COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 2: Getting Up
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number two. I’m your
host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational
Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
This episode begins a special 10-part series covering basic vocabulary for
everyday actions, from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night and
everything in between. We’ll start with getting up.
Let’s get started!
[Start of story]
The worst part of the day for me is definitely when I have to get up. Waking up,
that I can handle. But getting up? That, I hate. The covers I have on my bed
are heavy, mostly because I have a comforter as well as a light blanket. I sleep
with two pillows, which for some reason have different color pillowcases. Well, at
least the sheets match.
I sometimes wake up before the alarm goes off. I like to keep the alarm at a low
volume, with some classical music, nothing too jarring. My old roommate used to
like the terrible buzzer that you find on most alarm clocks nowadays, which
always used to drive me nuts. As I was saying, I sometimes wake up before the
alarm, usually because of some noise outside the house—a car door slamming,
an alarm going off, gunfire—well, okay, not gunfire, but man, is my neighborhood
noisy! Of course, when I’m staying in a hotel, it’s usually easier to just get a
wake up call from the hotel than set the alarm.
I’m not really an early riser, so I don’t jump out of bed ready to take on the world.
I get up very slowly, usually one foot on the floor at a time. Every once in awhile
I’ll oversleep, but not too often. I really love the weekends, when I can sleep in.
[End of story]
Our story begins by me describing how much I do not like getting up. To get up
means to get out of your bed, to stand up after you have been lying down on a
bed. I say that, “The worst part of my day is when I have to get up. Waking up,
that I can handle.” To wake up “wake up” (two words) means that you are
sleeping and you stop sleeping and now you are awake. The verb is to wake up.
So, you can wake up while you are in bed, and then, you get up—you stand up
after lying down.
I said that “waking up” is something “I can handle.” To handle (handle) here
means to be able to control—something that I can manage—something that I can
accept; it's not a problem. Another expression would be something I can deal
with. To deal “deal” with something is the same, in this case, as to be able to
handle something.
I say that “getting up” is something that “I hate.” The covers I have on my bed
are heavy.” The covers (covers) are the things that you put over you to keep you
warm. Usually, the covers include a blanket, sometimes a comforter and usually,
what we would call the top sheet or flat sheet. A comforter “comforter” is a very
thick blanket, a very heavy blanket. A blanket (blanket) is something that you put
over you when you are sleeping to keep you warm.
Blanket is a general term; a comforter is a kind of blanket, a heavy blanket. The
opposite of a comforter would be a light blanket. A light (light) blanket would be
the opposite, and that is a blanket that will keep you warm, but if it gets very cold,
it might not keep you warm, it might not be sufficient.
So, we have a comforter and we have a light blanket. Usually, there is a top
sheet (sheet) that you put over you in between your body and the blankets, and
this top sheet is sometimes called a flat sheet. The sheet that goes on the bed
itself, that goes onto the corners of the bed, that's called a fitted sheet, a fitted
(fitted) sheet. So, we have a fitted sheet on the bed that you sleep on top of,
then we have a top sheet and then a blanket, sometimes, if it's very cold, a
comforter as well.
I say in the story that “I sleep with two pillows.” A pillow (pillow) is what you put
your head on when you sleep. Now, “for some reason,” I say I “have different
colored pillowcases.” This is true, actually; I have a black pillowcase and a blue
pillowcase for my two pillows. I think the reason is I am too lazy to go and buy a
new pillowcase.
Well, the pillowcase “pillowcase” (one word) is the thing that you put over the
pillow so the pillow doesn't get dirty; we call that the pillowcase. I say, “Well, at
least the sheets match.” We already know what a sheet is. When we say the
sheets match (match), we mean that they are the same color or two colors that
look good together. We use that verb, to match, when we are talking about
clothing as well, or anything where you have two colors.
“I sometimes wake up before the alarm goes off.” When we say the alarm “goes
off,” we mean that the alarm starts to make a sound. Your alarm (alarm) is a
machine that makes noise at a certain time; usually it has a clock. Well, I
sometimes wake up before my alarm makes noise, my alarm goes off. “I like to
keep the alarm at a low volume,” meaning not very loud – at a low volume – “with
some classical music, nothing too jarring.” When we say a sound is jarring
(jarring), we mean that it is loud and it causes you to jump or to be surprised. It's
something that is not very nice, not very pleasant. A jarring noise would be one
that bothers you, perhaps because it is very loud or it is not a very nice sound.
