EC122_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 122

TOPICS

Ask an American: endangered languages; rednecks, dictionary versus thesaurus

_____________

GLOSSARY

domain – an area that one is responsible for; an area of knowledge or of one’s

work; the responsibilities that one has

* Cleaning the house used to be women’s domain, but now many men have that

responsibility.

to domesticate – to train a wild animal so that it can live with or near humans

* When were llamas domesticated?

fragile – easily broken; delicate; not strong or sturdy

* Don’t drop that box! It’s full of fragile glasses.

to erode – to slowly destroy something over time, especially the surface of the

land; to disappear slowly overtime

* The beach is slowly being eroded by the action of the ocean’s waves.

to disrupt – to interfere in a negative way; to make it difficult or impossible for

something to continue

* Our meeting was disrupted by the fire alarm.

to mend – to fix, especially by sewing

* I need to buy some yellow thread so that I can mend these socks.

to embody – to represent an idea; to personify; to be an example of something

* Humans’ changing relationship with nature is embodied in the destruction of the

Amazonian rainforests.

landscape – scenery; a view in nature; a wide view of everything that one sees

from a particular place

* Their home has large windows that look out at the beautiful, mountainous

landscape.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 122

revitalization – the increase in strength, size, and life of something

* As part of its neighborhood revitalization program, the city is building new

homes and cleaning up the park.

to enrich – to make something better, fuller, richer, or more vibrant

* Kimbo wants to enrich his children’s education by giving them music, dance,

and art lessons.

daunting – intimidating; making one feel nervous or overwhelmed and unable to

do something

* Moving across the country to a place where you don’t know anyone can be

daunting.

reclamation – the act of getting something back from another person or

organization; the act of getting back what used to be yours but was taken away

* Many Native Americans are asking for the reclamation of their lands in the

Midwestern United States.

apprentice – an intern; a person who works with a professional for a short period

of time to learn how to do a specific type of work

* Earl plans to study in a cooking school for two years and then work as a chef’s

apprentice for one year before opening his own restaurant.

to be without recourse to – to not be able to do or get something that would

help one in a difficult situation

* The young woman had to pay for her new home without recourse to a bank

loan.

redneck – an impolite and insulting term used to refer to an uneducated, poor,

and very conservative American who lives in the countryside

* Most Americans think of rednecks as people who drive old pick-up trucks and

wear cowboy hats.

thesaurus – a book that lists groups of synonyms, or words that have the same

or similar meanings.

* According to this thesaurus, synonyms for “happy” include joyous, glad,

cheerful, and pleased.

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English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 122

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Custer’s Last Stand

“Custer’s Last Stand,” also known as “The Battle of the Little Bighorn” and “The

Battle of the Greasy Grass,” was a “battle” (a fight between two groups of people

with guns) between the U.S. Army and the Lakota-Northern Cheyenne “tribes”

(groups of Native Americans) in 1876. The U.S. Army had been fighting “Indian

Wars” against the Native Americans for years, and this was the most famous

battle that the Native Americans won.

“Lieutenant Colonel” (a high position in the military) Custer and his “troops” (the

people in the military who follow those with higher positions) were “marching”

(walking militarily) along the Little Bighorn River. One morning, the “scouts”

(people who walk faster than the larger group to see what is ahead) reported that

there was a large Native American village ahead, and Custer decided to “attack”

(fight against) it. However, the Native Americans had seen the troops’ “tracks”

(signs left behind where people have been) and were “expecting” (waiting for)

Custer’s arrival.

The Lakota and Cheyenne tribes had between 900 and 1,800 “warriors” (men

who are trained to fight), and they were armed with guns, bows and arrows, and

“clubs” (heavy objects used to hit people in the head). By the time Custer

realized that he was badly “outnumbered” (there were more Native Americans

than U.S. soldiers), it was too late. Custer and all of his troops were killed in less

than one hour. Some people say that Custer “committed suicide” (killed himself)

to avoid being “captured” (caught) and “tortured” (treated badly to produce a lot

of pain), but historians do not know whether this is true.

