Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 331, Washing Clothes.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 331.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development.
In Transcription by CastingWords, read our new ESL podcast blog.
This episode is about something everyone has to do or have done for them, and that is washing your clothes.
It's a dialogue between Mina and Arlo about using a washing machine.
Let's get started.
What happened here?
Is the washing machine not working?
What do you mean?
Why are all of your white t-shirts now pink?
That just happens.
Sometimes they turn pink, gray, or another color depending on which clothes I put in a load.
Didn't anyone teach you how to do laundry?
You're supposed to separate your whites from your colors and wash them separately.
It doesn't really matter.
I don't mind if they get dyed a different color.
As long as they get clean and the stains come out, I don't really care what color they are.
I have some bleach that may be able to get your t-shirts white again.
I better try before you put them in the dryer.
Don't bother.
It really doesn't matter to me.
I'm almost done here.
I'm just waiting for one more load to finish.
What kind of detergent are you using?
I ran out of detergent, so I've been using dishwashing liquid.
It works pretty well.
No wonder your shirts are as stiff as a board.
Good thing you don't own any delicates or they would be completely ruined.
Before you put your clothes in the dryer, clean out this lint filter.
It's really dirty.
I don't suppose you use fabric softener.
No, I like to keep things simple and dry my clothes on a clothesline.
I don't mind if they're a little stiff.
Remind me never to ask you to do my laundry.
Life is too short to worry about laundry.
Mina begins our dialogue by asking Arlo, what happened here?
Usually when someone says, what happened here?
Something bad has happened.
Something has gone wrong.
The person asking the question might be a little angry or upset.
Mina says, what happened here?
Is the washing machine not working?
The washing machine is a large machine that washes clothes with water and soap.
Arlo says, what do you mean?
What are you saying?
Mina says, why are all of your white t-shirts now pink?
Pink is a type of red, a light red color.
White t-shirts, of course, should be white, not pink.
Arlo says that just happens.
Sometimes they turn pink, gray, or another color, depending on which clothes I put in a load.
Arlo is saying that sometimes his clothes changes color.
That's what he means when he says they turn pink. pink, gray, or another color.
It depends on the clothes he puts in a load.
A load is a group of clothes or towels that you wash at the same time.
Arlo sounds a little like me when I wash my clothes.
Put all the colors together and see what happens.
Mina says, didn't anyone teach you how to do laundry?
To do laundry means to wash your clothes.
Laundry can be a noun referring to the actual clothes that you need to wash that are dirty.
We often use this expression to do laundry, meaning to wash the clothes.
Mina is asking if Arlo knows how to wash clothes with a washing machine.
You're supposed to separate your whites from your colors, she says, and wash them separately.
So you need to have a load of dark clothing and a load of white or light clothing.
Arlo says it doesn't really matter.
To dye, D-Y-E, means to change the color of something.
So Arlo is saying I don't mind if they get dyed.
I don't mind if the color changes.
Die is pronounced the same as D-I-E, which of course means to stop living.
I think when you stop living, you also change colors.
Arlo says as long as the clothes get clean and the stains come out, I don't really care what color they are.
A stain, S-T-A-I-N, is a dirty mark, a dirty section of your clothing or a sheet or a towel.
It could be on a rug, any kind of fabric.
A stain is a dirty spot, a dirty section.
Usually it's very difficult to get the stain clean, to get it out.
Notice Arlo uses the two-word phrasal verb, come out.
In this case, it means to remove, to get rid of.
So as long as the stains come out, he says, he doesn't really care what color the clothes are.
Mina says, I have some bleach on. that may be able to get your t-shirts white again.
Bleach is a clear liquid chemical that you use to clean things or to make things white.
To turn them white, we might say, to change the color to white.
I better try, before you put them in the dryer, Mina says, meaning I will try to use the bleach before you put them in the other machine that will dry the clothes.
The clothes come out of the washing machine wet.
You put them into the dryer to dry them using hot air and movement.
Some people don't use a dryer.
