Episode 0111
Summary
The audio features two commentators, Rick Fields and Bob Copeland, reporting live from a golf tournament at Pebble Beach where golfers are competing for a one million dollar prize. They follow Tiger Woods' progress at the eighth hole, noting his difficult performance and eventual encounter with a bear, leading to a frantic call for animal control.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Good morning golf aficionados. My name is Rick Fields and you guessed it, I'm here with my main man, Bob Copeland.
Thank you, Rick. As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are vying to win the grand prize of one million dollars!
Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
Let's go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.
All right, we're here at the eighth hole. It's a par four and has some very difficult hazards which many golfers find difficult to avoid.
Although I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole.
Tiger Woods is about to tee off.
And let's see if he has the same luck as Jack.
Tiger is asking his caddy for his driver and he seems to be very nervous.
Oh no, not a good swing at all.
It's definitely not his day today.
On the seventh hole he got a bogey and before that he barely made par.
He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.
It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep into the trees.
He's having a hard time finding it and even his caddy has climbed a tree to try and spot it.
Oh no, a bear! Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call animal control!
Summary
This audio is an EnglishPod lesson that explores golf vocabulary and common phrases used in golf commentary. The hosts, Marco and Erica, introduce terms like 'aficionado,' 'golf club,' 'golf course,' 'hole in one,' 'tee off,' 'caddy,' and 'driver.' They also explain golf scoring terminology such as 'par,' 'bogey,' and 'birdie.' The lesson includes a simulated golf commentary featuring announcers Rick Fields and Bob Copeland, who describe a golf game with Tiger Woods, highlighting his poor performance, his ball landing in trees, and a humorous interruption by a bear on the course. Finally, the lesson reviews practical English phrases like 'as you can see,' 'it's not his day,' and 'having a hard time,' providing examples and explaining their usage in both golf-related and general contexts. The discussion concludes with insights into the importance of golf in the Western business world and the value of learning 'golf English'.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello English learners, welcome back to another sports lesson with us here at English Pod.
My name is Marco.
And I'm Erica.
And today we're going to be talking about a very interesting and very difficult game to play and it's golf.
So we've got some golf vocabulary for you in this lesson.
Um and I think we we better actually look at a few vocabulary words in vocabulary preview before we start with the dialogue.
Vocabulary preview.
On vocabulary preview today, we have three words and the first one is aficionado.
Aficionado.
An aficionado.
A golf aficionado.
All right, so this basically is a very fancy word of is a very fancy way of saying a fan.
Yes, someone who likes something a lot.
Okay, so you are an aficionado. I like golf.
Yeah, you can also be in a a wine aficionado.
Okay. So it's kind of like a hobby.
Yeah, you know a lot about it and you like it.
Mhm. And now our second word is not anywhere in the dialogue.
No, but we're going to use it when we explain some of these words, so you need to know it.
Okay. The word is club.
Club.
A golf club.
Okay, so a golf club is the tool you use to hit the golf ball.
Right, so it's a long tube basically that looks like a J kind of.
Yeah, so and you hit the ball with it.
Mhm. So that's a golf club.
Mhm.
And now our third word is golf course.
Golf course.
A golf course.
A course.
So this is the area where you play golf.
Yeah, it's like the golf field.
Exactly. So it's a very big green area where you play golf.
So those are the three words we have for vocabulary preview. So now we could listen to our dialogue for the first time as we listen to our sports announcers Rick Fields and Bob Copeland and see what happens on this occasion.
Good morning Golf Aficionados, my name is Rick Fields and you guessed it, I'm here with my main man, Bob Copeland.
Thank you Rick, as you can see ladies and gentlemen, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are vying to win the grand prize of one million dollars.
Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
Let's go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.
All right, we're here at the eighth hole. It's a par four and has some very difficult hazards, which many golfers find difficult to avoid.
Although I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole.
Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let's see if he has the same luck as Jack.
