Episode 0087
Summary
The audio features a Star Trek-themed role-play where a starship reports damage and attempts to make contact with an attacking vessel. A speaker attempting to portray a Klingon captain is criticized for their voice performance, leading to the actor's frustrated complaint about having acquired a Klingon costume and wig.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Captain, we're under attack by an unidentified ship.
Damage report.
We've sustained heavy damages to the engines.
We've lost our warp drive.
We'll have to attempt to make contact.
This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise.
We don't wish to engage.
What is the nature of this attack?
I am Captain Kore of the ship Korthos.
Your ship attacked our search party.
No, you're not doing it right.
Kore doesn't sound like that. His voice is deeper.
I am Captain Kore of the ship Korthos.
Your ship...
No! If you can't do an authentic Klingon voice, I'll have to find a more serious Star Trek fan who can actually act, okay?
What, but I already bought the Klingon suit and the wig and...
Summary
This English language learning podcast episode from EnglishPod, hosted by Marco and Erica, introduces a lesson focused on sci-fi related English phrases. The lesson begins with a humorous skit acting out a Star Trek scene, where an actor struggles to perform an 'authentic' Klingon voice, leading to a 'critic' interrupting the performance. The hosts then delve into various phrases and concepts derived from the skit and Star Trek lore, such as 'unidentified ship,' 'warp drive,' 'search party,' 'deep voice,' 'authentic,' 'wig,' 'under attack,' 'sustain heavy damage,' and 'what is the nature of this attack.' They provide clear definitions, contextual usage, and examples, highlighting their applicability in both sci-fi contexts and everyday English. The episode concludes with a final review of the dialogue and an invitation for listeners to engage with the podcast.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello English learners, welcome back to English Pod. My name is Marco.
And I'm Erica.
And today we're bringing you another sci-fi lesson for all of those fans out there of Star Trek and Star Wars.
That's right. And today we're going to focus on some phrases. We're not going to do any vocabulary today, we're just going to learn some phrases that you'll find relating to science fiction.
Okay, very good. So, why don't we listen to the dialogue for the first time and we'll come back and look at all these phrases.
Captain, we're under attack by an unidentified ship.
Damage report.
We've sustained heavy damages to the engines. We've lost our warp drive.
We'll have to attempt to make contact.
This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. We don't wish to engage. What is the nature of this attack?
I am Captain Kor of the ship Krotos. Your ship attacked our search party.
No, you're not doing it right. Kor doesn't sound like that. His voice is deeper.
I am Captain Kor of the ship Krotos. Your ship...
No, if you can't do an authentic Klingon voice, I'll have to find a more serious Star Trek fan who can actually act, okay?
What? But I already bought the Klingon suit and the wig and...
All right, very good Star Trek fans. Apparently, they were trying to act out one of the famous episodes where the Klingons attack the Enterprise.
My goodness. I don't know a lot about um Star Trek, but I do know a lot about language. And we've got some great stuff here that will help you understand um sci-fi movies and TV shows in English a little bit better.
So, why don't we go now to Fluency Builder.
All right, so the first phrase that we have today on Fluency Builder, unidentified ship.
An unidentified ship.
Unidentified ship.
Unidentified ship.
If we break it down and look at the first word, unidentified.
You don't know which one it is.
Okay, you don't know the identity.
Yep.
And a ship, I guess that's short for...
A rocket ship.
A rocket ship.
Or a spaceship.
Okay.
So we're not talking boats here.
All right, we're not talking about boats. Very good.
Now moving on to our second phrase, the Enterprise lost its warp drive.
Warp drive.
Warp drive.
Warp drive.
So the warp drive of the Enterprise is actually something like an engine.
Mhm.
That allows it to go faster than the speed of light.
So super fast.
Super fast.
But why warp?
All right, well, if we take a look at the word warp, that actually means to bend.
Yep, so like when you warp wood, it it bends.
Exactly, you bend wood or you warp metal.
And, well, that's kind of the theory behind it is that they're going so fast that they bend or warp time.
Okay, so warp drive. I think a very sci-fi specific phrase here.
