EC119_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 119

TOPICS

Cities: Anchorage, Alaska; John Henry, you might as well, to hit the ground

running, the “café” in English Café, what goes around comes around, breaking

news

_____________

GLOSSARY

folk hero – a famous person, real or imaginary, who is admired and respected

for what he or she has done and who is referenced in many popular, traditional

songs and stories

* Johnny Appleseed is an American folk hero who introduced the apple to the

U.S. Midwest.

spike – a large, heavy, pointed piece of metal that is used to hold metal and

wooden pieces together when building a road for a train

* He spent the summer driving railroad spikes and now he has very strong arm

and back muscles.

railroad track – a road for a train; the long pieces of metal that a train’s wheels

move on top of

* My mother taught me to look both ways for trains before crossing the railroad

tracks.

hammer – a tool with a wooden handle and a large metal piece on top with a flat

end, used for hitting nails, spikes, and other objects

* Sandra was trying to hang a picture on the wall, but when she swung the

hammer she missed the nail and hit her finger instead.

working class – a group of people who do not have very much money or social

power and work in difficult, physical jobs

* People who work in factories and mines are considered to be part of the

working class.

to displace – to replace; to take the place of something or someone else; to

make something or someone else move so that one can have its spot

* Many poor families in Washington, D.C. are being displaced by rich families as

housing becomes more expensive.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 119

to chop down – to cut something, especially a tree, so that it falls to the ground

* The neighbors are going to chop down all their trees because they want more

sunlight to come in through their windows.

axe – a tool with a wooden handle and a large metal piece on top that has one

sharp edge, used to cut pieces of wood into smaller pieces

* Mr. Punkay wants to borrow our axe to cut some firewood.

folly – something silly and/or stupid that is done without thinking about it very

much ahead of time

* It would be a folly to sell your car for just $2,000. It’s worth at least $5,500.

boon – something that makes one’s life easier; something that is very helpful

and useful

* The development of the Internet was a boon to the computer industry.

sound – a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water; a strait

* Have you ever visited Vineyard Sound in Massachusetts?

coffee shop – a small restaurant that serves coffee, snacks, and possibly small

meals, often with comfortable furniture

* I heard that this city has more coffee shops than any other city in the United

States.

(one) might as well (do something) – an informal phrase used to mean that

one should do something because it isn’t difficult or expensive, it can’t hurt, and it

might help

* I might as well apply for the job, even though I don’t think I’ll get it. The worst

that can happen is that they’ll say “no.”

to hit the ground running – to start a new activity by working very hard and

quickly, without first starting slowly and then gradually increasing one’s speed

* The new employee hit the ground running, staying at the office until 8:30 p.m.

every day during her first week on the job.

what goes around comes around – a phrase meaning that one gets what one

gives: if one does something bad/good, then one receives something bad/good

* Khuu always gives money to poor people on the street because he believes

that what goes around comes around, and he hopes that if he doesn’t have

money someday in the future, other people will help him.

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 119

breaking news – the most recent news; news that is happening at the moment

* During the forest fires, everyone listened to the radio to hear the breaking news

about which roads were open and which neighborhoods were in danger.

_____________

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Songs about John Henry

John Henry was a folk hero who was very good at hammering railroad spikes,

and when machines began to do the work instead of people, he had a “contest”

(a competition to see who is better at doing something) against the machine. He

won, but died immediately after the contest.

Many songs have been written about John Henry. Here are some of the “lyrics”

(the words sung in a song) to one popular song called John Henry, Steel Driving

Man:

John Henry was a railroad man,

He worked from six 'till five,

"Raise them up bullies and let them drop down,

I'll beat you to the bottom or die."

John Henry said to his captain:

"You are nothing but a common man,

Before that steam drill shall “beat me down” (do something better than me)

I'll die with my hammer in my hand."

John Henry's captain came to him

With fifty dollars in his hand,

He laid his hand on his shoulder and said:

"This belongs to a steel driving man."

John Henry was hammering on the right side,

The big steam “drill” (a machine for making holes) on the left,

Before that steam drill could beat him down,

He hammered his fool self to death.

