Johnny’s ESL Podcast

Memo:

I just want to keep you posted on what is going on with the meetings so far.  On the whole, I feel that the recent successes we have had developing new businesses in emerging markets will continue in the next fiscal year.  There are only a few sticking points which might slow down the pace of development.  The one that concerns me the most is the recent credit crunch that has negatively impacted the marketplace.  We will be closely monitoring this situation.

In other company news, the merger deal with Equos is on the brink of being completed.  The various issues that were under discussion are close to being resolved.  Additionally, we are currently narrowing down the list of possible locations for our next company seminar.

A) Do you have a second? I need to pick your brain on a couple of things.

B) It’s not a good time now. I’m in the middle of something.

A) What about tomorrow?

B) Tomorrow’s not good either. I’ll be in and out of the office all day. I have some time on Friday.

A) Friday works for me. Let’s say 8 A.M.

B) Sounds good.

rack your brain

This puzzle is so difficult. I have been racking my brain for hours trying to solve it.

He’s a brain.

someone who is clever

be brain dead

By the time I finish teaching, I am brain dead.

a part of the brain trust.

A member of the president’s secretary is part of his brain trust

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Open the Floor to Something:  Ladies and Gentlemen that concludes my presentation, I would like to now open the floor to questions.

Take The Floor:  Jake will be taking the floor in twenty minutes in order to discuss the latest financial data.

Give The Floor to Someone:  Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you for listening to me discuss the next step of the project.  I would like to now give the floor to Ms. Adams who will be discussing the logistics of the project.

to Floor Someone: When Maria told me that she was getting married in a week, she totally floored me.  I didn’t even know she was dating anybody.

Get in The Ground Floor:  Look, I’m telling you this company is going to be a success.  If I were you, I would get in on the ground floor so that you aren’t left standing on the sidelines when it gets big.

Falling Through The Floor:  The cost of airline flights has really fallen through the floor this past year because of all the new budget airlines.

Floor It:  Look I need to get to the bank in five minutes! Can you please floor it?

Wipe The Floor:  Our team is much better than their team.  I am confident that we will wipe the floor with them.

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A) Why are you in such a bad mood today?

B) Sorry, I had a really bad day at work.

A) What happened?

B) Well, To put it in a nutshell I was in a meeting with one of our most important clients and the boss totally put me on the spot.  I was sitting there listening to him make our sales pitch, when suddenly out of the blue, he said that I would now be discussing the financing for the project.  He never told me that I would be talking about the financing,  He said that he would handle everything.

A)What did you do?

B) I must have had the deer in the headlights look on my face when I stood up to speak.  After a very shaky beginning, I was able to get my feet under me and deliver a pretty good presentation.  The thing that made me really livid was that after the meeting, my boss acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened.  I learned my lesson today.  From now on,  I’ll always be ready because you never know when things like this are going to happen.

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I have been trying to tell my boss that we don’t need to spend a bunch of cash advertising our English School.  He seems to feel that flashy spots on television will get our name out there.  Additionally, he feels that half page ads in the newspaper are another viable option for us to look at it.  I can not get past how naive he is when he is dealing with these advertising companies.  I have told him time and again that the best advertising is word of mouth.  He doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that if our school gives good lessons, uses excellent materials, and satisifies the needs of our students that the word will spread about how good our school is.   He has flushed about 10,000 dollars down the toilet so far and the results have been insignificant.  I guess I will just have to persist in trying to convince him that money doesn’t grow on trees.  If he could only see that an excellent curriculum is much more integral to the success of the school than advertising, our school would be much better off.

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Before we start today, there are a couple of housekeeping issues that we need to take care of.  First, have we made all the arrangements for next week’s Conference?

A) Yes, that has all been taken care of.

Glad to hear that.  Next, Has the contractor given us a firm date of commencement on the William’s project?

B) I just hear from them today.  The project will start as scheduled on the 20th of April.

Excellent, now that we have taken care of the housekeeping.  Let’s move on to today’s agenda.   I know that my reputation of never saying anything of note may have some of you dreading today’s meeting.  Let me just say that there are a number of high priority items that we need to get through today.  Before going any further, please make note of the third item listed on today’s agenda.  I have decided that I would like to just touch on that issue today.  I will go into more detail next week.  I didn’t have enough time to prep that issue.  Since we will be tackling a wide variety of topics today, please feel free to take notes.  Finally, before we start with the first item on the agenda, I would like to thank Jamie for doing such a wonderful job taking the minutes during our meetings.

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ack:  I can’t believe you passed up moving to France for a year.Paul:  I’d love to go but the timing isn’t good for me now.

Jack:  It sounds like a sweet deal. They offered you a pay raise, an apartment, and a car.  I was hoping the firm would offer me a position abroad.  It seems like I always get passed over when they make these decisions.