Tiger is asking his caddy for his driver, and he seems to be very nervous.
Oh no, not a good swing at all.
It's definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole, he got a bogey and before that he barely made par.
He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.
It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep into the trees.
He's having a hard time finding it, and even his caddy has climbed a tree to try and spot it.
Oh no, a bear!
Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call Animal Control!
So a pretty exciting ending to that dialogue there. A bear on the on the golf course.
Yeah, I wonder if Tiger's okay.
I sure hope so because it would be a huge loss to the world of golf.
Right. So we did learn a lot about golf because they used some very specific and technical words for golf, so let's look at these now in language takeaway.
Language Takeaway.
All right, so the announcers were talking about the game and they and they they're talking about the course and they and they're here on the eighth hole and they said that last time, Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one.
Hole in one.
A hole in one.
Okay, a hole in one.
So this is when you hit the ball once and the ball goes in the hole.
Exactly. So it's something very difficult to do.
Yes. Right. I've certainly never made one.
Okay, so sometimes it's also called an ace. So it can be a hole in one or called an ace.
Ah, okay.
Now, for our second word, now once we get to the hole, to the ninth hole or the 10th hole, we have to tee off.
To tee off.
Tee off.
So when you tee off, um you begin playing.
Right. So it's the very first instance where you put the little ball on the tee.
Mhm. And you hit the ball for the first time.
Exactly. So to tee off.
Now another golf vocabulary. They were they were talking about a caddy.
Right, a caddy.
A caddy.
Now, a caddy is a person.
Yes, it's the person who carries your golf clubs.
Exactly. So he carries your bag, your golf clubs and basically helps you while you're playing golf.
Yeah, he tells you which way you should hit the ball and maybe, you know, gives you a nice cold drink and
Yes. Looks after you.
Very good. So that's a caddy.
Mhm. And now the caddy, since he has to carry all the golf clubs, Tiger Woods asked him for his driver.
A driver.
Driver.
A driver.
Now, a driver is a type of golf club.
Right, it's not a person.
No, no. It's a type of golf club and it's a very big and heavy golf club that is used to tee off.
So it's used to hit the ball a very long way.
Yes. That is called the driver.
Okay, so and the next thing they were talking about were um some different types of scores that you could get on a hole and the first one they mentioned was par.
Okay, so you can make par.
Okay. Or the par of the course can be four.
Okay, very good. So basically the par is the maximum number of swings or strokes you can make before putting the ball into the hole.
Right, so it's like it's like the the right. So when the the when the when a hole is par four, you should only hit the ball four times.
Four times or less.
Mhm.
Very good. Now, if you don't make par, there are some options.
You can make a bogey.
All right, a bogey.
A bogey.
Now sometimes the golf course is very difficult. So instead of putting the ball in the hole, let's say in four turns, you do it in five.
Okay, so it's one over par.
One over par.
So that's bad.
Yeah, that's bad because you get a point, so it's kind of strange because in golf, the more points you have,
the worse you are.
The worse you are. Yeah.
So that is a bogey.
Now, they also talked about a birdie.
Birdie is the opposite if you hit one under par.
So that's good.
Yeah, that's good because you have minus one, one less than par.
All right, so this is actually a lot of weird, crazy, strange language, birdie, bogey, caddy, driver. Why don't we listen to the dialogue one more time to help us understand?
That's a lot of cash.
Good morning Golf Aficionados, my name is Rick Fields and you guessed it, I'm here with my main man, Bob Copeland.
Thank you Rick, as you can see ladies and gentlemen, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are vying to win the grand prize of one million dollars.
Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
Let's go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.
All right, we're here at the eighth hole. It's a par four and has some very difficult hazards, which many golfers find difficult to avoid.
Although I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole.
Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let's see if he has the same luck as Jack.
Tiger is asking his caddy for his driver and he seems to be very nervous.
Oh no, not a good swing at all.
