WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.059
Hello and welcome to English as a second language

00:00:04.059 --> 00:00:17.199
podcast number 32 Welcome to English as a second

00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:23.559
language podcast number 32 I'm dr. Jeff McQuillen

00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:28.160
coming to you from Los Angeles, California and

00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.559
the Center for Educational Development. Visit

00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:41.840
our website at www .eslpod .com to learn more

00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:47.659
about this podcast. Today's topic is the post

00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:53.159
office, going to mail or send letters. I'm going

00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:56.619
to talk about my experience yesterday at the

00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:59.899
post office and then as usual we'll come back

00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:08.780
and talk about it. Now let's get started. For

00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:14.260
me, things never go very smoothly at the local

00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:19.760
post office. I've learned that if you want to

00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:24.200
mail a letter, you'll have no problems. But if

00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.739
things get more complicated than that, well,

00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:35.040
watch out. Yesterday, I went there to mail a

00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.000
small package and to pick up a book of stamps.

00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:45.700
I waited my turn in line and when I get up to

00:01:45.700 --> 00:01:50.680
the window, the clerk asks me, what can I do

00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:58.140
for you? Well, I said, I need a book. No, make

00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:03.780
that a roll of stamps. And I need to send this

00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:10.080
package priority to San Francisco. You want insurance

00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:16.460
with that? He asked me. Um, I don't know. What

00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:21.759
do you recommend? Well, he said, you can send

00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:25.719
it priority with tracking if you want to see

00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:30.560
when it gets there, or you can send it insured

00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:36.060
if the contents are valuable, or you can do both.

00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:44.599
Okay, I'll take the insurance. Then step aside

00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:48.620
to fill out the insurance form, he said, and

00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.909
bring it back up to me. when you're finished.

00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:58.729
With that, I was waved aside to fill out my form.

00:03:00.849 --> 00:03:06.030
Next in line, the clerk called. When I finished

00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:11.129
filling out the form, I waited patiently until

00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:14.909
the gentleman being waited on was finished in

00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:19.389
front of me, and then stepped back up to the

00:03:19.389 --> 00:03:25.610
window. Sorry, the clerk said. I'm on break now.

00:03:26.710 --> 00:03:31.889
She can help you at the next window. Maybe it

00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:35.870
would be quicker just to drive my package to

00:03:35.870 --> 00:03:48.729
San Francisco. In talking about my trip to the

00:03:48.729 --> 00:03:53.419
post office, I said that things never go very

00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:59.639
smoothly. To go smoothly means to take place

00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:05.500
without problems. How did your visit to the doctor

00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:10.939
go today? Oh, it went smoothly, meaning I didn't

00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:15.259
have any problems. Everything was done correctly

00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:19.589
and so forth. I said that if you want to mail

00:04:19.589 --> 00:04:23.810
a letter at my post office, you'll have no problems.

00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:27.889
To mail a letter, of course, means to send a

00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:32.189
letter. But if things get more complicated, I

00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:37.910
said, well, then watch out. Watch out is an expression

00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:42.730
meaning be careful. Here it means be careful

00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:48.660
or be warned. Watch out can also mean the same

00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:52.879
as look out, meaning there may be something that

00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:58.160
is going to hit you. If you are standing near

00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.920
a golf course and someone says watch out, you

00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.860
should probably protect yourself. But here it

00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:11.819
means just to be careful. In going to the post

00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:15.689
office, I said I wanted to pick up a book of

00:05:15.689 --> 00:05:19.350
stamps. There are two terms we use in talking

00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:23.850
about stamps. One is book of stamps and the other

00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:29.949
is a roll of stamps. A book of stamps comes in

00:05:29.949 --> 00:05:35.550
a very small little book, if you will, of usually

00:05:35.550 --> 00:05:41.790
20 stamps. A roll of stamps has 100 stamps in

00:05:41.790 --> 00:05:47.629
it. I said I wanted to send a package priority.

00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:52.209
A package, of course, is anything that's bigger

00:05:52.209 --> 00:05:58.149
than a letter. A box or anything bigger than

00:05:58.149 --> 00:06:02.230
a letter we would say is a package. I said I

00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:06.569
wanted to send the package priority. There are

00:06:06.569 --> 00:06:10.709
different ways you can send a letter or a package

00:06:10.709 --> 00:06:15.569
in the U .S. postal service. You can send it

00:06:15.569 --> 00:06:19.649
regular mail, what we sometimes call first class

00:06:19.649 --> 00:06:24.189
mail. That's your regular mail, nothing special

00:06:24.189 --> 00:06:29.110
about it. You can also send it priority. To send

00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:32.970
a package priority means that it will get there

00:06:32.970 --> 00:06:37.370
a little faster, usually in two to three days.

00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:42.680
You can also send a letter or a package express.