Right.
All right, and for our third phrase today, search party.
Search party.
A search party.
A search party.
Okay, so what what is this? Are we having a party? What what's going on?
Well, when somebody gets lost, um, you know, maybe in the woods or something, you send out a search party to find them.
So a party would be a group of people.
Exactly.
So, that also happens in restaurants, I think, right?
Right. Sometimes you might say, how many people in your party?
In your party, very good. So party, group of people.
All right, so in the dialogue, we saw that actually these were not real Star Trek characters, but they were just acting, but it didn't sound quite right, right?
Yeah, he said that his voice is deeper.
So a deep voice.
Deep voice.
A deep voice.
All right. We're going to hear an example of what a deep voice sounds like.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America's rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again.
That is a deep voice.
Now, because his voice wasn't deep enough, he didn't sound authentic.
Authentic.
Authentic.
All right, so authentic, very easy word.
Real.
True to life.
True to life, right?
Not fake.
Exactly. So, um Marco, is that an authentic Rolex?
No, it's not.
But thank you for noticing.
All right, so authentic. And our last word for today, a wig.
A wig.
A wig.
A wig.
Wig, W. I. G, wig.
So a wig is pretend hair, right?
Right, fake hair.
So the hair is not authentic.
Very good. All right, so a wig.
All right, we've got some great language here. And why don't we listen to it one more time, slow down a little bit in the dialogue.
Captain, we're under attack by an unidentified ship.
Damage report.
We've sustained heavy damages to the engines. We've lost our warp drive.
We'll have to attempt to make contact.
This is Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise. We don't wish to engage. What is the nature of this attack?
I am Captain Kor of the ship Kothos. Your ship attacked our search party.
No. You're not doing it right. Kor doesn't sound like that. His voice is deeper.
I am Captain Kor of the ship Kothos. Your ship...
No! If you can't do an authentic Klingon voice, I'll have to find a more serious Star Trek fan who can actually act, okay?
But, but, I already bought the Klingon suit and the wig.
All right, now it's time for us to take a look at more phrases today in Fluency Builder.
All right, so we've got some phrases here that you can use together with a number of different words, right?
Exactly.
So the first one, we heard that Data said we're under attack.
We're under attack.
Under attack.
All right, so if we're under attack, it means that we are being...
Attacked.
Attacked.
Someone is shooting guns at you or trying to hurt you or something like that.
Okay, so we are under attack. Very popular phrase that you would hear in war movies or something.
Definitely.
Now, you can change this by changing the last word. We are under fire.
Under fire, which basically means the same thing.
Yeah, except when you're under fire, um, there are guns involved.
Okay, so they're shooting at you.
All right, we're under attack. We're under fire.
Mhm.
All right. Moving on to our second phrase. We've sustained heavy damage.
Sustain heavy damage.
So, when you sustain something, you receive it or you undergo this thing.
So usually it's related to injury or to receiving some type of...
Of negative thing.
Okay, so why don't we listen to some examples of how we could use sustain in context.
Example one.
John had a car accident and sustained a fatal injury.
Example two.
The boxer sustained a severe neck injury in the championship fight.
Example three.
Luckily, the warship didn't sustain any serious damage.
All right, so you see we we typically sustain something like an injury, um, or a damage that is negative.
Very good.
Mhm.
And the last phrase for today, what is the nature of this attack?
What is the nature of?
What is the nature of?
Okay, so basically he's just asking, why are you doing this?
Right. Why, what is the reason? What is the purpose?
Mhm.
So again, we have some more examples of how you could use what is the nature of in different situations.
Example one.
What is the nature of your visit to the United States?
Example two.
What is the nature of the threat against our country?
Example three.
The nature of my visit is personal.
Okay, so a great phrase you can use um not only when you're talking sci-fi, but in everyday life.
Exactly.
So why don't we listen now to the dialogue for the last time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.
Captain, we're under attack by an unidentified ship.
Damage report.
We've sustained heavy damages to the engines. We've lost our warp drive.
We'll have to attempt to make contact.
