Episode 0134

And my name is Catherine. So, Marco, you've been shopping a lot lately.

All right, so I'd even go for uh, electronics with that one. The electronics department is somewhere you like to hang out.

Why is that? Is bigger really better when it comes to like a 70-inch TV or

Okay, that I can appreciate. But um, we've got a couple of great words for you. We're going to preview in today's vocabulary preview.

Okay, so on vocabulary preview today, we're going to be looking at two words. Uh, the first one is to appreciate.

All right, so this basically means to like.

Mhm. Yeah, you appreciate someone. But uh, in this context, to enjoy or take advantage of something. So,

Maybe you hear this with a a couple, two people who are fighting and the girl says to the guy, "You don't appreciate me."

Mhm. So, he doesn't really care about her in the way that she wants him to. Or you could say this about a TV, for example, I can't appreciate my PS3, my great awesome console, my gaming system because my TV's not good enough.

Or big enough.

Or big enough.

Or big enough. So, this means that it could be a lot better if I just bought a better TV.

Right. And if you buy a better TV, then you basically are upgrading, or to upgrade.

Okay, so this verb, to upgrade, means to go from something that's okay to something that's better.

Mhm, exactly. So, in previous lessons, we've seen to get a complimentary upgrade, for example, on a flight or in a hotel.

I like that. Well, you can also get an upgrade on a computer. You you say, "Well, my computer's from 1994. I really need to get an upgrade."

Yeah, for sure. So, to upgrade. Now, we're going to be listening to this dialogue for the first time. We're going to be buying a TV, so let's listen.

Seriously, I don't know why we need to get a new TV.

Good afternoon, folks. How can I be of service today?

Just a normal-sized TV for our living room.

Honey, I think it's a bit too big. I don't even think it will fit in our living room.

All right, so I'm going to have to defer to you, Marco, on some of these words in today's language takeaway because they're all about TV specifics.

All right, the first word that we're going to be looking at is graphics, the graphics level.

All right, so you might have heard this before with the phrase graphic designer, someone who designs images. But in this case, we're talking about graphics, so the way things appear on your TV.

Mhm. So, like basically the pictures, right? So, he wanted to appreciate the graphics of his PlayStation 3 better, and that's why he wanted a new TV.

All right, we could say, "My computer has amazing graphics." It means games are really fun because they they look good.

Mhm. Or this game has amazing graphics, so the game has, you know, places or scenery that looks really, really real.

All right, so graphics, but uh, some kinds of TVs are made to provide those wonderful graphics, and those are called HDTV.

Right. And HDTV or that's an acronym for High Definition Television.

All right, and I heard some actors and actresses were complaining about HDTV because the the the picture quality is so good that you can see all of the little problems on their face, the little wrinkles and the pimples and the scars. So, be careful because one day we're going to be able to see way too much.

Exactly. So, on high definition television, that's basically what you you get is better definition, better level of graphics.

So, more pixels per inch. You can see a lot more clarity.

Right. So, an HDTV.

The next thing we're talking about is actually kind of related to the back part of your TV where you plug things in. Sometimes it's on the side, sometimes it's on the back. Well, there are different names for different kinds of plugs. So today we're going to talk about two of those. One of them is USB.

Right. this TV has a USB port, which basically stands for Universal Serial Bus.

All right, so uh, port is a place where you plug something in. Your computer has a lot of ports as well. Um, but USB is maybe more common for people who have iPods or computers because this is how we normally connect things to our computers.

So, in this case, this television, you could connect maybe your iPod and reproduce videos or pictures onto the TV.

Awesome. Or in the second case, we have a DVI port. So, DVI, you're going to have to tell me about this one, Marco, because I'm not so sure.

Uh, well, a DVI is basically a digital video input. So basically, you can connect your computer to the TV and see what's on your screen.

Nice. And so, if you have a bunch of movies stored on your computer, you can just plug it into the TV and watch.

