WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.859 Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:18.160 number 18. From Los Angeles, California, you're 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.300 listening to the English as a Second Language 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:25.359 Podcast. My name is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, your 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.699 host, from the Center for Educational Development. 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:34.189 Before we begin our podcast today, I want to 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:38.990 thank one of our listeners, Johannes from Germany, 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:44.369 who gave us some very useful technical help over 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:48.409 the weekend for our podcast. So thank you, Johannes. 00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:53.189 And thank everyone for writing in and emailing 00:00:53.189 --> 00:01:10.030 us. www .eslpod .com for more information. Today's 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:14.430 topic is going to be about transportation and 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:17.810 getting around, particularly here in the United 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:22.489 States. As usual, we'll discuss the topic and 00:01:22.489 --> 00:01:26.269 then come back and look at some vocabulary. Now 00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:35.540 let's get started. Getting around in the United 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:41.760 States is sometimes not very easy. Most people 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:47.459 own their own cars, but not everyone can foot 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:52.819 the bill for the car plus the insurance, gas, 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:58.780 and maintenance. Most big cities have buses, 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:05.140 but they are much slower. than a car. Several 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:10.639 cities in the US have subway systems, but many 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:16.280 do not. There are even fewer trains that transport 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:22.120 daily commuters. In cities such as Los Angeles, 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:27.860 public transportation is much more limited than 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:34.180 in other countries. To take some form of public 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:38.819 transportation, you need to pay a certain fare. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:45.840 In most big cities, the fare is anywhere from 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:52.099 one to two dollars. But don't expect the bus 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:57.960 driver to change a bill for you. You usually 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:02.900 need exact change. if you are going to ride a 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:09.319 bus, train, or subway. Whatever you take, you 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:15.099 always have to pay for it. My friends here in 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:19.099 Los Angeles all have different ways of getting 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:24.659 to work. One friend, who lives out in the boonies, 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.039 rides the train every day. He takes the train 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:38.400 because it's easier for him than driving or taking 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.479 a bus. Another friend I know who works close 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:50.699 to where he lives rides a bike every day. Still 00:03:50.699 --> 00:03:56.520 another friend drives his car. I don't know anyone 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:02.120 who rides the bus. but I've taken it once or 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:07.919 twice when my car was in the shop. Worst comes 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:13.539 to worst, you can always hop in a taxi. Taking 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:18.819 a taxi is expensive here, though, so be prepared 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:31.279 for a big fare, not including the tip. We're 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:35.420 talking today about ways of getting around in 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:39.920 the United States. To get around means, of course, 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.339 to travel, to go from one place to another. I 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:49.360 started off by talking about how limited public 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.259 transportation is in the United States. Public 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.720 transportation is anything that is run by the 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:04.360 government. such as buses, trains, and subways. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.300 I mentioned that people who own their own cars 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:15.540 have to foot the bill. To foot the bill means 00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:19.279 to pay for the bill. It's an informal expression. 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:23.319 Who's going to foot the bill for this dinner 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:28.420 means who's going to pay for this dinner. In 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:31.839 talking about cars, we often associate words 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.879 like insurance. Insurance is what you buy in 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:41.680 case you have an accident. The insurance company 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:47.759 will pay for your repairs. Gas is of course gasoline. 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:53.980 Petro, the fuel for your car. Maintenance is 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:58.480 anything you need to do to your car to fix it 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:03.339 or to keep it running well. Changing the oil, 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:07.579 for example. Checking the air pressure in your 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:12.180 tires. This is all part of maintenance. I mentioned 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:15.699 that there are very few trains in the United 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:20.660 States that transport daily commuters. A commuter 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:24.699 is a person who has to travel usually a long 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:29.000 distance between his or her home and where they 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:34.379 work. Public transportation, I mentioned, is 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:37.199 limited. Public transportation we, of course, 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:41.720 have already covered. In any sort of transportation 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.899 other than your own car, you have to pay what's 00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:51.019 called a fare. A fare is the term we use for 00:06:51.019 --> 00:06:55.480 a taxi cab. It's the term we use for a bus. It's 00:06:55.480 --> 00:07:00.560 the term we use for a train, airplane, subway. 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:04.819 All of these use the term fare. I said that bus 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:08.079 drivers in the United States will not change 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:14.399 a bill for you. To change a bill here means simply... 