Learn English idioms and slang – The numbers are skyrocketing
05/19/2013
by Culips
in Catch Word
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What goes up must come down! Things are always changing in today’s world, and that’s why we decided to make an episode about things going up and going down. Especially in the news, we often hear about increases and decreases, and they use lots of different expressions to talk about this. This time, we’re talking about numbers, such as prices, statistics, and other amounts. Listen to this episode and we’ll see if our numbers start to soar!
| Maura: | These expressions are often used in business, especially talking about money or amounts of things. To be honest, when I got the idea for this episode, Harp, I was listening to the news. I heard a bunch of these expressions used on the news, and that’s what inspired this episode. |
| Harp: | Oh, I like it. Yeah, you’re right. They use these expression a lot in the news to talk about things like the price of stocks going up or going down. |
| Maura: | Right. They might use these expression to talk about statistics, too, like “35% of people believe this.” So that’s the kind of stuff that you hear on the news. |
| Harp: | Yeah. These expressions are always about an amount. |
| Maura: | All right. Let’s get to the first expression. The first expression is to skyrocket. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| A cottage | The great outdoors |
| To skyrocket | To soar |
| A homonym | To be liking – Is this correct? |
| What does up must come down | To nosedive |
| Back to the subject | At any rate |
| To hold off | To jump at the chance |
| To sink | A start-up |
| Other expressions to talk about decreasing and increasing |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips
Customer service
05/12/2013
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Everyone likes to get good customer service, but we don’t always get it. In this episode, we talk about tipping (where, when, and how much), and about how to handle a situation when the service was not so good. Harp and Maura also share their own perspectives of what it’s like to work in customer service. Is the customer realty always right?
| Maura: | When you go to a restaurant and you sit down, when someone takes your order and brings you your food, you should be giving them a tip at the end. Now, the amount that you tip is really up to you. |
| Harp: | Yeah, it varies. And this is where the quality of service can definitely come in, because you can leave 10% if it was bad service, or if it was really good service, you can leave 20%. |
| Maura: | Or even more. Now, when Harp says 10%, she means 10% of your bill. So, for example, if you bought a meal and it cost $10, then a 10% tip is one dollar. |
| Harp: | Now I have a question for you, Maura. |
| Maura: | I hope it’s not a more difficult math question, because I won’t be able to do it. |
| Harp: | Nope. But I’ve had this discussion with my friends. Do you tip on the amount before taxes or after taxes? |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| That very thing | How much and whom to tip in Canada |
| The bill | A grey area |
| To swear | Interac and the tip function |
| What to do when you get bad customer service | To be taken advantage of |
| The squeaky wheel gets the oil | On the other end of the line |
| Across the board | The customer is always right |
| The other side of the coin | Minimum wage |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips
Like water off a duck’s back
05/5/2013
by Culips
in Catch Word
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When someone says something negative or critical about you, sometimes it can bother or upset you. But it’s important not to take things like this too personally, just like this week’s expression: like water off a duck’s back. In this episode, we look at idioms that mean that you don’t let someone’s negative comments affect you. We think that’s good advice. Check out this episode to hear about brushing things off and constructive criticism.
| Maura: | In this example, someone was really upset about getting in trouble with her boss, about not meeting deadlines, and she talked about another colleague, Sheila, who didn’t get upset. Sheila treated the boss’s comments like water off a duck’s back. They didn’t bother her and she didn’t get upset. |
| Harp: | Yeah. Sheila didn’t let the boss get to her. She didn’t let his negative comments and his yelling at her get her upset. |
| Maura: | And that is important. Sometimes you should listen to criticism. This is actually called constructive criticism, when someone is just trying to give you advice so you can improve yourself and be better. That’s important, but it’s also important that if someone is saying something negative to you, you don’t take it too personally, either. |
| Harp: | Yeah. It’s important to not be too sensitive when people are trying to give you constructive criticism, or even when they’re just criticizing. It’s important to just not let it affect you too much. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| To get the hang of something | To let something get to you |
| Like water off a duck’s back | Constructive criticism |
| To nag | To brush something off |
| Right off the bat | To suck |
| To put your nose to the grindstone | To laugh something off |
| To get under your skin | Cool |
| Not to sweat something |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips
Canadian myths
04/28/2013
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Many cultures around the world have traditional stories that have been told for many years. We were recently asked whether Canada has any interesting myths, so here’s an episode all about our some of our stories. We talk about Canada’s Bigfoot, a flaming ghost ship, and our lost mines. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether you think these myths are true or not. Thanks to our listeners for suggesting such great topics!
| Maura: | So Canadians have their own Bigfoot. Interesting. Now, are there any other myths that you heard out West? |
| Harp: | Yes. The other one—I love this one because I love his name—the Ogopogo. |
| Maura: | OK. The Ogopogo. I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that. What is it? |
| Harp: | You’ve never heard of the Ogopogo? |
| Maura: | No, tell me about it. |
| Harp: | Well, the Ogopogo is a lake monster, and he exists in the Okanogan Lake. |
| Maura: | OK. So, I have heard of the Loch Ness Monster, which is a really famous kind of thing—monster—that lives in Scotland. It’s the same idea then, right? |
| Harp: | Exactly. The Ogopogo is similar to the Loch Ness Monster. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| To see something through another person’s eyes | Word of mouth |
| That’s just a myth | Long-standing |
| Do tell | Bigfoot/sasquatc |
| That’s the thing | A hoax |
| The Ogopogo and other Canadian lake monsters | To give someone the benefit of the doubt |
| The Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait | Lost mines |
| Fishy | To lose track of something |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Canada Post
What’s your personality?
04/21/2013
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this episode, we talk about personality! Harp and Maura start by talking about introverts and extroverts, and the positive and negative qualities of both. They also discuss astrological signs. Do you think that when someone is born can determine their personality? Can a person’s personality change over their lifetime? Listen to this episode to hear what Harp and Maura have to say about it.
| Harp: | If we talk about extroverted people, they’re very outgoing. They’re usually telling jokes or stories, and people are listening to them. They really like being the centre of attention. They like other people’s attention to be on them. |
| Maura: | Yeah. These kinds of people are the life of the party. They’re friendly. They don’t feel shy about striking up conversation with a complete stranger. |
| Harp: | Sometimes they can come off as a little bit of a show-off, ’cause they always want to talk about themselves and their stories. |
| Maura: | Yeah. There are really pros and cons to both of these personality types. If you’re extroverted, you’re very friendly, but you can also seem, maybe, loud- mouthed or arrogant. And introverted people are thought to be more intellectual, but you could also seem, maybe, rude because you’re quiet all the time, or people might think you’re a hermit because you stay in and don’t go out very much. |
| Harp: | Yeah. And oftentimes, with introverted people, you might think they’re cold because they don’t show their feelings as much. |
| Maura: | Yeah. That’s true. But I think you really hit the nail on the head earlier, Harp, when you said that some people can be introverted and extroverted in different situations. It’s not so fixed to say that one person is always introverted and one person is always extroverted. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| Cut and dried | The Perks of Being a Wallflower |
| To strike up a conversation | To come off as something |
| A hermit | To hit the nail on the head |
| The Myers-Briggs personality test | Technically |
| Zodiac signs, astrology, and horoscopes | Blood type |
| It goes to show | Like |
| It’s not an exact science | To come out of your shell |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips
