Episode 0112
Summary
A plumber arrives at a homeowner's house to address a leaking toilet and general plumbing issues. He diagnoses a blockage caused by a foreign object likely from the homeowner's daughter, and also notes rusty pipes and a faulty faucet requiring repair. The homeowner is initially relieved but becomes shocked and angry when the plumber quotes an $800 fee, stating it's more than she makes in a day as a heart surgeon.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Good afternoon. Did you call for a plumber?
Yes, yes, I did. Please come in.
I'm so glad you came. This old house is falling apart. Come into the bathroom.
See, here. There's water leaking everywhere.
I see. Let me have a look.
That seems that your toilet is clogged and that's why it won't flush. Let me just get my plunger.
No, it's not working either.
I suspect that there's some sort of foreign object in the pipes that's causing a blockage. That's what's making your toilet overflow.
Oh, that must be because of my four-year-old daughter. She is always flushing things down the toilet. You know how kids are.
Yeah, I have a little one myself. Anyway, these water pipes are really rusty, so they also should be changed. That could be causing water to not drain completely. That might lead to more problems in the future. I would suggest fixing this faucet that isn't shutting off properly. I could have it all finished by today if it's urgent.
That would be great. Is it expensive?
Let's see. I would say about $800.
What? That's more than I make in a day and I'm a heart surgeon!
Summary
The audio is an English learning podcast about plumbing issues. Hosts Marco and Erica introduce key vocabulary like "plumber," "water pipes," "water leaking," "clogged toilet," "plunger," "blockage," and "faucet." A dialogue between a distressed woman and a plumber illustrates these terms, where the plumber identifies a clogged toilet (caused by her child), rusty water pipes, and a faulty faucet. The podcast then reviews these terms in detail and concludes with a discussion about the high earning potential of tradespeople like plumbers due to a shortage of skilled workers in many countries.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello, English learners, welcome back to another podcast here with us at EnglishPod. My name is Marco.
And I'm Erica.
And today we are going to be looking at a very useful lesson because, well, sometimes you need to call a plumber.
Okay, so first of all, uh why don't we start with vocabulary preview because I think we need to know this word plumber.
Vocabulary preview.
All right, so on vocabulary preview today, we're going to look at two words, and the first one is the one that we mentioned, plumber.
A plumber.
So, it's a person, a plumber.
Yeah. And a plumber is the person who fixes everything in your house that is related to water.
Right? Okay, so he fixes the toilet, the sink, the shower.
Yep, that's the plumber.
And now, the second word is obviously related to plumber, and it's water pipes.
Water pipes.
Water pipes.
The pipes.
So, the plumber fixes or looks at the water pipes as well.
Yep. And those are a tube that carries water in and out of your house.
Okay, so water pipes. You also have different types of pipes like gas pipes.
Yep.
Okay.
Okay, so what are we learning in this lesson?
So, in this lesson, we're going to be learning how to describe when you have problems with plumbing, when you have problems in your sink or in your toilet, and how you can describe it. And so, I think we should take a look at a dialogue for the first time and see what types of problems this woman is having with her plumbing.
Good afternoon, did you call for a plumber?
Yes, yes, I did. Please come in.
I'm so glad you came. This old house is falling apart. Come into the bathroom.
See, here. There's water leaking everywhere.
I see. Let me have a look.
It seems that your toilet is clogged and that's why it won't flush. Let me just get my plunger.
No, that's not working either. I suspect that there's some sort of foreign object in the pipes that's causing a blockage. That's what's making your toilet overflow.
Oh, that must be because of my four-year-old daughter. She is always flushing things down the toilet. You know how kids are.
Yeah, I have a little one myself. Anyway, these water pipes are really rusty, so they also should be changed. That could be causing water to not drain completely. That might lead to more problems in the future. I would suggest fixing this faucet that isn't shutting off properly. I could have it all finished by today if it's urgent.
That would be great. Is it expensive?
Let's see. I would say about $800.
What? That's more than I make in a...
All right, well, it sounds like she's having some big problems with her plumbing. But actually, I'm really interested that the plumber makes so much money.
That is a very interesting thing, and we're going to talk a little bit about that later on, but I think we should look at those kind of difficult words that we found in the dialogue now in language takeaway.
Language takeaway.
So we have five words here, all to do with a plumber and water pipes. Now the first word, they talked about that there was water leaking everywhere.
So you have water leaking.
Water leaking.
So to leak.
When something leaks, it lets liquid come out when it shouldn't.
Ah, okay, when it shouldn't.
Yep.
So maybe you have a bottle of water and it's closed, but maybe there's a hole in the bottle.
So it leaks.
So it leaks.
All right, and so there was water everywhere, it was leaking, and maybe the reason was because the toilet is clogged.