It is definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole, he got a bogey and before that, he barely made par.
He'll definitely not get a birdie on this shot.
It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep in the trees.
He is having a hard time finding it, and even his caddy has climbed a tree to try and spot it.
Oh no, a bear!
Run Tiger, run! Somebody call Animal Control!
All right, great. So I think it's clear now what type of rules they have in golf and how it works. So why don't we take a look now at some of the phrases that we heard in the dialogue in Fluency Builder.
Fluency Builder.
Okay, well, one of the phrases I want to talk about is something that Bob Copeland said. He said, as you can see, ladies and gentlemen, we're here at beautiful Pebble Beach.
Okay, as you can see.
As you can see.
So this usually goes in the beginning of a sentence.
Yeah, it's a way to say, I know you can see this. I'm telling you something you know.
Okay, so maybe I'm showing you my house and I can say, as you can see, our living room is very spacious.
Yes. So this is actually a really helpful phrase. It can help you sound really native-like. So why don't we hear some examples of how it's used?
Example one.
As you can see, we recently remodeled our entire kitchen.
Example two.
As you can see here, the damage to the building is very serious.
Example three.
As you can see, the hair stylist made a mistake when cutting my hair.
All right, great. So as you can see.
Now, for our second phrase, well Tiger Woods wasn't doing very well, and the announcer said, it's not his day.
It's not his day.
It's not his day today.
All right, so when it's not your day, um you're having a bad time or a bad day.
Right, maybe you're having difficulties or you're having bad luck that day.
Yeah, so for example, today, um I had a headache and I ripped my pants and I spilled coffee on myself. So it really wasn't my day.
Okay, it's not your day today.
Nope.
Great phrase and also very common and makes you sound very native.
That's right.
Now, the last phrase, um similar to it's not your day, we also heard that Tiger was having a hard time.
Okay, to have a hard time.
To have a hard time.
Now, if you have a hard time with something,
you have difficulty with it.
Okay. Now, it's not only related to golf, right?
Of course, you can talk about anything like this. So, oh, I'm having a hard time understanding what this word means.
Okay, or when I was in school, I had a hard time with math.
All right, me too.
So to have a hard time means that you have difficulties with something.
So great phrases, great words, and let's listen to this dialogue for the last time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more about golf.
Good morning Golf Aficionados, my name is Rick Fields and you guessed it, I'm here with my main man, Bob Copeland.
Thank you Rick, as you can see ladies and gentlemen, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are vying to win the grand prize of one million dollars.
Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
Let's go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.
All right, we're here at the eighth hole. It's a par four and has some very difficult hazards, which many golfers find difficult to avoid.
Although I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole.
Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let's see if he has the same luck as Jack.
Tiger is asking his caddy for his driver, and he seems to be very nervous.
Oh no, not a good swing at all.
It's definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole, he got a bogey and before that he barely made par.
He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.
It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep into the trees.
He's having a hard time finding it, and even his caddy has climbed a tree to try and spot it.
Oh no, a bear!
Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call Animal Control!
All right, so Marco, I know that in um the Western business world, golf is actually super important for your career, isn't it?
Well, many times, you know, when you see in movies or the stereotype is that business is done on a golf course.
And yeah, it is true many times, you know, people will invite you out to a golf course and you'll be playing a game and, you know, talking business and relaxing at the same time.
So maybe you you negotiate a a deal out on the golf course.
Exactly. And of course, if you lose, it's a good thing because then the deal will pull through.
Aha, okay.
Well, actually, I know that it is so important for people um who are wanting to do well in business and many people who don't speak English as their first language take golf English lessons.
Right, so not only golf lessons, like how to play golf, but also in English. Like how to talk about golf, how to, um, you know, talk to other people and make deals while you're on the golf course.
Yeah, because like in many other sports, golf has also its slang and its terms and stuff. So, yeah, it's very interesting and it's one of those cultural things.
