Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, number 317, Setting the Table.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 317.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
© transcript Emily Beynon.
You also will want to take a look at our ESL podcast blog, where we have additional information and help in learning English.
And, of course, you should download a learning guide for this episode to help you learn English even faster.
This episode is called Setting the Table, and It's a dialogue about what you put on a table a dinner table so you can eat.
Let's get started.
This is a very special dinner.
It's not every day that I have my bosses over for dinner.
It has to be perfect.
I know.
Why do you think I took out our best china?
Instead of worrying, why don't you help me set the table?
Right.
I should make myself useful.
Is this the best tablecloth we have?
Yes, it is.
It's very fine linen.
Oh, right.
Right.
Okay, we need six table settings.
That means we need dinner plates, salad plates, bread plates, coffee cups, and saucers.
Where are the saucers?
All of the dinnerware is over there.
Be careful.
I know, I know.
Where's the silverware?
We're missing the silverware.
No, we're not.
All of the silverware is in this drawer.
Put the dinner and salad forks on the left and the dessert fork above the plate, like this.
The tines should be facing up.
The knife and spoon go on the right.
I know that.
I was just looking for the steak knives.
We don't need those tonight.
Here, take these wine glasses and put them on the table.
What else?
What else?
Nothing.
You need to take a deep breath and calm down, or you'll be in bad shape by the time the dinner starts.
Our dialogue between William and Martha begins by William saying, This is a very special dinner.
It's not every day that I have my bosses over for dinner.
The expression it's not every day.
That is a phrase we use to show that something happens only rarely, that something is not very common, not very usual, that it's a special event.
It's not every day that someone says to me, Jeff, you are the most handsome man in the world.
In fact, that never happens.
It's not every day that I have my bosses over for dinner.
To have someone over for dinner means to invite them to your house for dinner.
Martha says to William, I know.
Why do you think I took out our best China?
China is not a country here.
China refers to very nice ceramic plates and bowls that are used for eating.
They are also called, or can be, porcelain dishes.
It's a very fine, very delicate material.
If you drop the plate, it will break easily.
But it's very beautiful looking.
People only use their china for very special occasions or holidays.
When I was growing up, we would only have our China on the table for Christmas Thanksgiving, Easter big holidays that we celebrated in my family.
China is not capitalized.
If you put a capital C, then it's China the country.
Martha says, instead of worrying, why don't you help me set the table?
To set the table means to put the plates, the bowls glasses napkins, everything you need before you eat, all the things you need to be prepared to eat.
In my house growing up, it was my job every night to set the table.
William says, right, meaning okay.
I agree.
I should make myself useful.
Is this the best tablecloth we have?
A tablecloth, one word is a large piece of fabric, that a material that you put over a table where people are eating.
It's used in formal restaurants, for example.
Martha says, yes, it is.
Yes, it is the best tablecloth we have.
It's very fine linen, L-I-N-E-N.
Linen is a type of cloth or fabric that It is usually used to make very nice clothing or tablecloths, things like that.
William says, oh, right, right.
Okay, we need six table settings.
A table setting is the complete...
Set of things that one person needs.
So one bowl, one plate, one cup, the fork, knife, spoon, etc.
That's a table setting.
If you have five people, you need five table settings.
William says, A plate is a large, flat, round dish used to hold food for one person during a meal.
A saucer S-A-U-C-E-R is a small flat round dish, but it's very small and it is used to put underneath a teacup or a small coffee cup.
That would be a saucer, very small plate, put underneath a small cup.
The word plate has several different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Martha says The dinnerware.
One word refers to all of the plates bowls cups, utensils like knives spoons, forks and other things you use during a meal.
It's a general term for everything that would be on the table.
William says, I know, I know, meaning I know I should be careful.
Where's the silverware?
We're missing the silverware.
Silverware S-I-L-V-E-R.
W-A-R-E means the forks, the knives, the spoons, things that you use what we would call utensils for eating.
Silver is a metal, an expensive metal, that is used sometimes in making forks, knives and spoons, especially for a very formal dinner table.
However, many people now use the term or the words silverware for any kind of eating utensils, any collection of forks, knives and spoons, even if they are made from plastic or are sometimes called silverware.
So the expression doesn't refer only to things that are made from silver.
Martha responds to William.
Put the dinner and salad forks on the left and the dessert fork above the plate, like this
A fork is something that usually has three or four little points, what we call tines, T-I-N-E-S.
And these are used for picking up food.
The tines should be facing up.
Again, the tines are the sharp points at the end of the fork.
The knife and spoon, Martha says, go on the right side of the plate.
The knife is a long, usually metal, eating utensil used to cut things.
We use the word knife in a couple of different ways.
Take a look at the learning guide for some additional explanations.
A spoon, you may know, is a round, almost like a bowl, small bowl with a handle on it, something you use to grab it.
And it's used for picking up liquids and round pieces of food.
William says, I was just looking for the steak knives.
A steak knife is a very sharp knife used to cut meat or other food that's difficult to eat, difficult to cut.
It's a very sharp knife.
It's called a steak knife because you use it when you are eating steak, beef steak.
Martha says we don't need the steak knives tonight.
Here, take these wine glasses and put them on the table.
A wine glass is a clear glass for drinking wine for one person.
It usually has a flat, round bottom.
William says, what else, what else?
Meaning, what else do we need to put on the table?
Are we missing anything?
Martha says, nothing.
You need to take a deep breath and calm down, or you'll be in bad shape by the time the dinner starts.
To be in bad shape means you'll be, William says.
The expression to be a ball of nerves is an idiom which means to be very nervous, to be worried, to be anxious.
The first time I flew in an airplane, I was 23 years old.
I was a ball of nerves.
I was nervous about what would happen.
Fortunately, everything turned out okay.
There were no problems.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
This is a very special dinner.
It's not every day that I have my bosses over for dinner.
It has to be perfect.
I know.
Why do you think I took out our best china?
Instead of worrying, why don't you help me set the table?
Right.
I should make myself useful.
Is this the best table cloth we have?
Yes, it is.
It's very fine linen.
Oh, right, right.
Okay, we need six table settings.
That means we need dinner plates, salad plates, bread plates, coffee cups, and saucers.
Where are the saucers?
All of the dinnerware is over there.
Be careful.
I know, I know.
Where is the silverware?
We're missing the silverware.
No, we're not.
All of the silverware is in this drawer.
Put the dinner and salad forks on the left and the dessert fork above the plate, like this.
The tines should be facing up.
The knife and spoon go on the right.
I know that.
I was just looking for the steak knives.
We don't need those tonight.
Here, take these wine glasses and put them on the table.
What else?
What else?
Nothing.
You need to take a deep breath and calm down, or you'll be in bad shape by the time the dinner starts.
It's too late.
I'm already a ball of nerves.
The script for this episode was written by the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2007.