John Henry was lying on his death bed,

He turned over on his side,

And these were the last words John Henry said,

"Bring me a cool drink of water before I die."

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 119

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 119.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode one-one-

nine (119). I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for

Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Go to our website at eslpod.com. You can download a Learning Guide. You can

also take a look at our ESL Podcast Store, with additional courses in English, as

well as our ESL Podcast Blog, where several times a week we provide even

more help in helping you increase your language proficiency.

On this Café, we’re going to talk about one of the most famous legendary heroes

from American history, someone who is not a real person but represents some

interesting ideas about American history. This person’s name is John Henry.

We’re also going to talk about the City of Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska is our most

northern state; we’ll talk about its largest city in this largest state of the United

States. And as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our first topic today is John Henry. John Henry is an African American (or black)

folk hero. When we say someone is a “folk (folk) hero,” we mean that they are a

made-up or imaginary person who has had some story told about them. It’s often

the case that these stories – these folk stories have as their basis – as their

cause some deeper social problem or important cultural issue.

John Henry was supposed to be the strongest man alive, according to the story.

During the 19 th century – during the 1800s – there was a story of this John

Henry, who worked on the railroads. During the 19 th century in the United States,

as in other countries, there were many railroads being built. In the U.S., there

were railroads connecting the east part of the United States – the East Coast

with the newly growing West Coast, and John Henry worked on one of these

railroads. He was what was called a “steel driver.” A “steel driver” is somebody

who uses a hammer in order to put in what are called “spikes” (spikes). A “spike”

is like a big nail that holds the railroad track together. The “track” is the thing that

the train rides on; it’s what you put down on the ground – the “railroad track.”

So, John Henry was a steel driver; he used a hammer to put in rail spikes. But

one day, the company that owned the railroad decided to use a “mechanical

hammer,” a hammer that was powered, or that was fueled, by steam. Of course,

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 119

modern technology was improving in the 19 th century, and there were many more

of these machines that were doing the job that men and women used to do.

Well, John Henry decided to challenge the inventor of this steam-powered

hammer to a contest, and so the contest was to see who could drive in the most

spikes – who could be most efficient: the man, John Henry, or the machine. At

the end of the story, John Henry wins the contest. He beats the machine,

however right after he dies, probably because of the hard work it took to

participate in this contest against a machine.

So, what is the story here? Well, many people see John Henry as a symbol of

the working class. The term “working class” refers to people who do manual

labor, that is, they use their hands in order to finish their job. Most of us, in

modern economies, sit at a desk with a computer. But doing manual labor would

be actually going out, using your muscles, and accomplishing your work that

way.

So, John Henry is a symbol of the working class, specifically the African

American working class of the 19 th century, and he’s also a symbol of this conflict

between the new technology and the traditional working class. New technology

brings many advantages economically, but it can also displace workers. “To

displace” (displace) means that you replace one thing with another thing, usually

involuntarily. That is, the person didn’t want to leave, but they were forced to

leave because something else came in to replace them. So these “displaced

workers,” we might call them, had as their hero, in some ways, John Henry. But

of course, since John Henry dies at the end of the story, it’s hard to say exactly

that he is the winner. In fact, eventually the workers were replaced by machines.

John Henry is similar to other folk heroes in American “mythology,” you could call

it. Paul Bunyan, for example, is a very similar kind of mythical folk hero. Paul

Bunyan’s strength – his talent – was chopping down trees. “To chop down a

tree” is to take an “axe,” something that is a tool that has a sharp metal edge,

and you hit the axe against the tree removing the wood, and eventually the tree

will fall down. But eventually, the companies that made money cutting down the

trees invented a mechanical saw. A “saw” (saw) is another way of cutting down

a tree; it is a long, sharp tool that you move back and forth against the wood.

This mechanical saw was like the steam-powered hammer in the John Henry

story, a representation of the new technology.

So, all of these big men – all of these folk heroes represent different groups in

different parts of the country during the 19 th century, and now these stories are

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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