Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast
number 33. You're listening to English as a Second
Language podcast number 33. My name is Dr. Jeff
McQuillen coming to you from the Center for Educational
Development in Los Angeles, California. Please
visit our website for more information on this
podcast at www .eslpod .com. Today's topic is
special talents, abilities that people have.
in music or in sports. Lucy is going to talk
about special talents and her ideas about it.
Let's listen in. Would you want to have a special
talent in something? Maybe as a musician or an
athlete? I'm of two minds about this. Sometimes
I watch TV or read about someone who has a special
talent. This was true during the Olympics. Some
of those athletes I saw were very talented. Whether
it was playing soccer running track, ice skating,
or doing gymnastic routines, you could see how
gifted they were and how well -trained and focused
they were. I get the same feeling when I see
musicians who can sing well or play an instrument
easily. or listening to them can take your breath
away. I sometimes wish I had a special gift like
theirs. On the other hand, I also read about
stories of children who are singled out as having
talent early in life. Some of these kids begin
training or practicing at the exclusion of other
things kids do like hanging out with friends
or learning things in other subjects Some of
these kids don't go to school, but are taught
at home with tutors instead. They may be sent
away to teachers or trainers in other cities,
sometimes even without their parents. And sometimes
they spend so much time developing their talent
they don't have much time to develop other parts
of their lives. These kids often live under a
lot of pressure to perform. I envy these kids'
talent, but I don't envy their lives. I guess
maybe it's not so bad being mediocre after all.
At least, That's what I'll keep telling myself
when I practice this week. Lucy talked to us
today about people who have special talents.
A talent is the ability to do something such
as music or athletics or anything really. that
you are very good at Lucy said that she was of
two minds about whether having a special talent
was a good or thing or a bad thing to say you
are of two minds means you're not quite sure
which side of the question or which opinion you
have if you can think of the good things and
the bad things, you might be of two minds. Well,
maybe this is what I want to do or maybe that's
what I want to do. So, not being able to decide
is sometimes, we sometimes use that expression
of two minds. The opposite of that is to make
up your mind. I've made up my mind means I've
decided. Lucy talked about athletes in the Olympics,
and she mentioned some sports. She used the expression
playing soccer. We generally, for sports, use
the verb to play, and you can use that for almost
every sport, but not every sport. You can say
play basketball, play football, play soccer.
play tennis. So play is used most of the time,
but there are a couple of sports or athletic
activities that we use a special verb for. Lucy
talked about running track. Track, of course,
is when people run a hundred meters or they run
a marathon a long whole day. The verb there is
run. We run track. We run a marathon. Some sports
have their own verb made from the name of the
sport. Ice skate. To ice skate is a verb. So
we don't say playing ice skating. We say ice
skating. That's the verb. A couple of sports
such as gymnastics also don't use the word play
we say we do gymnastics or do gymnastic routines
or the exercises and activities that you do in
gymnastics. Lucy said that many of these young
athletes were gifted and well trained. To be
gifted at something means to Have a special talent
a special ability to do it We sometimes say that
someone is gifted in Mathematics or gifted in
music. It's the same as having a very special
talent to be well trained is to be well prepared
to Practice a lot to know how to do your sport
your talent very well, to use your talent very
well. Lucy said that these athletes and musicians
are focused. To be focused means to pay attention,
to have all of your attention on what you are
doing. The opposite of focused is distracted.
I was distracted and I didn't hear what you said.
Well, If you are focused, you are paying attention
and you hear. Lucy said that watching these athletes
or special talented people can take your breath
away. To take your breath away means to be very
impressed, to say to yourself, wow, that is really
good. We can say this about someone's performance
in music or in athletics. We can also say it
about, say, a beautiful picture or a beautiful
person, a woman or a man. You can say they took
my breath away. They were so beautiful I forgot
to breathe and I held my breath. They were so
beautiful or they were so talented. Another expression
that Lucy used in talking about children who
have special talents is that they are sometimes
singled out. To be singled out means to be selected
from a group. It can be a good thing or a bad
thing. The boss singled me out for failing to
finish my assignment or my task or my job. So
single doubt means that there is a group and
that you select one person. Lucy said this can
happen with children and they begin to practice
at the exclusion of other things. To exclude
something means to not do it, to not include
it. Exclude is the opposite of include. So when
we say I'm doing something at the exclusion of
other things or of all else, to do something
at the exclusion of means that you only do that
thing and not the other things. One of the things
that kids who are gifted sometimes miss is hanging
out with friends. To hang out means to spend
time with. It's an informal expression. Lucy
said that these children try to develop their
talent. To develop their talent means to make
it better, to take your talent or your gift and
improve upon it. Nevertheless, Lucy pointed out
that children like this sometimes live under
a lot of pressure. To live under a lot of pressure
or to work under a lot of pressure means that
many people are expecting much from you and There
is a lot of stress. There is a lot of worry and
anxiety to live under pressure means that You
are uncomfortable Lucy said that she envies other
people's talents To envy means to want to have
It's a little more though than just desire to
envy means to want something in a way of Taking
it away from the other person so that the other
person doesn't have it This is the negative side
of envy. We also use this expression though in
a more neutral or even positive way. For example,
you can compliment someone by saying, I envy
your intelligence. Meaning, I want to have your
intelligence because you are so smart. So it
can be used in a negative way or in a positive
way to envy. Lucy said that maybe it wasn't such
a bad thing, being mediocre. To be mediocre means
to be not very good at something. It's somewhere
in between good and bad. I'm good at tennis,
I'm bad at basketball, and at golf, I'm mediocre,
somewhere in between. But not very good. Finally,
Lucy said that she will keep telling herself
that when she practices this week that it's not
so bad being mediocre. To tell yourself something
or to say I'll keep telling myself means I'll
keep reminding myself. Sometimes we say this
when it isn't really true. For example, I'm not
very good at chess at playing chess but I keep
telling myself it's because my father didn't
teach me so we use this as an excuse just keep
telling yourself that means you are using an
excuse that isn't really true That's going to
do it for today's English as a Second Language
podcast. As always, we ask you to email us and
tell us who you are and where you are. Our email
address is eslpod at eslpod .com. I'm Jeff McQuillen
from Los Angeles, California. We'll see you next
time on English as a Second Language. ESL Podcast
is produced by the Center for Educational Development
in Los Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright
2005.