Okay, clogged.
The toilet's clogged.
Clogged. Now, what does it mean if the toilet is clogged?
If if the toilet is clogged, there is something that stops the water from going down.
Okay, so there's something blocking it.
Yep.
Okay, a clogged toilet.
Mhm.
Now, the plumber said that it might be clogged and he tried to fix it with a plunger.
A plunger.
A plunger.
A plunger.
Okay, so it's kind of hard to describe what a plunger is, so why don't we listen to the sound a plunger makes in a toilet?
Plunger sound.
All right, so the plunger is the tool that you use to unclog a toilet.
Okay, that's what you use, a plunger.
So the plunger didn't work and he wasn't able to fix the toilet, and he said there's something in the pipes causing a blockage.
All right, so our next word, a blockage.
Blockage.
Well, a blockage is something that stops water from flowing.
Okay, so something is blocking it.
Mhm.
So you have blockage.
Yep. Very good.
And we have one more word on language takeaway, and that word is faucet.
A faucet.
A faucet.
All right, so the faucet is the part of the sink that lets water come out.
Okay, so you have a faucet in your sink.
Yeah, so you put your hands under the faucet so you can wash them.
Okay, that's the faucet. Very good.
So now that we've learned about these different tools and these different ways of describing problems with your plumbing, let's listen to this dialogue another time a little bit slower now, and then we'll come back and take a look at some great phrases.
Good afternoon, did you call for a plumber?
Yes, yes, I did. Please, come in. I'm so glad you came. This old house is falling apart. Come on into the bathroom. See, here, there's water leaking everywhere.
I see. Let me have a look.
It seems that your toilet is clogged, and that's why it won't flush. Let me just get my plunger.
No, that's not working either. I suspect that there's some sort of foreign object in the pipes that's causing a blockage. That's what's making your toilet overflow.
Oh, that must be because of my four-year-old daughter. She is always flushing things down the toilet. You know how kids are.
Yeah, I have a little one myself. Anyway, these water pipes are really rusty, so they should also be changed. That could be causing water to not drain completely. That might lead to more problems in the future. I would also suggest fixing this faucet that isn't shutting off properly. I could have it all finished by today if it's urgent.
That would be great. Is it expensive?
Let's see. I would say about $800.
What? That's more than I make in a day, and I'm a heart surgeon.
Well, we've got three phrases that you can use when you need to describe something not working with the pipes. So let's look at them now in fluency builder.
Fluency builder.
So the lady called the plumber and he arrived, and well, she described her house as old and that it's falling apart.
It's falling apart.
This old house is falling apart.
So when something is falling apart, it's old and it's breaking slowly.
Exactly, so we can say the house is falling apart or maybe this old car is falling apart.
You can also use it for people. Oh, I'm getting so old, I'm falling apart.
Very good. So you're getting sick or you're all right.
Very good. Now, for our second word.
Well, the the woman said that maybe her daughter was flushing things down the toilet.
Okay, so to flush something down the toilet.
To flush something down the toilet.
So before we explain this, let's listen to a toilet being flushed.
Toilet flushing.
Okay, so that's the sound of flushing. And when you flush something down the toilet, what happens?
So basically, you throw something into the toilet and then you flush it. So it goes away.
Okay. All right. So flushing something down the toilet.
Well, she also talked about the faucet, and it wasn't shutting off properly.
Shutting off.
To shut off.
Okay, shut off.
When you shut something off, you turn it off.
Okay, so we can say to shut something off or to shut off something.
Right. So, hey Marco, can you shut off the computer?
Okay, or I can say, can you shut the faucet off?
Exactly. Great.
So we took a look at these three phrases that will help you describe again these situations or problems that may happen in your bathroom or with liquids. And well, let's listen to the dialogue for the last time and we'll come back and talk a little bit more.
Good afternoon, did you call for a plumber?
Yes, yes, I did. Please come in.
I'm so glad you came. This old house is falling apart. Come into the bathroom.
See, here. There's water leaking everywhere.
I see. Let me have a look.
It seems that your toilet is clogged and that's why it won't flush. Let me just get my plunger.
No, that's not working either. I suspect that there's some sort of foreign object in the pipes that's causing a blockage. That's what's making your toilet overflow.
Oh, that must be because of my four-year-old daughter. She is always flushing things down the toilet. You know how kids are.
Yeah, I have a little one myself. Anyway, these water pipes are really rusty, so they also should be changed. That could be causing water to not drain completely. That might lead to more problems in the future. I would suggest fixing this faucet that isn't shutting off properly. I could have it all finished by today if it's urgent.
That would be great. Is it expensive?
Let's see. I would say about $800.
What? That's more than I make in a day, and I'm a...
Well, we heard in this dialogue that this plumber is making about $800.
