WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:05.679 Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:18.079 number 40. You're listening to English as a Second 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:24.059 Language podcast number 40. My name is Dr. Jeff 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:28.140 McQuillen coming to you today from the Center 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:32.409 for Educational Development. here in Los Angeles, 00:00:32.409 --> 00:00:36.570 California. For more information on this podcast, 00:00:36.670 --> 00:00:48.130 visit our website at www .eslpod .com. Today's 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:53.929 topic is homecoming. Homecoming is a traditional 00:00:53.929 --> 00:01:00.109 American celebration in schools usually during 00:01:00.109 --> 00:01:04.769 September and October. Now let's get started. 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:19.250 Fall is once again upon us and that means that 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:25.189 homecoming celebrations are just around the corner. 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:33.769 Homecoming is an American tradition each September 00:01:33.769 --> 00:01:41.510 and October for high schools and colleges where 00:01:41.510 --> 00:01:47.810 they celebrate their school spirit with a football 00:01:47.810 --> 00:01:55.969 game and other celebrations. I remember the homecoming 00:01:55.969 --> 00:02:02.420 events when I was in school. First, there was 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:06.859 the election of a homecoming king and queen. 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:14.120 Each class had its own representative, one boy 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:20.800 and one girl, usually the most popular jock and 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:27.259 the cutest cheerleader. Needless to say, I was 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:34.270 neither, so I never stood a chance of being elected. 00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:40.370 The king and queen, though, were always from 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:47.990 the senior class. All the events led up to the 00:02:47.990 --> 00:02:53.810 big game, played on a Friday night or Saturday 00:02:53.810 --> 00:03:00.250 afternoon, always a home game, for the school 00:03:00.250 --> 00:03:07.129 celebrating their homecoming. In my school, we 00:03:07.129 --> 00:03:13.090 had a pep rally the day before the game, where 00:03:13.090 --> 00:03:19.469 the cheerleaders and dance team would do their 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:28.030 thing on the stage. We also had a small parade 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:34.539 before the game, where all the homecoming royalty 00:03:34.539 --> 00:03:41.300 and the marching band would go around the track 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:47.599 of the stadium where the game was held, cheered 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:55.939 on by alumni, parents, and students. Then we 00:03:55.939 --> 00:04:01.740 would watch the football game, which at my school 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:14.939 we usually lost. Our topic today was homecoming. 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:20.959 Homecoming means literally when someone comes 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:26.889 back to their home or their house, but here it 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:35.129 refers to a usually a football game and other 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:43.230 celebrations that a school has when their graduates 00:04:43.230 --> 00:04:47.949 people who have gone to that school and have 00:04:47.949 --> 00:04:54.149 left come back to support the school to show 00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:58.850 their interest in the school and we call this 00:04:58.850 --> 00:05:04.490 homecoming every high school and university or 00:05:04.490 --> 00:05:10.410 college has a homecoming celebration in the fall 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:17.949 I began talking about homecoming by saying that 00:05:17.949 --> 00:05:24.379 fall is once again upon us The expression upon 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:31.019 us here is used when we talk about events or 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:38.899 time For example The spring is upon us means 00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:46.240 we are now in spring We can also say for example 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:51.680 Christmas is upon us means It is now time for 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:57.279 Christmas. It's a slightly more formal way of 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:05.420 saying, now it's fall. Fall is upon us. I said 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:09.939 that the homecoming celebrations are just around 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:15.980 the corner. When we say something is just around 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:20.670 the corner, We are not talking about physically 00:06:20.670 --> 00:06:28.069 where something is located, but time. When we 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:32.509 are very near in time to something, for example, 00:06:33.629 --> 00:06:38.750 next week is just around the corner, means it's 00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:43.050 just a few more days or a short amount of time 00:06:43.050 --> 00:06:49.930 before that happens. I said that one of the purposes 00:06:49.930 --> 00:06:55.769 of homecoming is so that those who are students 00:06:55.769 --> 00:06:59.370 at the school and those who have graduated from 00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:04.910 the school can show their school spirit. School 00:07:04.910 --> 00:07:12.490 spirit means interest or enthusiasm about your 00:07:12.490 --> 00:07:19.579 school. It is sort of like loyalty to your school 00:07:19.579 --> 00:07:28.220 and usually means that you do something to encourage 