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:19.680 To give you change. So if the fare is 50 cents 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.839 and you only have one dollar, you would have 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.220 to change your bill. The bill, of course, is 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:33.540 any paper denomination, any paper money. So changing 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:37.560 a bill, we sometimes also use the expression 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:41.819 to break a bill. It means the same. To break 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:48.600 a bill. For example, a $20 bill and get two $10 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:54.180 bills. That's breaking a 20. Exact change, of 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:56.879 course, means that you have the exact amount 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:01.819 that is necessary. In talking about my own friends 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:05.740 here in Los Angeles, I said that one of my friends 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:10.069 lives in the boonies. The boonies is an informal 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:15.569 expression. It means way far away from the main 00:08:15.569 --> 00:08:21.029 part of the city. The suburbs, which are places 00:08:21.029 --> 00:08:25.910 outside of the central part of the city, can 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:29.509 sometimes be called the boonies. It's a somewhat 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:33.230 negative term. You don't want to tell someone 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:36.679 that they live in the boonies. because it means 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:42.259 they live far away from civilization. In talking 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:48.100 about trains and cars and bicycles and buses, 00:08:48.259 --> 00:08:55.720 we often use similar verbs to express what it 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.620 means to go on that transportation. For example, 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:05.059 for train, we say we ride the train. We use the 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:10.559 verb ride for trains, for subways, for buses. 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:17.720 We don't use the term ride for taxi cabs, for 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:23.000 your own car, or for planes. You can drive your 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:27.059 own car, and we only use the term drive if you 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:31.580 are the person driving the actual car. So, I 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:35.690 drive to work. But if I go with someone else, 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:42.470 they drive me. For a plane, we use the verb fly. 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:47.710 I'm going to fly to San Francisco. We can also 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:52.970 use the verb take for almost any kind of transportation. 00:09:53.710 --> 00:09:58.129 He takes the train. He takes the bus. He takes 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:02.789 the subway. We don't say, though, He takes the 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:07.690 plane. With plane, we only use fly. For a car, 00:10:07.889 --> 00:10:11.330 you can also say take. I'm going to take my car 00:10:11.330 --> 00:10:15.929 today, meaning I'm going to drive my car. So 00:10:15.929 --> 00:10:20.250 drive is just used for cars. Rides and takes 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:26.629 can be used for buses, subways, trains. Takes 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:32.320 can be used for... I'm going to take a taxi or 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:37.879 I'm going to take a cab. And for planes, we use 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:43.840 fly. For bicycles, we can say, usually we say 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.440 rides a bicycle. He rides his bicycle to work 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.980 every day. But it's possible to say he takes 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:55.220 his bicycle to work. But that's not very common. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:58.919 Much more common to say he rides his bicycle. 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:04.879 A couple of more expressions. I said that I take 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:10.659 the bus if my car is in the shop. To be in the 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:13.899 shop for a car means to be at the mechanics, 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.720 the person who fixes my car. So when your car 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:23.419 breaks down, you take it to the shop. Sometimes 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:26.720 we'll say... The mechanic, or sometimes we'll 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.379 say the shop. Shop is short for mechanic's shop. 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:35.679 Notice it has nothing to do with the verb to 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:40.320 shop, which means to buy. A shop is any place 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.299 where something is fixed, usually cars. I used 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:49.460 another common expression at the end of my discussion. 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:54.700 Worse comes to worst. This is a very old but 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:58.179 a very common expression. Worse comes to worst 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:04.100 means in the very worst case possible. We sometimes 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:09.759 say worst case scenario, meaning the worst situation. 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:15.559 We use this when we're trying to say what the 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:21.220 most negative or the worst situation would be. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.919 But it's usually followed by an expression of 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:31.240 how we can get out of that situation. I said 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:35.220 that worse comes to worst, you can always take 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:39.960 a taxi. Meaning, even in the worst situation, 00:12:40.340 --> 00:12:43.840 you have an alternative. Another way to use the 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:49.460 expression, I go to the doctor's office and I 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:53.769 need to pay for my visit. I need to pay the doctor. 00:12:53.970 --> 00:12:59.309 And I forgot my credit card or my checkbook. 00:13:00.110 --> 00:13:06.309 Worst comes to worst, I can ask the doctor to 00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:10.789 send me a bill, which I will pay later. So worst 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:14.629 comes to worst is always followed by a solution 00:13:14.629 --> 00:13:20.909 to that worst problem or that worst situation. 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:28.100 Finally, I said that you can hop in a taxi. This 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:33.519 is a verb a little informal, but we say hop in 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.340 this case means the same as take, so it gets 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:42.440 a little confusing. We usually just say hop for 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:46.419 a taxi cab, but you can also say it for a bus 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:51.720 or a train or a subway. I'm going to hop the 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:55.960 subway to downtown means I'm going to take the 00:13:55.960 --> 00:14:00.840 subway. We don't use hop for car, and we don't 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.519 use hop for bike, and we do not use hop for plane. 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:09.220 But you can say hop for the other types of transportation. 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.580 That's going to do it for today's English as 00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:18.419 a Second Language podcast. As always, we would 00:14:18.419 --> 00:14:22.139 love to hear from you. Please email us and tell 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:26.399 us where you are. And if you have suggestions 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:31.159 for topics for future podcasts, please email 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.559 them. We have had many people email us and we 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:38.980 are going to use most of your suggestions. It 00:14:38.980 --> 00:14:42.840 will take some time for us to get to everyone's 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:47.269 suggestion, but we will try to... Do as many 00:14:47.269 --> 00:14:51.470 as possible. Our email address is on our website, 00:14:51.730 --> 00:15:01.210 or you can simply email us at eslpod at eslpod 00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:06.590 .com. My name is Dr. Jeff McQuillan. I want to 00:15:06.590 --> 00:15:09.409 thank you for listening. We'll see you next time 00:15:09.409 --> 00:15:17.600 on ESL Podcast. ESL Podcast is produced by the 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:20.139 Center for Educational Development in Los Angeles, 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:23.740 California.