That's a lot of money.
That's a lot of money. And actually, this in many countries is not far from the truth.
That's right. Like, uh, for example, in Canada, um, uh there is a shortage. There's not enough of these people like plumbers, um, who can do this type of work, so they can charge a lot of money.
So this type of work is called a a he's not really a professional, right?
Right. So he but he is a tradesperson because he works in a trade.
Okay, so like a plumber, an electrician, a a person that paints your house. Those are all trades.
Yep.
And well, it is true because now many people don't want to learn or do these types of of trade because, well, it's not considered to be such a great job, right?
Yeah, but the funny thing is, now if you're a plumber, um and you you get your first job is a as a, you know, young person, um you can make so much more money than a person with a history degree, for example.
Exactly, because there is a shortage of these types of a of, well, you can call them professionals.
Yep.
Right. So, well, what about in your countries? Let us know how these types of trades work. Are there many of them? Are there not many of them? Because well, of course, in different countries, it's a little bit different, right? In some countries, there are too many tradesmen.
So you visit us at our website englishpod.com and tell us all about that. And remember, if you have any questions about the lesson, you can ask them there as well.
All right, so we'll see you guys there, and until next time.
Thanks for downloading, and goodbye.
Summary
This audio is an English vocabulary review focusing on plumbing and household issues. It presents definitions, then the vocabulary word, followed by example sentences using the word. The review includes terms like 'burst', 'pump', 'tap', 'appliance', 'flood', 'clog', 'blockage', 'shut off', 'falling apart', 'leak', 'plumber', 'flush', 'plunger', 'suspect', 'foreign', 'overflow', 'rusty', 'drain', and 'faucet'.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pad Audio Review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Break apart suddenly.
Burst.
A machine that moves liquid from one place to another.
Pump.
The part of the sink that water comes out of.
Tap.
An electric machine with a special purpose.
Appliance.
Water coming into a place where it shouldn't.
Flood.
Slowly forming a block in something.
Clog.
Something that stops another thing from passing through.
Blockage.
To cause a machine to stop operating.
Shut off.
Slowly break.
Falling apart.
Liquid or gas escaping from its container.
Leak.
Plumber.
Plumber.
To cause water to clean a toilet.
Flush.
A tool for unclogging toilets.
Plunger.
Have an idea about the reason for something.
Suspect.
Something that doesn't belong.
Foreign.
To flow over the edge of something.
Overflow.
Covered with a reddish brown color.
Rusty.
To remove liquid from something by letting it flow.
Drain.
A device that controls the flow that comes out of.
Faucet.
To cause a machine to stop operating.
Shutting off.
Let's try that faster.
To cause water to clean a toilet.
Flush.
Break apart suddenly.
Burst.
Something that doesn't belong.
Foreign.
To flow over the edge of something.
Overflow.
Have an idea about the reason for something.
Suspect.
To cause a machine to stop operating.
Shut off.
Slowly break.
Falling apart.
Liquid or gas escaping from its container.
Leak.
Plumber.
Plumber.
Covered with a reddish brown color.
Rusty.
A device that controls the flow that comes out of.
Faucet.
A tool for unclogging toilets.
Plunger.
An electric machine with a special purpose.
Appliance.
Water coming into a place where it shouldn't.
Flood.
Something that stops another thing from passing through.
Blockage.
Slowly forming a block in something.
Clog.
To cause a machine to stop operating.
Shutting off.
The part of the sink that water comes out of.
Tap.
A machine that moves liquid from one place to another.
Pump.
To remove liquid from something by letting it flow.
Drain.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Clog.
Heavy traffic clogged the freeways this morning.
Clog.
It isn't a good idea to flush toilet paper down the toilet, since it can clog it.
Clog.
All the water pipes are clogged with mud. We won't have water for a week until the plumber unclogs them.
Blockage.
We had to call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drain pipe.
Blockage.
Your arteries have serious blockage due to your unhealthy diet. We must operate.
Blockage.
Judy couldn't come to work today due to some intestinal blockage, also known as constipation.
Leak.
This water bottle is leaking. Bring me a cup quickly.
Leak.
You need to seal the toilet with silicone to prevent it from leaking when you flush.
Leak.
Yesterday, a damaged nuclear reactor leaked radioactivity into the atmosphere.
Falling apart.
This house was built 100 years ago. I guess that's why it's falling apart.
Falling apart.
I hate my car. It's falling apart little by little and I only got it a year ago.
Falling apart.
I've been getting sick a lot lately. My body is falling apart from old age.
Shutting off.
Be sure to shut off the gas when you leave for a vacation.
Shutting off.
I can't shut off this valve. It's stuck.
Shutting off.
During summer you should shut the hot water valve off to save energy.