So, I don't want my alarm to have a jarring noise; instead, I play classical music.
Now, “My old roommate”—the person I used to share an apartment with— “used
to like the terrible buzzer you find on most alarm clocks.” This, again, is true. I
had a roommate that had a very loud and bad sounding buzzer; it was a terrible
buzzer. The buzzer (buzzer) is when the alarm clock doesn't play music, but it
just plays a sound. Sometimes it is like a bell ringing; that's the buzzer. Well,
this buzzer always used to drive me nuts. “To drive someone nuts” (nuts) means
to drive them crazy, to make them crazy, to make them go crazy.
I continue the story by saying, “As I was saying.” We use that expression, “as I
was saying,” when we are talking about one thing then we start talking about a
second thing, and now we want to go back and talk about the first thing again.
So, when you interrupt yourself when you are talking, and then you change the
topic, change what you are talking about, and then want to go back to your
original topic, you say, “As I was saying.”
“As I was saying, I sometimes wake up before the alarm, usually because of
some noise outside the house.” When we say there is some noise, some sound,
outside the house or outside of the house - you can say either one - we mean
that someone is making a noise that is very loud. Some of those noises are “a
car door slamming.” The verb “to slam” (slam) means that you close the door
usually very quickly and you make a loud noise. Someone closes their car door
very fast, it will make a noise. We call that “slamming the door.”
My mother always used to tell me when I was young, “Don't slam the doors,”
meaning when I come in and close the door, I should close it slowly and quietly.
Of course, I was not a good boy so I would sometimes slam the door.
As I was saying, an alarm goes off, that's another noise that can wake you up
outside and this would be a car alarm. Here in Los Angeles, everyone has a car
alarm, and sometimes those alarms go off at night. Another noise is gunfire;
“gun (gun) fire (fire).” Gunfire is when someone shoots a gun and it makes a
noise. This is, again, Los Angeles, so we sometimes have gunfire - but of
course, I'm joking. I say, “Well, okay, not gunfire,” meaning I'm just kidding, that
isn't actually true, although, it is true sometimes.
I then say, “Man, is my neighborhood noisy!” That expression, “man,” is just a
way of expressing your emotion when you are saying something that you really
mean or really want to emphasize. “Man, is my neighborhood noisy!” - that
means my neighborhood is very noisy.
“Of course, when I'm staying at a hotel, it’s usually easier to just get a wake up
call from the hotel.” A “wake up call” (call) is when the hotel calls you on the
phone to wake you up so you don't have to set your own alarm. “To set” (set) an
alarm means to turn it on and to put a certain time that you want to get up. Well,
sometimes people have problems with their alarm clocks and so, if they are in a
hotel, they can ask the hotel to wake them up with a wake up call.
At the end of the story I say, “I’m not really an early riser.” An “early (early) riser
(riser)” means someone who wakes up and gets up very early in the morning.
You could be an early riser; you could be a late riser. The word “riser” comes
from the verb “to rise (rise)” which, in this case, means to get up. Well, “I'm not
really an early riser,” I say, “so I don’t jump out of bed.” “To jump out of bed”
means to get out of bed very quickly. “I don’t jump out of bed ready to take on
the world.” “To take on the world,” means I'm ready for the day. It's an
expression we use to say that I am ready to go out into the world and do my best.
“I'm not an early riser, I don't jump out of bed ready to take on the world.”
Instead, “I get up very slowly, usually one foot on the floor at a time.” So first, I
get up and I put one foot on the floor, and then another foot on the floor, and then
I stand up.
“Every once in awhile,” I say, “I’ll oversleep.” “To oversleep” (oversleep) – one
word – means that you sleep later than you should. For example, you are
wanting to get up at seven o'clock in the morning and you sleep until 7:30. You
don't realize that you are sleeping too late; we call that “oversleeping.” To
oversleep means you sleep longer than you wanted to.
