Episode 0305

That's right. Today we're going bowling, a very popular sport amongst many people. And so we're going to take a look at how you play this sport and all the vocab related to this great game.

All right, so let's take a listen to our dialogue and we'll be right back.

All right. So the first thing you need to know about bowling is that you should never cross that line where the lane begins.

Why not?

Because they polish and oil it to make the ball slide down. If you step there, you'll slip and fall.

Okay, so I got my bowling shoes, my ball, our names on the scorecard. So now, how the heck do I play this?

You throw the ball down the lane and try to knock down all the pins. If you do, that is called a strike. If you don't knock them all down in the first try, then you get a chance to get the spare. After 10 frames, we add up the points and see who has the most. 300 is a perfect score, but very hard to get.

I told you, it's harder than you think. Now let a pro show you how it's done.

All right, we're back so now let's take a look at some of that vocab on Language Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

So the first word we have today in Language Takeaway is lane.

That's right. a bowling lane. So a lane that is where you actually play this this this game.

That's right, a lane is also a word for like a road, a small, narrow road. So in bowling, this is the flat surface, the floor that's long that you roll the ball down.

That's right. Okay, so that's your lane. So as you said, you roll the ball down the lane and you try to knock down the pins that are at the end of the lane.

That's right. So pins are they're a little bit heavy. They're usually white and they have uh they're they're wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. They almost look like wine bottles.

Exactly.

And the goal of the game is to knock these down, to make them fall on the ground.

That's right. Okay, so that's why you are using, that's why you're throwing the ball down the lane to knock down these pins.

Now, if you knock all of them down on your first try, that's called a strike.

A strike, that's right. So that means all 10 pins fall down on your first try. But sometimes, you don't get a strike, you maybe knock down eight pins, and then later on your second try because every person gets two tries. On your second try, you you knock down the last two pins. Now what's that called, Marco?

So if you knock uh all of them down on your second try, that's called a spare.

Okay, strike, usually you write it with an X. That's a that's on the scorecard. And a spare, which is two two tries to get all 10 pins, that's a slash.

That's right. Spare.

And if you don't get all of the pins in two tries, you still get points. So if you knock down eight pins, you get eight. Or if you knock down four pins, you get four.

That's right. And you put your score on uh on your scorecard. And now each player usually gets 10 frames or 10 different opportunities to knock down all the pins.

All right, so usually these are boxes on the scorecard and uh you can play 10 frame bowling, or also five frame. but it's important to remember that each frame gives you the opportunity to to bowl two times.

Right.

All right, so you get you get those two tries. So really it's 20 total tries to knock down these pins.

That's right. And now if you did really well and on every opportunity of each frame, you got a strike, that means that you would get a perfect score.

That's right, a perfect score. That means that you made no mistakes, you knocked down all the pins on the first try.

And uh now obviously down the lane, it's not as easy as it looks because uh to the sides of your bowling lane, you have this kind of a path that's uh to the bottom. So if your ball goes in there, you can't get it out.

That's right. So remember like I said earlier, a lane is also the name of uh a place where we can walk or drive, like it's a road. Well, we have gutters, which are on the sides of these roads. And also in bowling, gutters, they're lower, and normally on the streets, they're for water. But in bowling, they're they're the places on the right or the left side where your ball will fall. And if your ball falls into the gutter, or it rolls into the gutter, you will hit no pins.

Right. That's I think that's the main thing. If if your ball goes in the gutter, you don't hit any pins at all, it just goes straight down and you don't hit anything.

That's right. So it's really sad when you when you you bowl badly and you get a gutter ball, we call it.

That's right.

All right, so let's take a look at all this vocab again. Let's listen to our dialogue and we'll be back in a bit with fluency builder.

All right. So the first thing you need to know about bowling is that you should never cross that line where the lane begins.

Why not?

Because they polish and oil it to make the ball slide down. If you step there, you'll slip and fall.

Okay, so I got my bowling shoes, my ball, our names on the scorecard. So now, how the heck do I play this?

You throw the ball down the lane and try to knock down all the pins. If you do, that is called a strike. If you don't knock them all down in the first try, then you get a chance to get the spare. After 10 frames, we add up the points and see who has the most. 300 is a perfect score, but very hard to get.

I told you, it's harder than you think. Now let a pro show you how it's done.

All right, so we've picked out three different phrases for you. Let's take a look at those now in Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

All right, so the first phrase that we have today is something that you're going to hear a lot, although I want to remind everyone, this is very informal. So, we heard someone say in the dialogue, 'So now, how the heck do I play this?'

Okay.

So, how the heck do I turn this computer on?

Okay, so how do I turn this computer on means 'I don't know, please help me.' But 'how the heck' means 'I really don't know, I really need your help.'

That's right, I really don't understand what's going on. I need someone's help.

Like, 'how the heck did this happen?' means 'I absolutely did not expect this to happen. I'm very surprised.'

That's right, it's actually a not very polite phrase to use, but at the same time it's not terribly impolite. It's in the middle.

