Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 354, Being Scared.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 354.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com and download a learning guide for this episode.
The learning guide contains all of the definitions and sample sentences, additional definitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is called Being Scared.
It's a dialogue between Emily and Stephen about going into a house that is supposed to be haunted.
Let's get started.
I'm not going into that house.
It's supposed to be haunted.
Come on.
Don't be a coward.
You don't believe in ghosts, do you?
I don't, but I'm not taking any chances.
Just look at that house.
It's spooky.
I'm getting goosebumps just looking at it.
You're only freaking out because you've watched too many horror movies.
It's just a house.
Now, come on.
Why are we doing this anyway?
Just because your friends dared you to go in doesn't mean you have to.
This is stupid.
I took the dare and I told them I'd spend the night in that house.
If you're a scaredy cat, you can go home right now. and let you go in there by yourself?
What kind of girlfriend would I be?
I'm scared to death, but I'm not going to chicken out.
Okay, let's go before I change my mind.
Really?
I didn't think you'd have the nerve.
You're braver than I thought.
Don't worry.
Nothing in there can hurt us.
Famous last words.
Our dialogue begins with Emily saying to Stephen, I'm not going into that house.
It's supposed to be haunted.
To be haunted h-a-u-n-t-e-d.
Means that there are ghosts or other spirits in a building.
This is a belief that some people have, that there are people who died and then they come back And they haunt a place.
They stay there and they try to scare you.
This is something you'll see in a movie, for example.
On Halloween, we often have what are called haunted houses.
And these are houses that people dress up in and try to scare you.
Stephen says, come on, don't be a coward.
Come on here means be serious.
Don't joke.
Don't be a coward.
C-O-W-A-R-D.
Coward is someone who is afraid, someone who doesn't have courage because he or she is scared.
That's a coward.
It's a negative term.
Stephen says, you don't believe in ghosts, do you?
This is an example of what we call in English a tag, T-A-G question.
The first part of the sentence is negative.
You don't believe in ghosts.
The last part is affirmative or positive.
Do you?
The answer to this question is, if you don't believe in ghosts, to say no.
This can be very confusing.
Many people think that the answer would be yes, if you don't believe in ghosts.
So Stephen is saying to Emily, you don't believe in ghosts.
Emily doesn't believe in ghosts, and so she's going to say, no, I don't believe in ghosts.
You don't say, yes, I don't believe in ghosts.
You say, no, I don't believe in ghosts.
Ghosts are spirits of a dead person that can be seen and heard by living people.
That's the idea, anyway.
Emily says, I don't believe in ghosts, but I'm not taking any chances.
The expression, I'm not going to take any chances, means I'm not going to take a risk.
I'm not going to do something that might cause me more problems or trouble.
Emily says, just look at that house.
The expression here just look or just listen to.
This is a way of saying you haven't looked or listened carefully enough.
You're not understanding what I'm saying.
It's a way of emphasizing your point.
She says, just look at that house.
It's spooky.
Spooky, S-P-O-O-K-Y, means scary.
Something that is strange and unusual and that causes you fear is spooky.
Emily says, I'm getting goosebumps just looking at it.
Goosebumps, G-O-O-S-E-B-U-M-P-S one word are little bumps that appear on your skin when, when you are either cold or scared.
So you look at your arm and you see these little bumps.
You can feel them on your skin.
To get goosebumps means to either be scared or to be cold.
Here it means to be scared.
There was actually a series of books.
There is a series of books very popular with elementary school children, especially boys.
The series is called Goosebumps.
It's like the Harry Potter series in that it's about some things that are scary, haunted things, spooky things.
Very popular series among young boys.
And the English is fairly easy.
There are actually some ESL adults that read these easier novels because the English is easier for people to understand.
That's Goosebumps.
Well, Emily says she's getting goosebumps just looking at the house.
She doesn't even have to go into it.
Just looking at it gives her goosebumps.
Stephen says, you're only freaking out because you've watched too many horror movies.
To freak out is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become very scared, to act very strangely, usually because you are frightened, you are scared of something.
Someone says to you don't freak out means don't get excited, don't be scared by what I am going to tell you or show you.
Emily's been watching too many horror movies.
A horror movie is a scary movie that's supposed to frighten people.
Emily says, why are we doing this anyway?
Just because your friends dared you to go in doesn't mean you have to.
To dare someone to do something means to challenge someone, to get someone to do something that might be frightening or embarrassing or difficult.
This is something that children and adolescents, teenagers sometimes do.
I dare you to go to that beautiful woman and ask her for her telephone number.
I dare you to.
It can be very scary.
The word dare, as well as the expression to take any chances, have a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Stephen responds, Notice dare here is used as a noun.
I took the dare.
I accepted the challenge.
I told them I would spend the night...
To spend the night means to sleep somewhere for one night.
Stephen says to Emily, if you're a scaredy cat, you can go home right now.
A scaredy cat is a person who's afraid of everything, who has no courage, who's always scared.
It's a term that you would probably hear children use more than anything.
Don't be a scaredy cat, you might say to your friend.
Emily says she's not going home.
What kind of girlfriend would I be, she says.
To say you're scared to death means you're extremely scared.
You're very frightened.
To chicken out...
Once again, it's considered a negative thing to chicken out, to not do something because you're too scared.
Emily says, let's go before I change my mind.
Let's go before I decide to do something different, to not go in the house in this case.
Stephen says, really?
I didn't think you would have the nerve.
To have the nerve N-E-R-V-E means to have courage to do something, to be able to do something even though you are scared or frightened.
Stephen says to Emily, To be brave means to be courageous, to have courage.
It's the opposite of being a coward or being scared.
Stephen says, you're braver than I thought.
You're more brave than I thought.
Don't worry.
Nothing in that house can hurt us.
Emily says at the end.
This expression, famous last words, is used to show that what somebody has said is probably wrong.
And there will be some serious consequences, some negative things that will happen in the future.
For example, you say to your friend my wife is going to love this new vacuum cleaner to help her clean our carpets.
And your friend says famous last words, meaning you're probably wrong and your wife is going to hate the vacuum cleaner.
He's right.
You should never give your wife a vacuum cleaner as a gift.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm not going into that house.
It's supposed to be haunted.
Come on, don't be a coward.
You don't believe in ghosts, do you?
I don't, but I'm not taking any chances.
Just look at that house.
It's spooky.
I'm getting goosebumps just looking at it.
You're only freaking out because you've watched too many horror movies.
It's just a house.
Now come on.
Why are we doing this anyway?
Just because your friends dared you to go in doesn't mean you have to.
This is stupid.
I took the dare, and I told them I'd spend the night in that house.
If you're a scaredy cat, you can go home right now.
And let you go in there by yourself?
What kind of girlfriend would I be?
I'm scared to death, but I'm not going to chicken out.
Okay, let's go before I change my mind.
Really?
I didn't think you'd have the nerve.
You're braver than I thought.
Don't worry.
Nothing in there can hurt us.
Famous last words.
The script for this episode was written by the very brave Dr. Lucy Say.
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 2008.