At the end of the story I say, “I really love the weekends” – Fridays and
Saturdays – “when I can sleep in.” “To sleep in” means that you don't get up at
your normal time; you sleep longer than you normally do. So, if you normally get
up at seven, on Saturday or Sunday if you don't work, you may sleep in until nine
a.m.
Now let's listen to the story, this time at a native rate of speech.
[Start of story]
The worst part of the day for me is definitely when I have to get up. Waking up,
that I can handle. But getting up? That, I hate. The covers I have on my bed
are heavy, mostly because I have a comforter as well as a light blanket. I sleep
with two pillows, which for some reason have different color pillowcases. Well, at
least the sheets match.
I sometimes wake up before the alarm goes off. I like to keep the alarm at a low
volume, with some classical music, nothing too jarring. My old roommate used to
like the terrible buzzer that you find on most alarm clocks nowadays, which
always used to drive me nuts. As I was saying, I sometimes wake up before the
alarm, usually because of some noise outside the house—a car door slamming,
an alarm going off, gunfire—well, okay, not gunfire, but man, is my neighborhood
noisy! Of course, when I’m staying in a hotel, it’s usually easier to just get a
wake up call from the hotel than to set the alarm.
I’m not really an early riser, so I don’t jump out of bed ready to take on the world.
I get up very slowly, usually one foot on the floor at a time. Every once in awhile
I’ll oversleep, but not too often. I really love the weekends, when I can sleep in.
[End of story]
Her scripts are never jarring, but always as wonderful as classical music. I
speak, of course, of our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. Thank you, Lucy!
From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan, thank you for listening. Come
back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
GLOSSARY
to get up – to get out of bed; to leave one’s bed
* This morning I got up very quickly because the baby was crying.
to wake up – to awaken; to stop sleeping
* She always leaves her curtains open so that she can wake up with the sunlight.
to handle – to manage; to deal with; to control
* Are you sure that you can handle taking six classes this semester?
covers – the layers of fabric that cover a bed; the cloth material that covers a
bed and that keep one warm
* When my husband sleeps, he always steals the covers and then I get so cold at
night!
comforter – the top-most, thickest cover for a bed, usually made of feathers or
other warm material
* In the winter, they sleep under a very thick comforter, but in the summer they
don’t use it.
light blanket – a thin cover for a bed, made of wool, cotton, or other material
* When Marcos saw Maria sleeping on the sofa, he covered her with a light
blanket so she wouldn’t be too cold.
pillow – a soft cushion for one’s head in bed, usually filled with feathers, cotton,
or other material
* Why do people decorate their beds with so many pillows? I only need one to
sleep on.
pillowcase – the fabric covering a pillow; the material that covers a pillow to
keep it clean
* They bought new pillowcases to match the color of their bedroom walls.
sheets – two pieces of large, thin fabric placed on a bed – one to lie on and one
to lie under
* How often do you change the sheets on your bed?
to match – to have the same color or colors that look good together; to make a
good combination; to look good together
* Do you think that this sweater matches these pants?
to go off – to make a loud noise very suddenly
* When my alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., I was in the middle of a very good dream.
jarring – irritating, unpleasant, or annoying to one’s ears
* The children were fighting during the car trip and their arguments became very
jarring to their parents.
buzzer – an electronic device that makes a long, continuous buzzing sound,
similar to that of a flying insect like a fly
* Many TV game shows use a buzzer when participants answer a question
incorrectly.
to drive (someone) nuts – to make someone angry, irritated, or crazy
* Please stop singing that song over and over again. You’re driving me nuts!
wake-up call – a hotel service that calls guests at a time the guest wants to
wake them up in the morning
* He missed his flight because the hotel forgot to give him a wake-up call.
early riser – a person who enjoys waking up early in the morning
* Because Samuel is an early riser, he usually makes breakfast for his wife so
that she can sleep a little later.
to oversleep – to sleep too late; to sleep past the time that one is supposed to
* Sasha overslept and missed her biology exam. Do you think her professor will
let her take it another day?
to sleep in – to sleep later than usual
* Teenagers love to sleep in on weekends. Sometimes they don’t wake up until
noon!
