wife and marries one of these models, he may have wanted a “trophy wife.” A trophy is an object, often made of metal or stone, that is used as a prize for winning a contest or for rewarding success (see picture). A trophy wife or a trophy husband (possible, but rarely used), then, is a wife or husband who is a symbol, or something to show other people, of your success or status.
All of these terms — “boy toy,” “gold digger,” “arm candy,” and “trophy wife” — are derogatory or insulting. By using one of these, you are saying that the relationship is not based on caring or love, but instead, based on one’s looks (appearance) or money.
Thanks for the questions, Yarek, and I hope this is useful.
As long as I can remember, I’ve had a bike (bicycle). I’ll never forget my first one, a Schwinn Phantom like the one in the photograph. My dad found it at an auction, a public meeting where items are sold to the person who offers the most money for them. It was in great shape (good condition) and we were able to get it (buy it) for only $15.00. They cost $85.00 in the bicycle shop!
We worked out an agreement: Dad would pay $7.50 and I would earn money to pay the other $7.50 by doing odd jobs (little regular jobs) around the house. At first, I was too short to sit on the saddle (seat). So until I became tall enough, I sat on a small pillow on the crossbar (the top tube of the bicycle frame.)
I rode that bike for many years until, finally, I gave it to my little brother. Later, I switched to a road bike, a bike with narrow (small) tires and designed for riding long-distances on smooth roads. Unfortunately, my bike-riding career came to an abrupt (sudden) end a few months ago when someone got into my garage and stole my nice road bike. Hopefully I’ll be able to replace it (get a new one) before too long (soon).
Two articles about bicycles grabbed (caught; got) my attention recently. The first was an article in the Los Angeles Times newspaper about the sharrows (see photo in article) that are being painted on streets used by both cars and bicycles in Santa Monica. Sharrows are a special kind of arrow, a symbol (a shape that has a meaning) painted on the street. Sharrows tell automobile drivers that they have to share the road with bicycle riders. I understand that sharrows are common in some European cities, but they are new in the United States.
Americans don’t use bicycles for commuting (riding to work) as much as people in other countries. But the number is growing, and many cities are creating bicycle lanes (a part of the road for only bicycles) or shared roads, like Santa Monica, to make bicycle commuting easier and safer. Irvine, a small city in southern California has almost 300 miles of bicycle lanes!
The second article, in the Economist, tells about the growing number of rent-a-bike services that are popping up (appearing) in cities around the world. In Mexico City, for example, the new Ecobici service provides about 1200 pay-as-you-go bicycles at 85 docking stations around the city.
A pay-as-you-go bicycle is a bicycle that you rent for each use, or trip, with cash or a credit card. A docking station is a machine that holds the bicycles and keeps them locked up until someone rents them. Perhaps you’ve seen docking stations at airports, where travelers use them to rent luggage carts. To rent a bicycle, you put your cash or credit card into the docking station, which then releases, or unlocks, one of the bicycles so you can use it. When you get to your destination (where you are going), you leave it at the nearest docking station so someone else can use it.
The London Transport Authority and Barclays Bank will introduce a new rent-a-bike program with 6,000 bicycles and 120 docking stations on July 30. The most successful program is the Velib in Paris, which has 20,000 bicycles. In some German cities you can even use your cell phone to rent a bike.
Who knows, if the bicycle commuting trend (the way a situation is changing or developing) continues to grow in Southern California, my next bike may be a commuter bike. In fact, I think I already know which one I want to get!
~ Warren Ediger – ESL tutor/coach and creator of Successful English, where you can learn how to acquire more English.
Photo by Wha’ppen used by permission under Creative Commons license.
Today is ESL Podcast’s five-year anniversary. It’s hard for us to believe that we have produced more than 600 ESL Podcast episodes and over 250 English Cafe episodes!
As always, we thank you, our wonderful listeners for sticking with (staying with; continuing with) us. We would like to especially thank our donors and Learning Guide members, who are the true ESL Podcast heroes. Without you, we could not do the work that we do. Thank you for your continued support!
To celebrate our fifth anniversary, we have produced the Fifth Anniversary Video Podcast. In it, you will see how Jeff spends his day. We hope you enjoy it!
~ Jeff, Lucy, and the entire ESL Podcast Team
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast’s Fifth Anniversary Video. You know, a lot of people ask me what I do for a living, and I tell them I’m a podcaster. And they say, “But, Jeff, what do you actually do all day?” This video will answer that question.
