Focus on vocabulary. Part 10
Steve: Hi, Jill.
Jill: Hi, Steve. How are you today?
Steve: I'm fine, thank you. Jill: Good.
Steve: Today, we are going to continue our easy and intermediate level Podcast where we discuss certain words and phrases and the way words are used in some of our easy content. And, in particular, we are talking about a content item called The Power of the Linguist: A Simple Story, which is in 26 episodes. It starts very easy and it gets a little bit more difficult as we go along and today, we are going to listen to
Episode 10
* * *
Do you mean they have lived together for half a year? They must be boyfriend and girlfriend.
I have no idea.
When did your brother stop writing to you?
It has only been a few weeks since he stopped writing.
You see. It is not because of this girl that he stopped writing emails to you.
That is true I guess. He wrote me regularly until a few weeks ago. So why did he stop then?
Well let's try to figure out what happened. How often did he email you?
That is hard to say. He wrote quite often.
Did you always answer him?
I would always try to answer him as soon as possible.
But how many times did you not answer him?
It depended on how much work I had to do.
You always wrote by email?
Yes we kept in touch by email. I did not need to know where he lived.
How many emails did you get from him every month?
I got lots of email every month. I was always excited to get his emails.
Why did you not try to visit him before?
I was busy. Besides, I thought he was still away at school.
* * *
Steve: Now, Episode 10, we just heard it. All of a sudden, Sally is shocked to discover that her brother has been living with this girl for half a year and what does she say?
Jill: Do you mean they have lived together for half a year? So, she's shocked. Steve: Right.
That's right. Do you mean sometimes do you mean implies that you're looking to confirm something. Do you mean; but, very often, it's a response to something that you are surprised to hear. Jill: Really?
Steve: Really? Do you mean to say that they have lived together for half a year? Wow!
Jill: And then the next phrase is I have no idea.
Steve: Yeah. He could have said I don't know. But, I have no idea is quite an idiomatic way of saying I don't know. I don't know. And, it sort of implies Why do you expect me to know? almost. Well, maybe, not really, but it's used. I have no idea.
Jill: It's used all the time in speaking so, it's a good one to know. Jill: A few weeks since he stopped writing.
Steve: Here we have this, again, these difficult time words. Since in English refers to a specific point in time. We can't say He stopped writing since a few weeks. Jill: No.
Steve: He stopped writing at a specific point a few weeks ago.
Jill: There's always a time marker and if there isn't one then it doesn't make sense. Steve: I mean, here we could have said It has only been a few weeks since the point in time when he stopped writing. In English since implies a point in time.
Jill: That's right. Steve: That's not true in French, it's not true in Spanish, it's not true in German, but it's true in English and there is no logical reason. That's how the word works. Okay.
Jill: And the next is 'You see' Steve: 'You see' I think it's an interesting one because as in many languages, 'you see' doesn't talk about seeing; it talks about Do you understand? So, understanding, seeing is considered the same.
Jill: You see? Or, do you see?
Steve: Do you see?
Jill: That means do you understand?
Steve: Right.
Jill: It has nothing to do with seeing with your eyes.
Steve: And yet, furthermore, it's also just a filler word. It's a filler word. In fact, we could have said. In fact or we could have said 'you know'. Okay.
Jill: Because of this girl. It is not because of this girl. So?
Steve: Yeah, I mean, because, because of; it's not because this girl. Jill: It's not due to. It means it's not due to her. It's not due to that girl. It's not the fault of the girl. Steve: That's right. It's not the fault of the girl or it's not yeah, it's not the fault of the girl, but the structure with because. Again, because here, because of this girl is one kind of structure we get with because. It could have been It is not because the girl moved in with him. So, again, because is the kind of word that if I'm learning another language -- because in every language there is a structure because, you know, cause and effect it exists in every language. It's the kind of structure that we need to become very familiar with. So, it's the kind of word, again, that I would encourage learners to save in The Linguist. Jill: And the next one is I guess. That is true, I guess. Again, just meaning I think.
Steve: I suppose.
Jill: I suppose
Steve: And, it could be left out.
Jill: And, it could be left out. It doesn't change the meaning. Steve: One thing about these filler words is that these are little ways that a non-native speaker can add these natural filler words. It gives them time to think. It makes their English more natural. What sometimes happens is because filler words are so natural to ourselves, we tend to go back to the filler words from our own language. So, I hear Chinese people say How to say, How to say when they need time to think.
Jill: Right.
Steve: How to say is not English.
Jill: No.
Steve: So, it's important to get filler expressions that are English and use them. Okay.
Steve: What else have you got?
Jill: Until a few weeks ago. Again, we have this construction with ago and until.
Steve: And since and until, I think, are two parallel words. Until is up to a certain point in time and since is from a certain point in time. So, one should try to know until and since.
Jill: Very important.
Steve: which is different from for a certain period of time. And this is where, I think, particular German speakers get into trouble because in German for has a different connotation. But in English, for implies a duration; a period of time. Alright.
Steve: What else do you have?
Jill: Figure out what happened.
Steve: To learn what happened. But, figure out, again, is one of those nasty English phrasal verbs. The word to figure has a different meaning than the word to figure out.
Jill: It means to find out.
Steve: To find out; exactly.
Jill: And then the next one is How often did he e-mail you? Steve: How often? Again, this is an expression in every language that one needs to know how to say so, how often? How many times?