Paul:  Have you told management that you would be interested in working overseas?

Jack: I’ve mentioned it to Jim in passing.

Paul: You know how busy Jim is.  If you just mentioned it to him in passing, it probably went in one ear and out the other.  Look if you really want to make a mark at the company, you got grab the bull by the horns, and make it absolutely clear to Jim that you feel slighted by not being offered a position at our overseas offices.

Jack: I’ll try and get a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Paul: Let me know how things shake out.

Jack: Sure

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Do you have any skeletons in your closet?  I think that we all do.  Generally speaking, we don’t share the skeletons we have in our closet with friends and colleagues.  A skeleton in the closet can leave you red faced or upset, if it were discovered.  Let’s say you were a politician or anybody else with a high profile job, your enemies could use a skeleton in your closet to blackmail you.  Most of us want this information kept on the down low.  Some of us, might even offer to bribe those who have discovered a skeleton in our closet so that they will keep our secret.  We would be willing to go to great lengths to keep the cat in the bag.  Those of you who are married or have girlfriends and boyfriends should ask them about skeletons in their closet.  They might try to duck the question, or even worse, put the shoe on the other foot, by asking about the skeletons in your closet.

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I still haven’t been able to get over Michelle dumping me.  It happened six months ago, but I feel like it was yesterday.  I know I should take these kinds of things in stride, however difficult.  When my friends ask me what I got up to on weekends, I always tell them nothing.  Going to work is an extremely difficult chore.  I just want to get it over with as soon as possible so that I can get home and feel sorry for myself.  Even my friends have started making fun of me by asking if I want them to throw me a pity party.  There are so many errands that I keep putting off doing that my “to do” list keeps getting longer and longer.  I haven’t gotten around to doing things that need my immediate attention.  I want to get back to being the easy-going Johnny that I used to be.  I hope things get better soon.

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Jake:  I think the best way forward is to set up a new department.  The department would be responsible for handling the influx of new business.

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Expressions:

to be on the brink of defeat

to veg out I’m going to go home and just veg out in front of the television.

a boob-tube What’s on the boob-tube today?

a nag, to nag Men don’t like to be nagged. You nag me every day. Gosh, My girlfriend is such a nag.

the life of the party This party is pretty boring. Yeah, Jason isn’t here yet. He is the life of the party. When he gets here it will be OK.

a wet blanket Why are you always such a wet blanket? You never wanna do anything.

variety is the spice of life

an engaging conversation / an engaging person We had an engaging conversation on politics. to get engaged I got engaged.

a spirited debate I had a really spirited debate with Bob about president Bush. run-of-the-mill (adj) It was pretty run-of-the-mill.

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The conversation:

Ring…

Hello, Mr. Thompson’s office.

Yes, is Mr. Thompson in?

I am sorry sir, he is in a meeting.

Can you tell me when he will be available?

These meetings usually last an hour, but this one has been going on for two. So I am not sure when it will be done.

I see.

Sir, if you want, I can take a message.

OK. Can you tell him that Jason Smith from the Frontier Group called. Tell him that I will be at my office until seven pm. He can call me there at 041 265 5781. After 7, I will be available on my cell. That number is: 043 532 1798.

Sir, may I ask what this phone call is in regard to?

It is in regard to the Cooper project. Please tell him that it is imperative that I speak with him today.

I will let him know as soon as the meeting ends.

Thank you.

Questions:

1. Where is Mr. Thompson?

2. How long do these meetings usually last?

3. How long has this meeting been going on?

4. Until what time will Jason be at his office?

5. What is Jason’s office number?

6. What is Jason’s cell phone number?

7. Can Jason wait until tomorrow to talk to Mr. Thomson?

8. What is the name of Jason’s company?

Some extra expressions:

get cracking on something to let the cat out of the bag let up to have a let-down to let someone down to let someone in on something to let the dog out to let someone in

Answers:

1. Mr. Thompson is in the meeting.

2. One hour.

3. It has been going on for two hours.

4. Until 7.

5. 041 265 5781

6. 043 532 1798

7. No.

8. The Phoenix Group

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The taxi driver: That will be 30 dollars.

John: What? You just went one block.

The taxi driver: Sir, that is how much the fare is.

John: Look, I wasn’t born yesterday. You are trying to rip me off.

The taxi driver: Sir, time is money and I am wasting time and losing money arguing with you. You have to pay that fare.

John: You think I am some gullible tourist? I am well-schooled on how this scam works. Do you know I travel all over the world on business. I know what’s what. I want your name and cab number.

The taxi driver: Why?

John: Because I am going to make an example of you. I am sick and tired of dealing with people looking for a hand out. I am going to demand you be fired.

The taxi driver: Look sir, I am sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean anything by it. I am sorry for trying to take advantage of you. Please, I’ll just charge you the usual fare: 10 dollars.