Mhm. Or you can even navigate the internet on a big screen TV.

Cool. All right. So, what are these three HDMI connectors?

All right, well, this is a new technology. Basically, you know, how before you used to get your DVD player, your VHS, and you had three cables, two for sound and one for video.

Yeah, the red, yellow, and white cables.

Exactly. So, with this new type of cable or technology, with one cable, it takes all the information to the TV. So, just one cable for everything.

Oh, nice. Cuz my problem is I always used to put the wrong cable in the wrong port, so I'd have the red cable in the yellow port, and then I'd say, "Where's the video? I can't see. All I can eat, all I can do is listen."

Yeah, it happens. So, with this, now it's easy and, well, it even, it's a little bit more organized because I remember I used to have a TV and have, and I had a lot of different things connected to it. It was just this big spiderweb in the back with all these cables. So, an HDMI, High-Definition Multimedia Interface connector.

And uh, what else do we have?

Well, last thing we're talking about is actually the place to put your TV. So, a lot of people now are putting their TVs on walls like paintings because these TVs are so thin. So, we call this a wall mount.

Mhm. So, a mount. To mount something is also a verb, right?

Yeah, it means to put something up or to hang something up. So, many people like to mount their trophies to show off.

Mhm, very good. So, this is what we're doing with the TV. We're going to mount it on the wall like a painting.

Cool. So, those are our words for the language takeaway. Let's take another listen to today's dialogue, but we're going to slow it down this time and really figure out what's going on.

Seriously, I don't know why we need to get a new TV.

Good afternoon, folks. How can I be of service today?

Just a normal-sized TV for our living room.

Honey, I think it's a bit too big. I don't even think it will fit in our living room.

All right, so now we're going to be taking a look at three different phrases that we saw in this dialogue in Fluency Builder.

All right, this first phrase is definitely one that I use a lot. We can talk about food, we can talk about electronics, we can talk about most different things, but uh the phrase here is "the works."

Mhm. He's getting "the works."

All right, that means any option he could get, any possibility, he wants it all.

Right. So, if you're getting a new car for example, right? You're getting the high-definition sound system, you're getting nice tires, leather seats, you're getting the works.

All right, or if you're getting a hamburger and you want the works, you're getting it with cheese and lettuce and tomato and peppers and bacon and, you know, it means every option, you're getting it all.

Mhm, the works. So, I think this word is so versatile that we should maybe listen to some more examples.

The bridegroom was wearing a morning suit, top hat, gloves, the works.

He spent over $10,000 on his home theater system. He got all the works.

I bought a new car with all the works: magnesium rims, custom paint, and leather seats.

So, now that we've seen the works on the home theater system, he needs to hook it up.

All right, so this is an important part and a very exciting part of a new purchase. So, when you buy something, you have to hook it up. That means you have to plug things together.

Mhm.

Okay, so we plug things into the wall for electricity, but also hook up, uh, maybe those those cores you were talking about earlier, that HDMI connector. That's called hooking up or connecting.

Mhm. So, you would hook up your DVD player to your television.

All right, I could ask you, "Did you hook up those new speakers to your big TV yesterday?"

Very good. Right? So, to connect. It's another way of saying to connect.

And finally, the the big event when you're buying something is the end when you have to actually pay. And this guy's a little bit worried that the things he wants cost a lot of money. So, he asks a really great question.

Yeah, he said, "How much will this set me back?"

Okay, this sounds a little weird at first because you could just say, "How much will this cost?" But he's speaking in a very colloquial way, very familiar. And he says, "How much will this set me back?"

Right. So, how much will this cost me?

Mhm. So, how much am I actually going to spend?

So, it's just a different way of saying how much does it cost. But um, it's like you say, more colloquial, it's a lot more native-like.

Exactly. And so, if you're writing your paper, you don't want to write this, uh, "This will set you back $500" in economics. But we'd say this in uh, spoken language, in our normal daily lives with friends.

