Episode 0110

Hello, English learners, welcome back to another lesson with us here at EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

And I'm Erica.

And today we have a lesson for all our university students out there.

That's right. Uh, we're talking about registering for university.

Okay, so it's a difficult process sometimes even in your own language. So we're going to try and make it a little bit easier by giving you some of the common words you would need to register at a university.

All right, well, I think it's time we get started by listening to the dialogue, and we're going to listen to a young female student as she tries to choose her classes.

Excuse me. Is this where I register? I'd like to sign up for my courses for next semester.

Yes, of course. I need your student ID, please.

Here you are.

Okay, Susan. It says here that you are a business major and that you're in your second year. Is this information correct?

Yes. Um, I do want to take some additional credits this year to get a minor in psychology.

Sure, that's not a problem. Do you have the list of courses that you want to take this semester?

Yeah, here's my list.

I'm not sure if the class schedule will allow me to take all of them, though.

Yeah, that's perfect. What about the subjects for your minor?

I need to take fundamental linguistics, consumer psychology and neuroanatomy.

Wow, you're going to be busy this semester.

Okay, here you go. You're registered now, you have to make your first tuition payment before classes start.

All right, great, a very good student, taking a lot of classes this semester.

I know, and it sounds like some of them are pretty hard as well.

Yeah, they are. Well, she used some of those very common phrases that we would need when we are registering at university. So, let's take a look at them now in language takeaway.

Okay, so the first thing, I think we need to deal with this word to register.

Mhm, register.

So, register for university.

Okay, so we've mentioned this word many times, so I think it would be a good idea to listen to some examples and then we'll come back and explain it.

I registered to attend the conference on international trade this month.

It is your obligation as a good citizen to register to vote.

It is necessary to register on our website before joining the conference.

So when you register for something, you put your name down on a list, right?

Mhm. So in this case, when you register for university, you put your, you officially put your name on the list of students in that course.

Okay, so you can register for university. What else can you register for?

Register for a class. Um, you can even register to vote.

Okay, so register.

Mhm.

Now she was registering for her classes and we saw these words that we know already, but but it's a good idea to take a look at them. We heard that she is a business major.

So a major.

A major.

A business major.

And what is your major?

Uh, the major is the um major area that you study, the most important area that you study.

The area where you are specialized.

Yeah, the area that you focus on.

Okay. Now, we heard another one that's called a minor.

So, this is um another area that you study, but it is less important than your major.

Okay, so major and your minor.

So let's give an example. Imagine you must take 100 classes to graduate from university. Maybe you have to take 50 for your major and maybe 30 for your minor.

Okay, very good. And now on your degree, on your title, does it say what is your major and minor?

Um, well, I think it depends on the university, but uh in my case, yes.

Okay, very good. So major and minor.

Now, uh related to this and what you were saying about your classes, it takes us to our next word, which is credits.

Credits.

Credits.

Credits.

Now, uh this is easily confused with classes sometimes.

That's right. Um, well, a credit is kind of a point. So, like maybe, so in university you need a certain number of credits or points to graduate.

Okay. So suppose you need 100 credits to graduate.

So, that's not 100 courses because each course might be worth four or six or eight credits depending on how important it is.

Very good. So maybe the classes that are part of your major will have more credits.

All right, very good. So, and now we have our last word in this dialogue and it was tuition.

Tuition.

She had to pay her tuition.

So tuition is the money that you must pay for education.

Okay, only for education.

That's right. So university tuition, private school tuition, or even language course tuition.

Okay, so tuition is the money you must pay for school only.

Yep.

So we've seen a lot of great words used for registering at university. So I think it's time to listen to the dialogue for the second time a little bit slower and then we'll come back and take a look at some phrases.

Excuse me. Is this where I register? I'd like to sign up for my courses for next semester.

Yes, of course. I need your student ID, please.

Here you are.

Okay, Susan, it says here that you are a business major and that you're in your second year. Is this information correct?

Yes. Um, I do want to take some additional credits this year to get a minor in psychology.

Sure, that's not a problem. Do you have the list of courses that you want to take this semester?

Yeah, here's my list.

I'm not sure if the class schedule will allow me to take all of them, though.

Yeah, that's perfect. What about the subjects for your minor?

I need to take fundamental linguistics, consumer psychology and neuroanatomy.

Wow, you're going to be busy this semester.

Okay, here you go. You're registered now, you have to make your first tuition payment before classes start.

All right, so it's time for putting it together.

And we're going to look at some phrases here that we can use to talk about education and university and we can use them in different ways.

All right, and our first phrase is actually very similar to register.

Mhm. To sign up for something.

Okay, I want to sign up for.

I'd like to sign up for my courses.

I think it would be a good idea if we listen to some examples of how we can use this phrase.

I signed up for a one-year gym membership.

If you want to assist our meeting, you need to sign up first.

Okay, so I can see that to sign up for something is to agree to take part in it.

Okay, so it's a little bit more informal than register.