That's right.
So if you have any questions or comments about today's lesson, why don't you visit our website at EnglishPod.com?
Right, we're always there to answer any questions or doubts you might have. And until next time, we'll see you there. Goodbye.
Summary
This audio provides a vocabulary lesson on golf-related terms. It first introduces various golf terms by defining them, then states the word. This process is repeated at a faster pace for review, and finally, several key terms are presented with example sentences to demonstrate their usage in context.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English pod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Light golf stroke made on the putting green in an effort to place the ball into the hole.
Putt.
An enthusiastic admirer or follower, a fan.
Aficionado.
An area of short cut grass around the hole on a golf course.
Green.
My right hand man, my important helper.
Main man.
The action of a ball moving away from its straight path.
Break.
Money in the form of bills or coins.
Cash.
A hazard on a golf course considering of a depression partly filled with sand.
Sand trap.
Golf club with an angled metal head.
Iron.
An obstacle, such as some water, found on a golf course.
Hazard.
Using only one shot to put the ball in the hole.
Hole in one.
Hit the ball for the first time on a hole.
Tee off.
Person who carries the golf clubs and gives advice.
Caddy.
The club you use to hit the ball long distances.
Driver.
The action of hitting the golf ball.
Swing.
Not a good day for that person.
Not someone's day.
Score that is one higher than it should be in golf.
Bogey.
Get the score you should for a certain hole.
Make par.
One point lower than the score you should get.
Birdie.
The action of hitting the ball.
Shot.
A difficult time doing something, difficulty.
Hard time.
The number of strokes considered necessary to complete.
Par.
Let's try that faster.
Light golf stroke made on the putting green in an effort to place the ball into the hole.
Putt.
Person who carries the golf clubs and gives advice.
Caddy.
The number of strokes considered necessary to complete.
Par.
The action of hitting the ball.
Shot.
Hit the ball for the first time on a hole.
Tee off.
A difficult time doing something, difficulty.
Hard time.
Get the score you should for a certain hole.
Make par.
The action of hitting the golf ball.
Swing.
An area of short cut grass around the hole on a golf course.
Green.
One point lower than the score you should get.
Birdie.
Golf club with an angled metal head.
Iron.
My right hand man, my important helper.
Main man.
A hazard on a golf course, considering of a depression partly filled with sand.
Sand trap.
Using only one shot to put the ball in the hole.
Hole in one.
The action of a ball moving away from its straight path.
Break.
Not a good day for that person.
Not someone's day.
An obstacle, such as some water, found on a golf course.
Hazard.
The club you use to hit the ball long distances.
Driver.
An enthusiastic admirer or follower, a fan.
Aficionado.
Score that is one higher than it should be in golf.
Bogey.
Money in the form of bills or coins.
Cash.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Hole in one.
That was amazing! I have never seen somebody hit a hole in one before!
Hole in one.
The odds of hitting a hole in one are 1 in 33,000.
Hole in one.
Brad almost made a hole in one today at the golf course. We were all very excited.
Tee off.
Don't be late! We tee off at 9:00 AM sharp.
Tee off.
Tiger Woods is about to tee off the ninth hole. Let's go see.
Tee off.
One of the most difficult parts of golfing is the tee off.
Par.
This hole is a par four, which means you have four or fewer swings to put the ball in the hole.
Par.
With a bit of luck, I made par on the 18th hole.
Par.
You need to make par in order to win. Don't screw up!
Birdie.
He was so lucky! He got a birdie on this hole. I thought he would just make par.
Birdie.
When a golfer puts the ball in the hole one stroke under par, we call that a birdie.
Birdie.
Jim is such a great golfer. He has been sinking birdies all day.
Hard time.
I'm having a really hard time finding my camera. Have you seen it?
Hard time.
When I was in school, I had a hard time with math and chemistry.
Hard time.
I'm having a hard time hitting the ball more than 100 meters.