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Transcript – Podcast Audio Lesson 021 (2005)

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Audio Script

SEGMENT 1 – Introduction – What do you do when you feel blue?

[ETJS – Welcome/Introduction Message – Music by Martin Chenhall]]

Welcome everyone. Today is Saturday, November 19th 2005, and it’s a beautiful fall day here in Matsumoto, and I’m very happy to be on my computer right now, with my microphone, and talking with all of you. I have to say that I feel you guys out there, especially after reading emails from many of you. It really makes me feel like I’m doing something constructive with this podcast. Thanks for giving me that good feeling.

So, let’s start today by talking about how we can get good feelings. Sometimes we all feel down and blue, sad, maybe even a little depressed. What should we do when we feel blue blue blue?? Mostly, I’d like to hear your suggestions about this. You can write a message on the MY ENGLISH BLOG at englishteacherjohn.com, or you can send us an email at: podcast@englishteacherjohn.com.

What to do when you feel down and blue blue blue??
Well, I like to do some yoga. It gives me both mental energy and physical energy. I learned yoga while I was living in India, and I’m really glad that I did. I now do yoga poses about three times a week, sometimes more often, and it’s a great way to feel good.

I also like to go off on my bicycle and get closer to nature. A walk or ride in the woods, close to the trees and mountains, closer to the clouds – I love to watch the clouds – close to the small streams or rivers, the brightly colored leaves of autumn, the sounds of the birds … well, it just makes me feel good about life.

Reading is another activity that cheers me up. I’m the kind of person that completely escapes into my books or magazines. I love reading! I read both fiction and non-fiction, and I just love to crawl into the pages, walk alongside the characters, share their lives, and usually learn something from them. I think reading broadens your horizons, improves your view of people, society and the world, and brightens your day. Great!

[[Music transition by Martin Chenhall]]
SEGMENT 2 – Hope & Wish

I HOPE   I HOPE   I HOPE
Hey, let’s talk about our hopes, desires and wishes … about the future and things that we hope to do in the future. Things that we really want to accomplish, our short-term or long-term goals.

What do you really want to accomplish in your future?
Someday, I hope to be a successful fashion designer.
I hope to move to Kyoto next year.
My brother hopes to finish his Ph.D. next year.

In English, we use “HOPE TO” to talk about our plans for the future, things that we really want to do.

What do you hope to do next year in 2006?
I know my father hopes to do some traveling.
My niece really hopes to improve her horse riding skills.
She hopes to master Spanish by the end of next year.

WE CAN ALSO HOPE FOR OTHER PEOPLE. You can see that we can use HOPE for very serious things, but also for things that aren’t so serious.

I hope you come to the party tonight.
(Please don’t use the future ‘will’ for these kinds of sentences)

Yuri hopes his sister moves back home next month.
(NOT ‘will move’!!)

They hope their boss changes her mind about the new project.
(NOT ‘will change’!)

Let’s use WISH … 
Here, we’ll talk about things or situations we’d like to have but don’t have. WE WISH WE HAD THEM! And remember that, we’ll use verbs in the PAST TENSE even though we’re talking about a present condition or situation.

Some examples:
I wish I had a little more time during the week.
Don’t you wish there was a post office a little closer to our house?
She wishes she could afford a new car. (It means she doesn’t have the money for a new car, but she’d really like to have the money for the car.)

I wish you would stop smoking.

You can see that COULD and WOULD are commonly used with WISH.
They wish they could travel alone to South America.

Did you see that, in today’s examples, HOPE is often used for the future, and WISH is used for present situations or things.

How about a little practice (pause)

C’mon, let’s repeat repeat repeat these sentences. Say them out loud  OUT LOUD!! This is your time to practice speaking English today!! Okay, let’s go.

Someday, I hope to be a successful fashion designer.
In the next few years, I hope to move to Kyoto and become a translator.
My brother hopes to finish his Ph.D. next year.

What do you hope to do in 2006?
I know my father hopes to do some traveling next summer.
My niece really hopes to improve her horse riding skills.
Next year, I hope to go to university.
When I'm older I hope to live abroad and learn about other cultures.

[[ hope – hoping for others]]
I hope you come to the party tonight.
Yuri hopes his sister moves back home next month.
They hope their boss changes her mind about the new project.

[[wish]]
I wish I had a little more time to finish tomorrow’s homework.
I wish I could talk to my brother about it.
Don’t you wish there was an internet café near here?
She wishes she could afford a new motorbike.
I wish the rain would stop.   I wish it would stop raining.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our lesson about hoping and wishing. I wish I could give you some more examples but I’m a little tired right now. Sorry about that!

[[music transition by Martin Chenhall]]
SEGMENT 3 – Compound adjectives

Now we’re going to talk a few minutes about COMPOUND ADJECTIVES. This segment was a request from Ellie in Taipei, Taiwan. Thanks Ellie, and I hope you’re listening.

Compound adjective. It’s usually an adjective or adverb that’s put in front of a past participle (well-prepared) OR and adjective or adverb combined with a present participle (long-running). TOGETHER, the two words become an adjective, a COMPOUND ADJECTIVE. Often, these compound adjectives have a hyphen between the words.

Online, I found some good information about compound adjectives at:
answers.com
onestopenglish.com
bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/

Okay, let’s look at some examples:

brightly-colored 	a brightly-colored jacket
kind-hearted		my kind-hearted friend
cold-hearted		a cold-hearted person; a cold-hearted letter
old-fashioned		our old-fashioned teacher
well-prepared		a well-prepared plan of action; a well-prepared speech
closely-guarded	a closely-guarded secret
hard-nosed		a hard-nosed politician (he or she is realistic and tough-minded)
tough-minded
heavy-handed		our heavy-handed basketball coach (he’s very forceful and strong)
even-handed		an even-handed approach to solving the disagreement

long-running		a long-running hit TV program
far-reaching 		a far-reaching decision
breath-taking		the breath-taking view from the top of the mountain
15-story		a 15-story building
densely-populated	a densely-populated area
good-looking		a good-looking young man
overly-sensitive	an overly sensitive boyfriend or girlfriend
Italian-American	an Italian-American writer
low-paying		low-paying jobs or better yet, high-paying jobs
democratically-elected	a democratically-elected leader
friendly-looking	the friendly-looking dog in front of that shop
heavily-used		a heavily-used highway
rarely-used		my brother’s rarely-used violin

soft-spoken		the soft-spoken child

open-minded		an open-minded parent
OR
narrow-minded
absent-minded	 (an absent-minded person regularly forgets things, like me. I am very absent-minded))
strong-minded

Well, I think that’s enough of those. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these in the English language.

Whether you’re soft-spoken, absent-minded or hard-nosed, you’ll certainly be well-prepared for our next podcast lesson if you practice all of the English in today’s podcast.

That’s it for today’s lesson. We’ll have a couple of idioms in our next show.

Would you like to practice some English writing and share your opinions with people around the world?? Try the MY ENGLISH BLOG … it’s YOUR English Blog, at englishteacherjohn.com

Have a nice weekend and keep practicing.

© Copyright 2005 English Teacher John, John Koons. All rights reserved.