Mhm. So, why don't we listen to a couple more examples of "set me back."

This unexpected expense is going to set us back a couple thousand dollars.

That fancy dinner at the restaurant last night really set us back.

All right, great. So, now that we've taken a look at those great phrases and with some good examples, why don't we listen to this dialogue one last time?

Seriously, I don't know why we need to get a new TV.

Good afternoon, folks. How can I be of service today?

Just a normal-sized TV for our living room.

Honey, I think it's a bit too big. I don't even think it will fit in our living room.

Okay, so a big TV, I think, I don't know, I think it's just a great thing to have at home. Not to, you know, spend too much time in front of the TV, but it's it's good to sit down and watch a movie.

Mhm. What do you think about having a television set, for example, in the bathroom?

Uh, I would say it's a really bad idea, but I think I would, well, if I have a bathtub, I think it'd be really cool.

What about, you know, some people don't like having a television set in their bedroom?

I agree with this. I agree. Um, because I think it's really important that you have peace and quiet in your bedroom because it's kind of like, for me, it's an important space where I can just relax and be quiet. And I like reading a lot, so I, if I have a TV, maybe I'll watch more TV, but I'd much rather read a book before bed.

Mhm, true. Yeah, I definitely agree. But, you know, I've seen people that have TVs in their living rooms, in their dining rooms, even in their kitchen, so they're watching something while they're cooking. And even in the bathroom, like you say, in a bathtub, well, it's nice, but some of them I've seen in front of the toilet or something.

Oh, no. I would say that the one in the kitchen is nice because if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you can watch the news while you're cooking or you can actually watch cooking shows and try and practice.

Or soap operas.

Ooh, or soap operas. So, I guess it depends on the person. It depends on how much you watch TV, but I'm curious to know what our listeners have to say about TVs and big electronics purchases.

Right. So, come to our website Englishpod.com. If you have any questions or any doubts regarding the lesson or any suggestions, you can let us know.

Otherwise, we'll be there to just talk and practice that English and uh, of course, send us your suggestions for future lessons. We love to know what you're interested in learning about.

The English Pad audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A machine for projecting an image onto a screen or other surface.

Projector.

To be grateful for something.

Appreciate.

To connect an appliance to an electrical outlet.

Plug in.

Get something better, more modern or more useful.

Upgrade.

A device that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance.

Speaker.

A device used to control an apparatus or machine from a distance.

Remote control.

A television service in which the subscriber's television is connected to a central receiver by cable.

Cable television.

Cost.

Set me back.

To connect.

Hook up.

The best things offered.

The works.

Let's try that faster.

To be grateful for something.

Appreciate.

A device that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance.

Speaker.

The best things offered.

The works.

A machine for projecting an image onto a screen or other surface.

Projector.

Get something better, more modern or more useful.

Upgrade.

A television service in which the subscriber's television is connected to a central receiver by cable.

Cable television.

To connect.

Hook up.

A device used to control an apparatus or machine from a distance.

Remote control.

To connect an appliance to an electrical outlet.

Plug in.

Cost.

Set me back.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Appreciate.

With a telescope, you can really appreciate the brightness of the stars.

Appreciate.

I really appreciate your help during these tough times.

Appreciate.

You have to listen and focus to appreciate classical music.

Upgrade.

The government has designated funds in order to upgrade their military defenses.

Upgrade.

My computer is old and slow. I think I need to upgrade it with new components.

Upgrade.

If you want to have the sports channels, you need to upgrade to our premium cable package.

The works.

The bridegroom was wearing a morning suit, top hat, gloves, the works.

The works.

He spent over $10,000 on his home theater system. He got all the works.

The works.

Hook up.

Hook up.

I don't know how to hook up this new DVD player. Can you help me?

Hook up.

Set me back.

Set me back.

That fancy dinner at the restaurant last night really set us back.

Set me back.