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English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 122

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast English Café number 122.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast English Café episode 122. I’m

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. If you go there now, you can download a Learning

Guide for this episode, an 8 to 10 page guide to help you improve your English

even faster. We also have some ESL Podcast special courses in daily and

business English.

In this cafe, we’re going to have another one of our Ask an American segments.

We are going to listen to native speakers talking about what are called

“endangered languages.” They’ll be speaking at native rate – at a normal speed.

We’ll listen to them, then go back and explain what they said, and then listen to

them again. This gives you a chance to hear how English is spoken normally,

but also gives you a chance to pick up some new vocabulary as we explain it. As

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

Our topic today is endangered languages. “To be endangered” means the same

as being in danger; in this case, it means in danger of not existing, of what we

may call “going extinct.” When something is “extinct” (extinct), it no longer exists.

“Dinosaurs are extinct on earth,” there are no more dinosaurs – except my

neighbor! If something is “endangered,” that means that it could become extinct

in the near future – that there is a danger that it will disappear. This is true for

plants and animals; it’s also true for languages. There are almost 7,000

languages in the world, but according to some scientists, almost half of these

languages are endangered, meaning there’s only a very small number, often old

people who speak the language. The language is not being learned by the

younger generation.

There was a recent report on the Voice of America on this topic, where they

interviewed scientists – linguists – and asked them about endangered languages.

No doubt one reason why languages are endangered is because certain

languages, such as English, becomes so popular that everyone starts switching

to that popular language.

Let’s listen to one professor talk about what would happen, or what does happen

when a language dies. When the last person who speaks a language dies, what

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 122

dies with them? He’s going to describe kinds of knowledge that we lose when a

language dies. We’ll listen, and then we’ll go back and explain what he’s saying.

Don’t worry if you can’t understand every word. We’ll explain it in a minute. Here

we go.

[recording]

Vast domains of knowledge about meteorology, mathematics, weather cycles,

plant and animal behavior, how to domesticate plants and animals exists, it is out

there, it is fragile; it is very rapidly eroding.

[recording ends]

The professor begins by saying, “Vast domains of knowledge.” A “domain”

(domain), in this context, means an area, or a topic, or a field. On the Internet,

you know, we use the word “domain name” to refer to the name of the website;

our domain is eslpod.com. Here, “domain” means area of knowledge, a certain

large topic. Some of the domains of knowledge that will be lost, according to this

professor, involves meteorology, “meteorology” is the study of the weather;

“mathematics,” the study of numbers; “weather cycles,” that is, the way that

weather changes over time; “plant and animal behavior.” In certain areas, in

certain languages, we have certain terms and concepts for different plants and

animals, and the way they behave – the way they act. Also lost would be

knowledge about how to domesticate plants and animals. “To domesticate”

means the opposite of wild; something that is “domesticated” is not wild. For

example, you could have a dog, and the dog could be wild. He lives in the

woods – he lives in the forest. A domesticated dog would be one that lived in the

city, often with a family. So “domestication,” which is the noun coming from “to

domesticate,” refers to plants and animals that are not just in the wild – they’re

not just out there – but you’re able to, for a plant, get new plants. You are able to

have a farm. Or for animals, you are able to have the animals reproduce – have

babies – even though they are living with you.

All these domains of knowledge – meteorology, mathematics, weather cycles,

plant and animal behavior, to domesticate plants and animals – all this

knowledge “exists,” the scientist says, “it is out there.” When we say something

is “out there,” we mean it exists somewhere, not here but somewhere else. He

describes this knowledge as being “fragile.” When we say something is “fragile”

(fragile), we mean that you can easily break it, or you can easily hurt it or harm it.

We often when we are sending a package in the mail, and there’s something

inside that will break, you may put on the outside the package “fragile” so that the

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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