I’m up! I’m up! Time to work!
Well, I start my morning with my favorite drink, a good, hot tea at my favorite cafe, Starbucks. Here we go!
Oh, hi! I’m starting my day answering e-mail. Just let you finish this one e-mail.
?”Dear President Obama,
Thank you for your question.
If there is time I will explain the meaning of Mickey Mouse ears on our next English Café.” (He’s always writing me!)
“P.S. Please don’t write so often. I have a podcast to run.”
Well, that’s enough work for this morning. Let’s go get some lunch!
Well it’s lunchtime, and I’m hungry. You know, I always eat a healthy meal, nothing but the most healthy food for me. Here I go.
“Hello? Lucy! Oh, right…no, I’m working very hard. I’ve almost finished that podcast. Oh, absolutely! Oh, I’ll have it to you first thing in the morning. Okay, thanks for calling.” I can never get any sleep in this job.
Well, I’m done working now, and when I’m done working, I like to relax and watch my favorite baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have my Los Angeles Dodgers cup, my hat, and of course my shirt. Baseball, as you know, is one of the great American sports, and I think, uh…goooooooooool!
Well, it’s evening time now and I try to relax a little by reading a good book. There are lots of good books out there. The one I’m reading is pretty interesting. It’s an excellent book and the author, I think, is, well, pretty smart.
Well it’s time for bed, but before I go, I want to thank all of you who listen to ESL Podcast. This is our fifth anniversary. I want to thank you for listening over the past year, and hope that you will continue listening for many more years to come. I especially want to thank our donors and our ESL Podcast Learning Guide members. These are the people who help make ESL podcast possible, so thank you especially to those of you who are members or donors.
I also want to thank Adriano, Jessica, Sue, Warren, and all the rest of our ESL Podcast team. A special thanks to our own Dr. Lucy Tse.
Forests are large areas in nature with a lot of trees. When a lot of trees are removed from the forest, we call this deforestation.
Deforestation can occur for many reasons. It may happen because of logging, the cutting down of trees so the wood can be used for building, for fuel (source of energy), and/or to make paper products. Deforestation may also occur when people want to use the land for other things, such as for homes or for pastures (land with green grass and plants) for livestock (animals raised for food or to work).
Environmentalists, people concerned with protecting nature and the environment, have long warned us about the negative effects of deforestation, including soil erosion, or the loss of soil (the layer of dirt where plants grow), and climate and air quality changes.
However, the follow photo shows another important negative effect of deforestation. As the old saying goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “sharp” and “to see double.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “The Use of Guide Dogs.”
“Many people who are blind or “visually impaired”(not able to see very well) use “guide dogs,” or dogs that have been “trained” (instructed; taught) to lead people around “obstacles”… – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 251
Topics: Ask an American: Obsolete; regarding versus concerning versus as for; can’t be bothered; How you doing?
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about “Obsolete Audio and Video Formats.”
“As “audiovisual” (related to things that we watch and/or listen to) technology continues to change, many audio and video “formats” (the way something is packaged and used) are becoming “obsolete”…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON FRIDAY ESL Podcast 601 – Paying an Unexpected Visit
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “to drop in” and “out with it.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about high school graduates taking a “Gap Year” before continuing on to college.
“Traditionally, “college-bound” (planning to go to college) Americans “enroll” (begin a program) in a university in August or September, in the same year they graduate from high school. However, in recent years, more and more American teenagers are choosing to take a “gap year”… – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported on a study about how Americans spend their time during the day. The results come from a representative sample (small number of people chosen randomly, but who represent the general population) of Americans age 15 or older. This means that there may be no single American who actually spends his or her time exactly this way each day, since it is just an average for the group. Still, it gives you a rough (approximate; general) idea about the relative (considered in relation to something else) importance of different activities for the “typical” person living in the United States.
Here are some of the categories, from most time to least:
Sleeping: 8 hours, 40 minutes
Working or work-related activities: 3 hours, 32 minutes
Personal care (such as showering, getting dressed, putting on make-up): 47 minutes
Buying things: 46 minutes
Education (could be professional reading, attending classes, listening to ESL Podcast): 28 minutes
Caring for household (people who live at your house) members (such as young children or babies): 32 minutes
Organizational, civic (community), and religious activities: 20 minutes
Caring for non-household members (such as elderly parents): 13 minutes
Telephone calls, mail, and email: 12 minutes
Some of these times are almost certainly averaged out across (dividing into the different parts of) the week. For example, if you spend 2 hours and 20 minutes volunteering for a religious organization or community group, that would average out to (result in a statistical “mean” or average amount of) 20 minutes a day, even if you did all of your volunteering on a single day of the weekend.