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:34.680 members of a sports team or the school to do 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:39.699 better at some activity. To show your school 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:45.519 spirit then means to support your school or your 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:49.029 former school. the school you used to go to. 00:07:50.230 --> 00:07:55.129 In the United States we have the homecoming celebration 00:07:55.129 --> 00:08:00.850 which is almost always associated with a big 00:08:00.850 --> 00:08:05.970 football game or an American football game you 00:08:05.970 --> 00:08:11.610 might call it. Not soccer, but traditional American 00:08:11.610 --> 00:08:16.860 football. I said that in a homecoming celebration, 00:08:17.620 --> 00:08:22.339 the students in the school select a homecoming 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:29.160 king and queen. I mentioned that these are usually 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:37.200 the boy who is a popular jock. A jock is an informal 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:42.840 expression referring to someone who plays sports. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:48.419 football, basketball, hockey, tennis, and so 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:54.639 forth. To say he's a football jock or a baseball 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:00.580 jock means he plays those sports. It's a informal 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:07.299 expression. Usually refers to boys or men, but 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:13.559 it could refer to a girl, I suppose. The cutest 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:18.279 cheerleader a cheerleader is someone who you 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:24.720 probably know dresses up in the colors of the 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:30.860 school and jumps up and down Yelling and shouting 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:36.659 to support the team Usually it's a girl, but 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:43.610 it can also be a boy cheerleader they stand on 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:47.970 the playing field, usually a football field, 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:55.590 and they do their cheers. Cheerleaders and jocks 00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:59.210 are often very popular in American high schools 00:09:59.210 --> 00:10:04.950 and colleges and so they usually are the ones 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:09.070 who get elected to be the representatives for 00:10:09.070 --> 00:10:14.340 the homecoming celebration. I said that I was 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:20.080 not a popular jock, and I certainly was not a 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:25.559 cute cheerleader, so I didn't stand a chance 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:31.879 of being elected homecoming king or queen. To 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:37.480 stand a chance means to have a chance, to have 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:44.700 the possibility of being something. The expression 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:48.440 can be used in a positive or a negative way. 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:54.299 For example, here I said, I don't stand a chance 00:10:54.299 --> 00:11:01.440 of being elected. If I were a popular jock athlete, 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:07.240 it would be the opposite. I stand a good chance 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:11.720 of being elected. So either way, is possible 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:17.320 to stand a chance is to have a good chance or 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:21.940 good possibility of something happening. There 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:26.279 is a homecoming king and queen. The king and 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:31.639 queen are usually, I said, from the senior class. 00:11:32.659 --> 00:11:37.100 You probably know that there are freshmen, sophomore, 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.600 junior, and seniors. There are four years of 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:47.500 a traditional American high school and four years 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:52.580 of a traditional undergraduate or bachelor's 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:57.539 degree college. The first year is freshman, the 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:01.519 second year is called sophomore, the third year 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:06.919 is junior, and the fourth or final year is senior. 00:12:07.659 --> 00:12:12.820 When we say the senior class We aren't referring 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:18.320 to a group of 30 or 40 students with a teacher 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:23.740 To say the senior class means everyone who is 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:30.100 a senior at that school So you can say for example, 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:36.129 I'm in the sophomore class That means I am a 00:12:36.129 --> 00:12:39.629 sophomore. It is my second year at the school 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:45.629 We also also use this expression class when we 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:54.029 say for example I am starting school in 1977 00:12:54.029 --> 00:13:00.009 and I am going to graduate four years later in 00:13:00.009 --> 00:13:08.070 1981 I'm in the class of 1981. To say you're 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:12.409 in the class of a year means that's the year 00:13:12.409 --> 00:13:18.970 you graduate. If you enter college in 2001, you 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:24.190 will be in the class of 2005 because it will 00:13:24.190 --> 00:13:30.809 