Episode 0109

Hello English learners, welcome back to another show with us here at English Pod.

My name is Marco.

And I'm Erica.

And today we're bringing you another romantic lesson, but a little bit sad as well.

Right, so it's a little bit sad today, but it's going to be good because we're going to be teaching you some great words and phrases that you can use when you are faced in this situation.

That's right, and so we're going to learn some uh phrases for breaking up and also some phrases for staying together.

All right, so let's listen to the dialogue for the first time and see what happens with our young couple.

Honey, do you have a second?

Sure.

Are you okay? You seem a bit worried. What's on your mind?

We need to talk.

Okay.

I know that I can be hard to deal with, and you're a great guy. You're the type of guy that any woman would kill for.

Here are your keys. I'll send my sister to pick up the rest of my things next week.

Yeah, but I don't think the girl was very moved or very sad by breaking up with him.

I wonder why. Maybe she's got some other boyfriend somewhere else.

Maybe.

Mm-hm.

Well, as you mentioned, we listened to some great phrases and it's time for us to take a look at them now in fluency builder.

Okay, here we're going to focus on phrases that people use when they break up. So maybe you've heard these in movies and we're going to look at the meaning now.

All right, our first phrase as we heard, she started by saying, we need to talk.

We need to talk.

All right, so very direct sentence, we need to talk.

So when you tell someone, we need to talk, you're telling them that you want to talk about a serious thing, right?

Right. So if somebody tells you we need to talk, you know that you are going to talk about a very serious matter.

Yeah, problem, or a breakup or something.

Mm-hm.

And after that, she told him that they should start seeing other people.

Start seeing other people.

Okay, I think we need to start seeing other people.

To see other people.

All right, so this is very easy to understand.

Yep.

It means to

To date other people.

Okay, so it basically means that you will break up.

Yep.

It's a indirect way of saying that, right?

Yeah, you're not, you're not saying, hey, let's stop dating. You're saying, oh, well, maybe we should date other people and kind of giving the idea that you will still date each other, but everyone knows you won't.

Uh-huh.

All right, so let's start seeing other people.

Now for our third phrase.

She says, it's not you, it's me.

It's not you, it's me.

It's not you, it's me.

Now, this is a very cliché phrase and you hear it all the time in movies and well, some people still use it, right?

Yeah, everyone says this. I've I've heard this. I've said this.

Okay. It means basically, I'm the problem. You're not the problem. I'm the problem.

Right. So I am breaking up with you because it's my fault, not your fault.

Yeah. So it's kind of a a nice way to to break up with someone, but actually, everyone knows that it's kind of a lie.

Not true, right? It is you. You are the problem.

All right. So it's not you, it's me.

And then, well, in order to emphasize this that it's not his fault, she said that I know I'm hard to deal with.

So hard to deal with.

Okay, if somebody is hard to deal with.

They're maybe difficult to talk to, difficult to please, maybe difficult to manage.

Okay, so it's very difficult to talk to that person.

Mm-hm.

All right. Hard to deal with.

It's only for people. You can't use it for a situation or something else.

No, you can use it for people or situations or even sometimes things. So, for example, I can say, oh, I find this problem at work so hard to deal with.

Okay, hard to deal with.

So, we've seen these four phrases that we can use to break up with someone, and, well, let's listen to our dialogue again. We're going to slow it down a little bit, and then we'll come back and look at some other phrases to stay together with someone.

Honey, do you have a second?

Sure.

Are you okay? You seem a bit worried. What's on your mind?

We need to talk.

Okay.

I know that I can be hard to deal with, and you're a great guy. You're the type of guy that any woman would kill for.

Here are your keys. I'll send my sister to pick up the rest of my things next week.

Okay, so as you said, we're now going to focus on the phrases you use to stay in a relationship with someone. So let's look at those now in Fluency Builder part two.

So the girl was trying to break up with him and he kept on trying to convince her to stay.

That's right.

And one of the things he said was, we've had our ups and downs.

We've had our ups and downs.

Ups and downs.

Well, ups and downs are good times and bad times.

Right. So the good times would be the ups and the bad times. Obviously the downs.

All right. So it's an informal way of saying good times, bad times.

Mm-hm.

So they've had their ups and downs and he said we can work it out.

We can work it out.

So whatever the problem is, we can work it out.

So why don't we hear some examples of how this phrase is used, and that will help us understand it a bit better.

Example one.

Peter and Claudia were having some problems, but they finally worked out their personal differences.

Example two.

We need to work out a new marketing plan for this upcoming quarter.