How do these times — or at least the relative importance of these activities — compare with your life? What do you think would be different for people living in your country (if you live outside the United States)? Personally, I know I spend less time sleeping (7 hours average), more time working (8 hours average), and a lot more time on email!
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “to slur” and “impression.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about real “Nightcaps” worn by people in the old days.
“In this episode, a “nightcap” is an alcoholic drink drunken right before going to bed, usually to help one fall asleep. However, a “nightcap” is also a warm hat that used to be worn when people went to bed. Nightcaps were very common during the “Middle Ages”… – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 250
Topics: Comicon; Famous Americans: Houdini; I just versus I have just; suit versus match versus fit; levity
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about “The Magic Castle.”
“In Los Angeles, there are many “private clubs” that only allow certain people to become members and to participate in its activities. One “unique” (special; unlike others) private club in Los Angeles that many people don’t know about is one for magicians…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON FRIDAY ESL Podcast 599 – Shopping for Warm-Weather Clothes
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “skirt” and “figure.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Dress Codes in American Schools.”
“Most American “public” (owned by the government, not by a private business) schools do not make students wear “uniforms” (a type and color of clothing worn by all people in a group). However, most schools do have “dress codes”… – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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Men and women have different ways of communicating, right? This may be especially true when it comes to dating. Sometimes men say one thing, and women hear another, and vice versa (true the other way around). That may be because men speak their own language, something called “Guy Speak.”
We use “guy,” the singular form, to refer to a man or a boy. However, we also often use “guys,” the plural form, to refer to a group of mixed men/women or boys/girls. It’s common for people to say to a mixed group: “Hey guys, look at this!” or “Come over here, guys.”
Technically, “gal” is the female equivalent (same in meaning) of “guy,” but “gal” now sounds old-fashioned and you don’t hear it often in daily conversation. Instead, you will hear people use “girls” to refer to a group of girls or women. Sometimes women don’t like to be called “girls” because while “guys” can be a male of any age, “girls” are usually females under 18. It can sound a little condescending (showing that one is superior–having higher position or status–than the person you are talking to). To be safe, and more polite, you can use “ladies” for women.
Now, let’s see how well you understanding “Guy Speak.” Here are a few common things guys say translated into what they really mean, according to a recent article in Cosmopolitan magazine.
Guy Speak: “You’re such a great friend.”
Translation: “I don’t ever want to date you or have you for my girlfriend.”
Guy Speak: “We should hang out (spend time together casually) sometime.”
Translation: “I’m afraid you’ll say ‘no’ if I ask you for a real date.”
Guy Speak: “Should we split the check (each pay our part of the bill)?
Translation: “I’m not into you (I’m not attracted to you.).”
Guy Speak: “I don’t play games*.”
Translation: “I am a master (have very high level of skill) at playing games, but I don’t want you to play them.”
Guy Speak: “I’m still getting over (recovering from) a breakup (end of a romantic relationship).”
Translation: “I plan to date many, many women.”
Guy Speak: “I’ll call you later.”
Translation: “I may or may not call you sometime between now and three months from now.”
These are some examples of “Guy Speak” in the U.S. If you’re a woman, how well do you understand “Guy Speak”? If you’re a guy, especially if you’re living in the U.S., do you think the translations are accurate (correct)? What are some examples of “Guy Speak” in other languages? What are some things women say–perhaps in “Girl Speak”–that needs translation?
~ Lucy
* We talk about people playing “mind games,” which are emotional or psychological games to confuse or to get the upper hand (have more power) in a relationship. Although we use if often when talking about relationships, we can also use it in other situations: “I’m not sure why the boss isn’t giving us any information about whether anyone will lose their jobs this month. Maybe she’s playing mind games with us.”
In many countries, August is a popular time for vacations, and for me vacations have always meant (been associated with) reading lots of books. Here are some of the books that I have either read recently or plan on reading in the next few weeks.
As long as I can remember, I’ve had a bike (bicycle). I’ll never forget my first one, a Schwinn Phantom like the one in the photograph. My dad found it at an auction, a public meeting where items are sold to the person who offers the most money for them. It was in great shape (good condition) and we were able to get it (buy it) for only $15.00. They cost $85.00 in the bicycle shop!