00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.680
To send something express means it should get

00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:51.759
there the next day or at most at the very most

00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:57.139
two days. I was sending my package priority to

00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:01.819
San Francisco. The clerk asked me if I wanted

00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:07.100
insurance. To insure a letter or a package means

00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:13.129
that Just like any insurance, you pay extra and

00:07:13.129 --> 00:07:17.709
if they lose the package, then you can claim

00:07:17.709 --> 00:07:23.050
your insurance on it. To claim means to ask for

00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:27.550
the money that they're supposed to pay you if

00:07:27.550 --> 00:07:32.670
they lose it. I was given the option by the clerk

00:07:32.670 --> 00:07:37.860
of sending it priority with tracking. to track

00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:42.500
a package means Comes from the expression to

00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:47.180
keep track to keep track of something means to

00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:51.019
To follow it to make sure that you know where

00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:56.319
it is and so when you send a letter or package

00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:00.480
priority or express You often get a tracking

00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.949
number and you can take that number Go to the

00:08:04.949 --> 00:08:08.889
internet and put it into a website and it will

00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:12.589
tell you where your package is now So if I was

00:08:12.589 --> 00:08:15.750
sending a package say from Los Angeles to New

00:08:15.750 --> 00:08:21.810
York City It might stop in Las Vegas and then

00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:25.310
maybe Chicago before finally making it to New

00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:28.689
York City The tracking number I could look up

00:08:28.689 --> 00:08:31.610
on the website and it would tell me where it

00:08:31.610 --> 00:08:38.009
was I could also, according to the clerk, ensure

00:08:38.009 --> 00:08:41.909
my package if the contents were valuable. The

00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:45.409
contents means, of course, what's inside the

00:08:45.409 --> 00:08:49.929
package, the contents of something. The clerk

00:08:49.929 --> 00:08:54.070
asked me to step aside to fill out the form.

00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:59.730
When someone says step aside, they mean move

00:08:59.730 --> 00:09:05.299
one way or another to move from in front of the

00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:12.080
other person. Step aside often is used if you

00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.200
want to get someone out of your way, for example.

00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:19.220
Please step aside means please move from the

00:09:19.220 --> 00:09:24.539
front to the side. Related to the term step aside

00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:29.759
is the expression wave aside. I said that I was

00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:34.970
waved aside to fill out my form. To wave means

00:09:34.970 --> 00:09:38.809
to take your hand and move it in the air, usually

00:09:38.809 --> 00:09:43.629
to say hello or say goodbye to someone. I waved

00:09:43.629 --> 00:09:47.009
goodbye to my friend as he got on the train.

00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:52.370
To wave aside means to use your hand to tell

00:09:52.370 --> 00:10:00.559
someone to move aside, to step aside. after waving

00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:06.759
me aside called next in line. When you are waiting

00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:10.720
at the post office or any government building

00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:15.620
or you're at a store where you have to wait in

00:10:15.620 --> 00:10:18.879
line to return perhaps something you bought,

00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:24.899
the clerk working there will call people by the

00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:29.500
expression next or simply next in line. meaning

00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:34.679
the next person who is in the line to be waited

00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:40.700
on. I said that I was waiting patiently until

00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:43.940
the gentleman being waited on in front of me

00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:48.000
was finished. This expression gentleman is still

00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:55.299
used in English to mean the man. The woman standing

00:10:55.299 --> 00:10:59.220
next to me The gentleman standing next to me

00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:02.360
it means the same thing It's a little more formal

00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.320
than saying just man the gentleman. It's usually

00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:10.720
something of a term of respect for someone else

00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:15.480
I Then after waiting for the gentleman stepped

00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:21.500
back up to the window To step back up means to

00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:27.049
go back to where you were Usually we step up

00:11:27.049 --> 00:11:30.850
to something when we mean that we are coming

00:11:30.850 --> 00:11:35.970
to the front of a line and ready to be waited

00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:40.789
on. I stepped up to the counter to buy an airline

00:11:40.789 --> 00:11:45.529
ticket. Means I walked up, I moved up to the

00:11:45.529 --> 00:11:49.389
place where the tickets were being sold. That

00:11:49.389 --> 00:11:54.710
is to step up. Unfortunately told me that he

00:11:54.710 --> 00:12:00.629
was on break now to be on break means to take

00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:06.809
a 15 maybe 20 minute break so that you don't

00:12:06.809 --> 00:12:12.490
work Usually every four hours or so if you're

00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:17.750
working in a eight hour day Every well, maybe

00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:22.950
every two or three hours people in American offices

00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:28.529
and workplaces, take a break, a 15, 10 or 15,

00:12:28.789 --> 00:12:31.870
maybe a 20 minute break where they don't work.

00:12:32.269 --> 00:12:35.970
They go get a cup of coffee, they go smoke a

00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:41.129
cigarette, et cetera. To be on break means that

00:12:41.129 --> 00:12:44.590
you're not working right now. We also use that

00:12:44.590 --> 00:12:48.950
expression on break in the university between

00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:54.500
classes. For example, at Christmas time in December,

00:12:55.419 --> 00:12:58.860
schools have a break. They're on break, meaning

00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:04.440
they're not studying, they're not working. That's

00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:06.960
going to do it for today's English as a Second

00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.120
Language podcast. I want to thank you for listening

00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:17.700
and urge you, encourage you to email us at eslpod

00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:25.980
at esl... Thank you again for listening. We'll

00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:29.860
see you next time on English as a Second Language

00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:30.620
Podcast.