How often?
How often?
Again, try to make these natural so that when you want to express that concept that you can do so.
Jill: Next is: hard to say. That is hard to say. He doesn't know. Steve: He doesn't know. Jill: He doesn't know exactly how often; how many times. Steve: Exactly. And we use that quite often when we say Gee, I don't know for sure. I mean, it's not hard to say. I can say it. It's not hard to say, but I don't know for sure. So, it's hard to say. Jill: And then, again, just another phrase with often; quite often.
Steve: Well, that's right. I think often -- you say often we should point out that in English some people say often, some people say often. But, again, if someone in The Linguist System were to save the word often or often, as you would put it, they will see the different other words that are often used together with often. So, we often say how often? We say quite often.
Jill: which means frequently.
Steve: Frequently. We might say more often. More often than I would like.
Jill: Or, less often.
Steve: Or, less often. Okay.
Jill: The next one. The question Did you always answer him?
Steve: To me, that's interesting because answer him; tell him; but listen to him. So, some of these words we're not sure if a to is involved or not. Say to him; tell him. So, I like to highlight these words so that we get used to those that require a to and those that do not require a to.
Jill: And you just have to learn them.
Steve: And you just have to learn them, yeah.
Jill: How many times?
Steve: We just as easily have said How often?
Jill: How often? Yes.
Steve: Right.
Jill: And It depended on. A lot of people say, a lot of people forget the on when they say It depended on or It depends on or, I've often heard too, It's depend on. Steve: It's depend on. Yes.
Steve: Theoretically, you know, depend by, depend for, who knows It could be, but it isn't. It's it depended on. Depend on something. I think, maybe if a person thought of, if you're depending on someone, you depend on someone. You rely on someone. You're leaning on someone. Someone else is supporting you so, you're on top. Okay.
And maybe that's the image. You're hanging on to someone's shoulder. You're relying on them. You're depending on them. So, that's the image there. It depended on how much work I had to do.
Okay.
Jill: You always wrote by e-mail. Steve: Right.
Again, it's just the always, sometimes. The thing about always is he couldn't have said You always were writing by e-mail. Typically, where we use the word always, it tends to be a simple past.
Jill: Yes.
Steve: One thing I will say, too, when in doubt, use the simple past. Don't use the continuous past. Don't use the, I was speaking to one of our learners today and he saidL 'When I have been in New York, I did this.' He was German because that would reflect the German practice. Simple rule of thumb -- 80 percent -- use the simple past. And, in particular, if you see always , it's the simple past. Alright.
Steve: What else have we got?
Jill: I did not need to know.
Steve: Right.
Need to know. Again, it's the simple past and I did not need to know where he lived. It also has that connection to that relative pronoun.
Jill: Where?.
Steve: So, it's a phrase that one should say. It's a little clumsy in terms of pronouncing, as well, for a non-native speaker. I did not need to know where he lived.
Jill: And I was always excited.
Steve: Now, what does this remind you of? A problem that many of our learners have?
Jill: I was always exciting!
Steve: Right.
I am interesting! Yeah, maybe you are interesting. I don't know. I haven't had a chance to talk to you. But, most of the time, it's I am excited to get the e-mails. I am interested to read his e-mails. And many people get this wrong.
Jill: Besides.
Steve: Yeah, furthermore.
Jill: Also, furthermore,
Steve: another one of these connector words. I recommend that people save them in our system. Besides, furthermore, in addition, you know, how ever.
Jill: Moreover.
Steve: Moreover.
Jill: On the other hand.
Steve: On the other hand.
Jill: They are very useful.
Steve: Very useful.
Jill: We use them all the time and although a sentence wouldn't necessarily have a different meaning with out it, the sentence just doesn't connect nicely with the sentence before it, often, if you don't have one of those words there. Steve: Right.
Here, I believe, that if you are not certain about the meaning or the nuance, the shade of meaning, look it up in the dictionary and see it in your own language. That will help. There are many language-teaching purists who say that you should never refer to a bilingual dictionary. I completely disagree with that. I completely disagree with that. You may have seen 10 examples of this and you're not clear between besides and in addition and moreover. If you then look at the translation into your own language, that will help a lot. It's not the whole picture, but if you have now seen it in 10 different examples and you just need a little help in order to define more closely what that word means, look it up. Look up the translation to your own language. Bilingual here, I say this for all the English teachers who fight bilingual dictionaries, as someone who has learned now 11 languages, bilingual dictionaries are useful. I don't recommend them when you are reading. I recommend that you come to The Linguist so that you can use our online dictionaries. You can use our database features; but, you need that translation to your own language.
Steve: Last phrase.
Jill: Still away at school.
Jill: Still.
Steve: Still, another one of those -- still, even, just and then away, away, away from here.
Jill: Gone.
Steve: Away at school.
Jill: He's not here. Steve: Away at school.
He's at school. He's away at school; therefore, he's not here, wherever we are. Okay.
Steve: I think we've covered that, Jill. Thank you.
Jill: Thank you.
Steve: And, we mustn't forget to encourage people to come to www.thelinguist.com where they can listen to a variety of contents; use all of our functionality to learn words and phrases. And so, I hope that this is helpful both to those who are members and who will become members of The Linguist. Thank you.
Jill: Thank you.