They use what we would call a clothesline. and they hang up the clothes on a long piece of wire.
This isn't very common anymore.
Even in warm places like Los Angeles, most people use a dryer.
For the environment.
However, it might be better for people to use the old clotheslines like my mother used to do when I was a child.
Arlo says to Mina, don't bother, meaning don't go to any trouble, don't try it.
It doesn't matter to me.
It's not important to me.
I'm almost done here.
I'm just waiting for one more load to finish, one more group of clothes to finish.
That word load actually has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at the learning guide for some additional explanations.
Mina says, what kind of detergent are you using?
Detergent D-E-T-E-R-G-E-N-T is a liquid or powder dry soap that you use to wash clothes, or or it might be detergent for washing dishes.
Different kinds of detergent, different kinds of soap, of course.
Arlo says I ran out of detergent, meaning I didn't have any clothes-washing detergent left, so I've been using dish-washing liquid.
Well, remember these are two different kinds of soap.
You're not supposed to use the soap you use to wash dishes for washing your clothes.
But this is what Arlo has done.
He used dishwashing liquid, which is a liquid soap, a liquid detergent used to wash dishes.
He used that detergent to wash his clothes, which is probably not a good idea.
Arlo says, however, it works pretty well.
Mina, who clearly thinks Arlo is an idiot that's probably because he is says no wonder your shirts are as stiff as a board.
To be stiff, S-T-I-F-F, means to be unbending.
For example, you could have a piece of wood.
The wood is not going to bend.
It's going to be very straight, very solid.
So the expression stiff as a board means it's very difficult to move or to bend.
Because Arlo is using the wrong kind of soap, his shirts are stiff as a board.
They're not very soft.
When referring to clothes, the word delicates are clothing that is made from a very special kind of fabric, something you need to wash very carefully.
A nice sweater, for example, or certain kinds of women's underwear would be considered delicates.
You would have to wash them specially.
Mina says before you put your clothes in the dryer, clean out this lint filter.
It's really dirty.
Lint, L-I-N-T, is the very small pieces of the clothing material, the fabric, that come off.
If you have a dryer, a machine that dries your clothes, somewhere in the dryer there is a lint filter.
A filter is something that stops or prevents something from going through.
The lint filter catches all these little pieces of fabric.
We would call them these little fibers.
So you can collect them easily to throw them away.
Mina says, I don't suppose you use fabric softener.
Arlo says, No, I like to keep things simple and dry my clothes on a clothesline.
We talked before about putting a wire or a string in your yard or outside of your house.
That wire or string is called a clothesline, one word.
And that's what Arlo wants to use to dry his clothes.
Mina says remind me never to ask you to do my laundry, meaning I don't ever want you to do my laundry, to wash my clothes.
Arlo says, life is too short to worry about laundry.
Now we'll listen to the dialogue this time at a normal speed.
What happened here?
Is the washing machine not working?
What do you mean?
Why are all your white t-shirts now pink?
That just happens.
Sometimes they turn pink, gray, or another color, depending on which clothes I put in a load.
Didn't anyone teach you how to do laundry?
You're supposed to separate your whites from your colors and wash them separately.
It doesn't really matter.
I don't mind if they get dyed a different color.
As long as they get clean and the stains come out, I don't really care what color they are.
I have some bleach that may be able to get your t-shirts white again.
I'd better try before you put them in the dryer.
Don't bother.
It really doesn't matter to me.
I'm almost done here.
I'm just waiting for one more load to finish.
What kind of detergent are you using?
I ran out of detergent, so I've been using dishwashing liquid.
It works pretty well.
No wonder your shirts are as stiff as a board.
Good thing you don't own any delicates, or they would be completely ruined.
Before you put your clothes in the dryer, clean out this lint filter.
It's really dirty.
I don't suppose you use fabric softener.
No, I like to keep things simple and dry my clothes on a clothesline.
I don't mind if they're a little stiff.
Remind me never to ask you to do my laundry.
Life is too short to worry about laundry.
The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2007.