This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. We don't wish to engage. What is the nature of this attack?
I am Captain Kor of the ship Kothos. Your ship attacked our search party.
No! You're not doing it right. Kor doesn't sound like that. His voice is deeper.
I am Captain Kor of the ship Kothos. Your ship...
No! If you can't do an authentic Klingon voice, I'll have to find a more serious Star Trek fan who can actually act, okay?
What? But I already bought the Klingon suit and the wig and...
Well, Marco, I already admitted that I'm not much of a sci-fi fan and I don't really know anything about Star Trek or Star Wars.
Well, it is a very popular show. I think it started around the 60s or 70s, the first version of Star Trek. And, well, many, many people follow it now. They dress up, they know the secret language that is used on the show, they know the spaceships. It's a big culture.
That's true. And speaking of culture, I think we've got um a Star Trek movie coming out pretty soon. So if some of this language can help you guys understand it a little bit better.
Very good. Yeah, so if you have any other questions or comments related to not only to science fiction, but anything in general, please come to the website Englishpod.com and leave your questions or comments.
Well, thanks for downloading you guys and until next time. Goodbye.
Bye.
Summary
This audio is an English vocabulary review session. It presents vocabulary words by first giving their definition, then stating the word, and later providing example sentences to illustrate their usage. The session covers words and phrases such as 'being attacked', 'under attack', 'unidentified', 'sustain', 'warp drive', 'engage', 'nature', 'search party', 'deep voice', 'wig', 'phaser', 'bridge', 'holodeck', 'beam up', and 'ensign'.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pod Audio Review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Being attacked.
Under attack.
Not known, having no identity.
Unidentified.
To experience or suffer.
Sustain.
The engine system used by a spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light.
Warp drive.
To start fighting.
Engage.
The basic reason.
Nature.
An organized group of people sent to look for someone or something that is missing or lost.
Search party.
Low in pitch, resonant.
Deep voice.
Artificial hair.
Wig.
A fictitious, futuristic weapon that can stun or kill an enemy.
Phaser.
The central point of the ship where the captain commands and orders are taken.
Bridge.
A virtual reality simulation room where places and scenarios can be loaded.
Holodeck.
The action of transporting a person immediately from one place to another in less than a second.
Beam up.
A member of the crew with the lowest rank.
Ensign.
Let's try that faster.
The basic reason.
Nature.
A virtual reality simulation room where places and scenarios can be loaded.
Holodeck.
Low in pitch, resonant.
Deep voice.
An organized group of people sent to look for someone or something that is missing or lost.
Search party.
Artificial hair.
Wig.
To start fighting.
Engage.
To experience or suffer.
Sustain.
A fictitious, futuristic weapon that can stun or kill an enemy.
Phaser.
The central point of the ship where the captain commands and orders are taken.
Bridge.
Being attacked.
Under attack.
The action of transporting a person immediately from one place to another in less than a second.
Beam up.
A member of the crew with the lowest rank.
Ensign.
Not known, having no identity.
Unidentified.
The engine system used by a spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light.
Warp drive.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Sustain.
John had a car accident and sustained a fatal injury.
Sustain.
The boxer sustained a severe neck injury in the championship fight.
Sustain.
Luckily, the warship didn't sustain any serious damage.
Nature.
What is the nature of your visit to the United States?
Nature.
What is the nature of the threat against our country?
Nature.
The nature of my visit is personal.
Search party.
A thirty-man search party was sent out to find survivors of the plane crash.
Search party.
Our neighborhood organized a search party to find the missing children.
Search party.
Two search parties went out into the woods in search of an elephant that escaped from the local zoo.
Deep voice.
Luciano Pavarotti had a beautiful deep voice.
Deep voice.
I think that it is very attractive when a man has a deep voice.
Deep voice.
My dad has such a deep voice that it even scares the cat.
Wig.
I got a very bad haircut once and decided to wear a wig.
Wig.
We had a Halloween party last year and I wore a red wig. No one recognized me.
Wig.
The bank robbers were wearing masks and wigs to avoid being recognized.