Example three.

After an hour, I finally worked out the answer to this math problem.

Okay, so to work something out means to find a solution for.

Yeah, to solve the problem.

To solve the problem.

And again, he kept on insisting and saying, well, we can get through this.

We can get through this.

Okay, get through this.

So to get through something.

What does it mean to get through something?

Well, basically to survive a difficult situation or you're live through a difficult time.

All right.

Okay. So for them, the difficult time was this in their relationship.

Yeah, or maybe you're having a problem at work and you might say, hey guys, don't worry, we can get through this. Just give us one more week.

Okay, very good.

And well, as he was saying that they can get through this, he mentioned that they have to stick together.

To stick together.

We got to stick together.

Stick together.

So, again, to stick.

So when something sticks together, it stays together like glue.

Right. So they have to be a team and not separate in order to solve their problems.

Exactly. It gives you that that that the idea that they're going to work together and stay together.

Okay, very good.

So, let's stick together.

All right, so again, we have four great phrases to convince somebody or to say that you want to stay together in a relationship, right?

Yeah. That's right.

So, I think it'll help us to understand these if we hear them one more time in the dialogue.

Honey, do you have a second?

Sure.

Are you okay? You seem a bit worried. What's on your mind?

We need to talk.

Okay.

I know that I can be hard to deal with, and you're a great guy. You're the type of guy that any woman would kill for.

Here are your keys. I'll send my sister to pick up the rest of my things next week.

All right, so breaking up can be a difficult situation, especially if you're the one breaking up, right?

Well, I guess it's it's never happy if if you're the person who's being broken up with or you're the person doing the breaking up. But, you know what I I really noticed that a lot of the the phrases the girl used to break up were

very like cliché, like you said. They were very um too common.

Common.

Too common.

And kind of a joke almost.

So the phrase it's not you, it's me, it's one of them.

Yeah. And she also said you deserve better.

You deserve someone better.

Yeah. That's a very common one saying like, I'm not good enough for you.

Yeah, but again, it kind of just it loses its meaning, doesn't it?

Mm-hm. And also another phrase that's very cliché, but it wasn't in our dialogue was, maybe the timing is just not right.

Yeah, people say that all the time.

Yeah, so they say, no, the timing is not right. It's not the appropriate time to be together.

Yeah, that's just an excuse for not wanting to date that special person.

Exactly. So, it can be a difficult situation and people do it every day through letters, sometimes through the phone. In this case, they were breaking up in person.

Mm-hm.

So listeners, why don't you tell us if you have any stories of breaking up with someone or maybe somebody broke up with you?

That's right. Try and use the language in this lesson and visit us on our website at Englishpod.com and leave us a comment.

All right, we'll see you guys there and until next time.

Thanks for listening and goodbye.

Bye.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Good times and bad times.

Ups and downs.

To cancel or postpone.

Call off.

End the romantic relationship.

Break up.

To begin living a stable and orderly life.

Settle down.

Solve, overcome.

Work out.

To live together in a sexual relationship, especially when not legally married.

Cohabit.

Solve, overcome.

Get through.

To form or make a proposal, especially of marriage.

Propose.

Stay together and help each other.

Stick together.

Be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage.

Cheat on.

Let's try that faster.

Solve, overcome.

Work out.

Solve, overcome.

Get through.

To form or make a proposal, especially of marriage.

Propose.

To live together in a sexual relationship, especially when not legally married.

Cohabit.

Be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage.

Cheat on.

Good times and bad times.

Ups and downs.

To begin living a stable and orderly life.

Settle down.

Stay together and help each other.

Stick together.

To cancel or postpone.

Call off.

End the romantic relationship.

Break up.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Ups and downs.

We need to think about the ups and downs of getting a dog.

Ups and downs.

Every relationship has its ups and downs. It's completely normal, so don't worry about it.

Ups and downs.

There are many ups and downs of living with your parents, but I have no other choice.

Break up.

Break up.

I think that you need to think about why you are breaking up with Jim.

He's a great guy.

Break up.

Work out.

Peter and Claudia were having some problems, but they finally worked out their personal differences.

Work out.

We need to work out a new marketing plan for this upcoming quarter.

Work out.

Get through.

Get through.

Our company is having some very difficult problems, but we are confident that we can get through this.

Get through.

The President is implementing new tax policies in order to get through the recession.

Stick together.

We have a better chance of surviving out here in the woods if we stick together.

Stick together.

Laura's family stuck together throughout the economic crisis.

Stick together.

No matter what happens, we are sticking together, okay?