Yeah, exactly. Less formal.

All right. So, moving on to our second phrase, this is very important because it's often used improperly, right?

Yeah, people often make mistakes with this phrase.

All right, so let's look at this phrase second year.

So she is in her second year.

Now, it seems very simple. So why are we explaining this?

Well, it often gets confused with grade. So when we talk about university, we talk about first year, second year, third year, fourth year.

We cannot say grade one, grade two, grade three, grade four.

Or year one, year two.

No, it's it's always first year, second year, third year, fourth year.

Okay, very good. Or last year.

Yeah, last year.

My last year of college.

Exactly.

Very good. So, so now you know how you can explain to someone what year of college or university you're in.

Yes, that's right.

Very good. And we have one more phrase to you, and it was when she was getting her class schedule.

So class schedule.

Class schedule.

Now, a schedule is the list of things you do at what time.

Right, so it's the timetable of your day or your week.

Yep.

All right. And your class schedule will say all the classes that you have and what time they're at.

So what other types of schedules can we have?

You also have maybe a gym schedule.

That's right, or even a work schedule.

Right. So we have different types of schedules and you can use it depending on what you are doing.

Those are all the phrases we have for putting it together today. And now let's listen to the dialogue for the last time and then we'll come back.

Excuse me. Is this where I register? I'd like to sign up for my courses for next semester.

Yes, of course. I need your student ID, please.

Here you are.

Okay, Susan. It says here that you are a business major and that you're in your second year. Is this information correct?

Yes. Um, I do want to take some additional credits this year to get a minor in psychology.

Sure, that's not a problem. Do you have the list of courses that you want to take this semester?

Yeah, here's my list.

I'm not sure if the class schedule will allow me to take all of them, though.

Yeah, that's perfect. What about the subjects for your minor?

I need to take fundamental linguistics, consumer psychology and neuroanatomy.

Wow, you're going to be busy this semester.

Okay, here you go. You're registered now, you have to make your first tuition payment before classes start.

All right, so we were talking about second year, first year, third year, etcetera.

Now, there are also other names that we give to each year, both for high school and university.

And I think this is only for um America, like in in the United States. We don't do this in Canada and I always get so confused. So, Marco, what is the name you give to first year students?

Okay, so first year students are called freshmen.

Okay, because they're fresh.

Because they're fresh, yeah, they just came from middle school, they just came from high school.

All right. And what about the second year students?

They're called sophomores.

Okay, because they're soft?

Well, there's not, it's not soft, it's sophomore, like S.O.P.H.

Sophomore.

Sophomore. And then third year students are called juniors.

Okay, because they're almost the the it's like junior manager.

Exactly. Because then last year students are called seniors.

Aha. So they're the the oldest guys in the school.

Exactly. So you can say, yeah, I'm a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Okay, so we only use this in in America, though, right?

Yes, yes, it's very and uh and not only for university but also for high school.

Okay.

All right, guys, that's all the time we have for today. Uh I hope you enjoyed this lesson. And if you have any questions or comments or you want to share with us your experiences in high school or university, please come to the website at englishpod.com.

That's right. So Marco and I are there to answer your questions and until next time, thanks for listening and goodbye.

The English Pod Audio Review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

To place one's name on a role or register. Sign up.

Enroll.

Officially put your name on a list for something.

Sign up for.

A short piece of writing on one subject that argues one point of view.

Essay.

The field one studies in university.

Major.

A long piece of writing that you must do at the end of a course.

Term paper.

Points you received towards your degree.

Credit.

An exam or a big test given halfway through the course.

Midterm.

Timetable, list of appointments and times.

Schedule.

The last exams at the end of a semester.

Finals.

Educational fees.

Tuition.

A short piece of writing on one subject that argues one point of view.

Essay.

The last exams at the end of a semester.

Finals.

Educational fees.

Tuition.

The field one studies in university.

Major.

Points you received towards your degree.

Credit.

Timetable, list of appointments and times.

Schedule.

An exam or big test given halfway through the course.

Midterm.

To place one's name on a roll or register. Sign up.

Enroll.

A long piece of writing that you must do at the end of a course.

Term paper.

Officially put your name on a list for something.

Sign up for.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Sign up for.

I signed up for a one-year gym membership. I really need to lose weight.

Sign up for.

If you want to assist our meeting, you need to sign up first.

Sign up for.

Major.

I wanted to become an arts major, but my parents wanted me to study business.

Major.

Major.

I don't know what I should major in. What do you suggest?

Credit.

I need to take extra credits this year in order to make up for my laziness last semester.

Credit.

Tuition at some universities depends on the amount of credits you take.

Credit.

Schedule.

I need to check my gym schedule because I want to go to my aerobics class this week.

Schedule.

Tracy has a really light working schedule. She only works from 9:00 AM till noon.

Schedule.

Tuition.

College tuition in the United States can be very expensive. Maybe you should study somewhere else.

Tuition.

I have to save up for my tuition for next semester.

Tuition.