It's in the middle, yeah.

Uh-huh. But it's very informal.

All right, so now uh the person understands how to bowl, how the game works, and he says, 'Okay, got it. I'm going I'm gonna give it a go.'

Okay, 'I'm gonna' means 'I'm going to' and this is very informal. 'Gonna' is a way to say 'going to', 'I will'. But the phrase here is 'give it a go'. What does that mean, Marco? 'Give it a go.'

So if you're gonna give it a go, it means that you're going to try.

Okay, so I'm gonna try. So we could say this, um, now that we know how to play the game, let's give it a go. Let's try to play, because we've been talking about it, but we haven't been doing it.

That's right.

So to give it a go means to try to do something.

Exactly. And that's basically it. If maybe you're watching a game on the street and you want to try maybe a card game, you say, 'Okay, I want to give it a go.'

I want to give it a go.

All right. And what about our last phrase?

Now, the very last phrase is the last phrase of our dialogue. The character says, 'Now let a pro show you how it's done.' All right, so 'how it's done', this um 'let me show you how it's done', because this person is saying 'I'm a pro, let me show you how it's done.' Uh is a very interesting way of saying saying something in English. What what is the real meaning of this phrase?

He's basically saying, 'Now let me show you how to do it.'

Okay, the correct way.

Right.

So, basically he's saying, 'You didn't do it very well. You didn't bowl very well. You're new. Let me show you how professional people bowl.'

Right.

Let me give you an example.

Exactly. Maybe uh you and your friend are making a cake and you don't really know what you're doing. So your friend says, 'Move over, let me show you how it's done.'

That means the proper way to do it, the correct way. So Marco, you're not doing it right. Let me show you how it's done.

Exactly. A very useful phrase and actually it can seem a little bit confusing because you're using the the verb there 'done'. Uh so it may seem a little bit weird, 'do done'. But don't worry about it, just take it as a phrase, 'Let me show you how to do it. Let me show you how it's done.'

That's right.

So that's all we've got for Fluency Builder today. Let's take another listen to our dialogue and we'll be back in a second.

All right. So the first thing you need to know about bowling is that you should never cross that line where the lane begins.

Why not?

Because they polish and oil it to make the ball slide down. If you step there, you'll slip and fall.

Okay, so I got my bowling shoes, my ball, our names on the scorecard. So now, how the heck do I play this?

You throw the ball down the lane and try to knock down all the pins. If you do, that is called a strike. If you don't knock them all down in the first try, then you get a chance to get the spare. After 10 frames, we add up the points and see who has the most. 300 is a perfect score, but very hard to get.

I told you, it's harder than you think. Now let a pro show you how it's done.

All right, we're back. So bowling is actually a very kinda like a pastime in the United States. You get together with friends and you just go bowling.

Yeah, it's uh it's especially because when you go bowling, many people can play, right? Uh not obviously at the same time, but you take turns. And so while you're waiting, people are talking and and eating, so it's it is a very social activity.

That's right. So maybe a group of people will rent a lane. Remember we were talking earlier about a lane being that one kind of strip of wood where you roll the bowl the ball. Uh well, a group of friends can rent a lane or two lanes and the four or the eight of you can play together, each person playing, you know, one frame at a time.

That's right. And now actually it it the other thing about it is it's very funny to see people trying to bowl or maybe with the heavy ball, or maybe they they pass the line that we said they shouldn't pass and they slip and fall. So I guess that's what also makes it a little bit fun to play.

Well, it is. And and actually we are really curious to know if you've ever been bowling. I know many people who've never been bowling and they find it very, very fun. So why don't you come to our website Englishpod.com and leave your questions and comments there as well.

The English podcast audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A game where you try to knock pins down with a ball.

Bowling.

To make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction.

Polish.

Any narrow or well-defined passage, track, channel or course.

Lane.

To strike in collision.

Knock.

A sunken channel on each side of the lane.

Gutter.

An expert player.

Pro.

Let's try that faster.

To strike in collision.

Knock.

To make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction.

Polish.

An expert player.

Pro.

A sunken channel on each side of the lane.

Gutter.

A game where you try to knock pins down with a ball.

Bowling.

Any narrow or well-defined passage, track, channel or course.

Lane.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Pro.

Pro.

I think that guy playing is a pro.

Pro.

Polish.

I need to polish my shoes, they are so dull.

Polish.

The floor is so rough, it needs to be polished.

Polish.

After the polishing, the ice rink was super smooth.

Bowling.

I'm so bored. Let's go bowling.

Bowling.

Bowling.

I always practice my bowling. I want to have a perfect game.

Gutter.

The gutter is full of rubbish. Someone should clean it up.

Gutter.

Gutter.

Watch out! I saw a rat in the gutter.

Knock.

If I knock these pins over, I will have a perfect score.

Knock.

I knocked into my friend while we were go-karting, which caused him to crash.

Knock.

Hey, be careful! You nearly knocked over my vase.