be four years before you graduate. I said that 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:34.629 the events of a homecoming celebration lead up 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:41.490 to or are anticipating the big game. Here the 00:13:41.490 --> 00:13:46.649 big game is the big football game. I said that 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:53.149 this game is a home game. A home game means where 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:58.940 the game is played in the stadium. or on the 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:06.220 field of that school. So if the University of 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:13.320 Minnesota has a home game against the University 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:18.340 of California, Berkeley, well, that game would 00:14:18.340 --> 00:14:23.379 be played in Minnesota, not in California. A 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:29.840 few other terms I used today. One was a pep rally 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:37.759 a pep rally spelled P E P pep a pep rally is 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:43.059 a gathering where all the students come together 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:48.240 usually in the school gymnasium or the school 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:57.330 gym and they Cheer or they encourage the team 00:14:57.330 --> 00:15:02.350 that is going to be playing in the game or the 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:07.789 football game for homecoming. So you have the 00:15:07.789 --> 00:15:13.769 cheerleaders and what's sometimes called a dance 00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:18.710 team or a dance line. These are usually girls 00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:26.940 that do special dances to music and they have 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:32.940 this big rally or meeting and all the students 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:38.539 get excited about the game that's coming up. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:45.679 This is called a pep rally. I said that the dance 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.620 team and the cheerleaders go up on usually to 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:56.620 the stage of an auditorium or in a gym and they 00:15:56.620 --> 00:16:02.299 do their thing. To do your thing is an informal 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:07.700 expression. It means to do what you are supposed 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:13.299 to do. So if you are a dancer, to do your thing 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:21.379 is to dance. I said that at the homecoming game 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:28.549 there is often a parade of cars and people who 00:16:28.549 --> 00:16:33.710 march that's the verb we use for a parade to 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:39.669 march a parade is a celebration on a street often 00:16:39.669 --> 00:16:44.330 or sometimes in a stadium or a place where a 00:16:44.330 --> 00:16:48.450 game is being held you can have sometimes a parade 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:54.500 around the playing field Part of a parade at 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:58.919 a homecoming celebration would include the marching 00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:04.460 band to march means to walk and The marching 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:09.400 band is a band that plays music while it is walking 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:15.390 Usually they have special uniforms I'm sure you've 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:19.289 seen marching bands. If you have ever watched 00:17:19.289 --> 00:17:23.869 an American football game for college, there 00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:27.009 is always a marching band from the college there. 00:17:27.369 --> 00:17:34.089 So they play music and cheer on the team. To 00:17:34.089 --> 00:17:38.109 cheer on the team means to encourage the team, 00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:42.690 to yell, to shout the name of the team, to support 00:17:42.690 --> 00:17:49.049 the team. Finally, I use the term alumni in talking 00:17:49.049 --> 00:17:54.630 about who goes to a homecoming celebration. Alumni 00:17:54.630 --> 00:18:01.130 is anyone who graduates or completes schooling 00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:06.450 at a certain place. So I graduated from the University 00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:12.539 of Minnesota. I am one of the alumni. Alumni 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:17.839 is a Latin word. It is plural. It means more 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:24.000 than one. The singular for a man is alumnus. 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:28.900 So I am an alumnus of the University of Minnesota. 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:38.039 A girl would say I am an alumna. A -L -U -M -N 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:44.619 -A for a girl. or U .S. for a boy, alumnus, alumna. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:49.480 If you have more than one, that's alumni, with 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:53.640 an I at the end. It comes, of course, from the 00:18:53.640 --> 00:19:00.240 Latin word. That's going to do it for today's 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.460 ESL podcast. As always, we encourage you to email 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:09.059 us. Tell us who you are and where you are listening 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:20.299 from. Our email address is eslpod at eslpod .com. 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:24.000 I'm Jeff McQuillen from Los Angeles, California. 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.299 Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:42.750 on ESL Podcast. This podcast is copyright 2005.