John: Good. That’s better. I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Bye.

The taxi driver: What a sucker!

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ack: Scotch, on the rocks.

Coming up. Here you are.

Thanks man, seems a bit slow  in here tonight.

Don’t worry, it usually picks up around midnight.

Are you here on business?

Yeah, a medical convention. I am a cardiologist. I love Vegas. I take any chance I get to come here.

What are you from?

Chicago. I flew in on the red-eye last night. As soon as I landed I hit the casinos.

How did you do?

Lost my shirt. I won’t be telling my wife that, she’ll kill me. I ended up maxxing my credit card lady luck wasn’t smiling on me, that’s for sure.

Yeah man, don’t tell the misses. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, huh?

Ha. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Well, since you had such a rough time last night that drink you have there it’s on the house.

Thanks man, cheers.

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Jack: Hey, I have never seen you in that dress before, Jane.

Jane: That’s because it is new.

Jack: How much was it?

Jane: All you need to know is it’s Prado.

Jack: Jane, you know since I lost my job we’ve had hard time making ends meet. And how do you show this understanding? By splurging on a Prada dress?

Jane: Take it easy, Jack. Since you have been at home, all you do is mope around the house and feel sorry for yourself. Go find another job. Can’t you see that we have been stuck in a rut for a while now? And honey, I don’t know how to say this to you but I just gonna say it, since you have been at home all you have manage to do is grow a nice beer gut. Your stomach looks like a storage space for Budweiser.

Jack: That was a lowblow, Jane. A very low blow. What happened to you telling me: we’ll get through this or we will have to tighten the belt.

Jane: Yeah, I said this ages ago. And I am so sick and tired of you throwing that in my face every time I buy something. Jack, you do know that expression: no money no honey? If you don’t take care of me, baby, I am out of the door.

Jack: Fine, don’t let it hit you on your way out.

Jane: Fine, I am out of here.

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Telephone conversation

Yeah, Rumsfeld here.

Hey Rummie, it’s George. What do you have on your plate today?

George, have you been living in a cave for the past three years? Iraq is on the plate every day.

Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.

I am trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And another thing, George, this week all of these generals or formal generals have been calling for me to resign.

Rummie, are you forgetting who you are talking to? I am daMan, the numero uno, the head honcho, the big cheese. I got your back. These generals have to resign themselves to the fact that I want you here. I want you as my secretary of defense. And Rummie, see the way I changed the meaning of resign from the way you used it? And the media says I speak English bad.

George, I’ve always told people: you are smarter than you look.

Come on Romie, keep your chin up. Tell your secretary to clear your schedule today, start with the clean slate tomorrow, come over here to the White House, I’ll grill up some Texas style burgers, make us couple of Rummie and Cokes, get it? Rummie and Cokes? Like rum and coke. And we will have a great day.

You sure know what to say Dubya……

I’ll be over in a flash.

My mama and Laura always say that my strongest point is my people skills. See you soon, Rummie.

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So Jay, how is freshman year at university going?

Wow, sounds like your roomie is a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Crazy: to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, nut, someone’s elevator doesn’t go to the top floor, all of his dogs aren’t barking

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I Always Get The Lemon

Questions: 1. What number does the customer who is complaining about the video display press? 2. What problem is the video display having? 3. What is the problem for the customer who is pressing number three? 4. What number do you press if you are unhappy with the battery? 5. If you press number one what have you already done? 6. To check the status of your gpod what do you have to enter?

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1. Americans in the Gulf Coast area are getting their lives back on track, not because of but in spite of the American government’s recovery plan.

2. The students in his class are doing well, not because of but in spite of the teacher’s methods.

3. Even though he is a bad teacher, his students do well.

4. Even though he is a good teacher, his students do badly.

5. Even though he studied, he failed the test.

6. Even though he didn’t study, he passed the exam.

Some structures to blow one off to blow off (some) steam a blow a blow-up to blow one’s top to blow one’s away to blow smoke a whistle-blower

That test was a breeze. I breezed through the exam.

to blow over

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A Handy Podcast

handy (adjective) - something useful, beneficial for you to hand out (verb) - to give; please hand out the papers to your classmates. a hand-out (noun) - please take out your hand-out of American States. hands tied behind my back - hands-off!, a hands-off boss, a hands-on boss, to give someone the finger, to flip someone the bird to have someone’s finger/s in a lot of pies to have to hand it to someone

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Road Trip

Cool. See you in the am.

Scrambled sentences 1. position, the, person, solving, main, four, is, problems, hired, for, be, the priority, will, this, that, difficult.

3. Happy, that, live, truck, has, gotten, are, his, who, what, and, finally, know, he, he, of, is, man, us, those, of, kind.

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I aced my test. I passed my test by the skin of my teeth.

My glass is half-full. My glass is half-empty.

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