Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, number 414, Common Traffic Signs.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 414.
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.
You can download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional vocabulary, comprehension questions, cultural notes and a complete transcript of everything you hear on this episode.
This episode is called Common Traffic Signs.
It's going to talk about the kinds of signs you see when you drive.
It will be a dialogue between Ben and Lauren, and they're going to be having a little problem reading the traffic signs.
Let's get started.
I left my glasses at the office.
You mean you can't see?
I can see pretty well.
What was that yellow sign we just passed?
It said, dead end, stop, turn around.
I can't.
That sign says, no U-turn.
Okay, but we can't keep going.
Those signs say, do not enter, and one way.
Okay, fine.
I'll just pull off the road and you can drive.
You can't.
That sign says no stopping.
Hey, you just made an illegal U-turn.
What else could I do?
Anyway, we're back on track now.
Watch out for those speed bumps.
You really are blind without your glasses.
You're going too fast.
According to that sign, this is a school crossing zone.
The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour.
That's only true when the lights are flashing.
Is that a detour sign?
I can't believe it.
Will I never get home?
The dialogue begins with Ben asking Lauren, Why are you squinting like that?
To squint S-Q-U-I-N-T means to close your eyes partially, so that only a small part of your eye can be seen.
Usually we do this.
If there is too much light or if you can't see very well, you squint, Close your eyes not all the way in order to see a little better.
Lauren says, I left my glasses at the office.
So she should have her glasses on while she drives, but she forgot them, so she squints.
Ben says, you mean you can't see?
Do you mean that you cannot see?
Lauren says, What was that yellow sign we just passed?
The word sign is a common word to describe any piece of wood metal, plastic or paper that has writing or pictures on it.
To give you information,
All countries have their own road signs.
Ben says the yellow sign said, dead end.
He then says to Lauren, stop, turn around.
To turn around means to take the car in the opposite direction, to go back from where you came.
A dead end is a street that doesn't connect to any other street.
If you go down a street that is a dead end, you can't go any farther.
You have to turn around and go back to get out.
Lauren says, I can't, meaning I can't turn around.
That sign says, no U-turn.
A U-turn is when you are driving down a street in one direction.
It's a two-way street, meaning cars go in both directions and you want to go in the opposite direction.
So you're traveling, for example, west on a street, and now you want to go east on the street.
You can in many places make a U-turn, where the car is traveling in the shape of a U.
You turn the car around, so it goes in the other direction.
There are some places where a U-turn would be too dangerous, so you may see a no U-turn sign.
Ben says, OK, but we can't keep going.
Meaning, OK, you can't take a U-turn, but we can't keep going in the same direction.
Those signs say, do not enter, and one way.
These are two other popular signs you will see on American streets.
Do not enter means that you should not go down that street.
Usually this is because there are cars coming from the other direction and it would be dangerous.
A one-way street is a street that Drivers can only move in one direction.
They can only go north or they can only go south.
A two-way street is a street where drivers go in both directions.
And, of course, here in the United States people drive on the right side of the street, the right side of the road, which is just another name for a street or a highway.
Lauren says, okay, fine.
I'll just pull off the road and you can drive.
To pull off the road or the street means to slow your car down and eventually to stop driving.
You put your car on one side of the road or street... for a short period of time.
For example, if you get a cell phone call, a mobile phone call, you may pull off the road so you can talk to that person and not have to worry about causing an accident.
In some states it's illegal to talk on your cell phone in the car, at least to have the phone up to your face.
So you may pull off the road or pull off to the side of the road.
Lauren says she's going to pull off the road and allow Ben to drive.
That term, pull off, has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Ben says to Lauren, you can't, meaning you can't pull off the road here.
He points to another sign that says, no stopping.
No stopping is a sign that tells drivers that they can't pull off to the side of the road or the side of the freeway.
They have to keep driving because it would not be safe to pull off the road at that point.
Ben then says Hey, you just made an illegal U-turn, meaning she made a U-turn where it wasn't allowed, it wasn't permitted.
Lauren says, Anyway, we're back on track now.
To be back on track means to be doing something correctly after doing it incorrectly for a certain amount of time.
So you're doing something wrong and then you realize and you correct your mistake and now you're doing it correctly, the right way.
We would say you got back on track.
Ben says, watch out for those speed bumps.
A speed bump is a small... of the road that is higher than the rest of the road.
It causes the cars to slow down.
If you try to go over a speed bump at a high speed, you could damage your car.
Speed bumps have become very popular in Los Angeles in the last few years.
Many of the streets are where there is a lot of traffic, also have many people who live on that street, and so they complain that the traffic is dangerous for them and the city puts in speed bumps to slow the traffic down.
I personally don't really like these, but then again, I don't live on a busy street.
Ben then says to Lauren, you really are blind without your glasses.
To be blind means to be unable to see.
You cannot see.
If someone says you're blind without your glasses, they mean you cannot see very well at all unless you have your glasses on.
I am this way.
I am blind without my glasses.
My wife says I'm blind with my glasses too, but that's another problem.
Ben says you're going too fast.
According to that sign, this is a school crossing zone.
A school crossing is a part of the street where many children next to a school will be crossing the street.
Because it is dangerous for children to be crossing the street when there is a lot of traffic, when there are a lot of cars.
Many places put up school crossing signs, meaning you should be extra careful.
You should be very careful in this area, because children will be crossing the street, going from one side of the street to the other side.
A zone is just another word for an area.
The posted speed limit, Ben says, is 25 miles per hour.
The speed limit is the maximum speed that you can drive in a particular area or on a particular street.
In most cities, the speed limit is between 25 and 35 miles per hour.
That would be between 40 and 55 kilometers per hour, roughly, approximately.
The word posted means that something is put in a place where everyone can see it.
So the posted speed limit is the speed limit you see on the side of the road.
On American freeways and highways, the speed limit varies considerably.
It's different in different places, even in different parts of the country.
So you need to look at the posted speed limit to make sure you aren't driving too fast.
Lauren says that's only true when the lights are flashing, meaning the posted speed limit is 25 miles an hour only when the lights on the sign are flashing.
To flash means to go on and off, on and off, repeatedly and usually quickly.
Some speed limits are only used when the sign is flashing.
If the sign isn't flashing, then you don't have to worry about that speed limit.
The word flash has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at the learning guide for some additional explanations.
Lauren says, is that a detour sign?
A detour is an alternate route.
It's a way to go from one place to another place when the normal route, the normal way that you would go, is not possible.
So, for example, if they are fixing the street, there is construction on the street or there's a special event and the street is blocked, the street is closed.
You might have to take a detour, meaning you might have to go a different way in order to get to where you want to go.
Ben says, I can't believe it.
Will I never get home?
This expression will I never plus the verb or the result is used when you don't believe something will happen, even though you want it to happen.
So you want to get home, but because of all the difficulties, it doesn't look like you're going to get home.
So you may say, will I never get home?
Or if you have, say, a neighbor whose children like to cry and scream in the street.
This is just an example.
I'm not talking about my neighbor and his child.
You may say, will that child never shut up?
Will that child never be quiet?
The answer, of course, is no.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I can't, that sign says no U-turn.
Okay, but we can't keep going.
Those signs say do not enter and one way.
Okay, fine.
I'll just pull off the road and you can drive.
You can't.
That sign says no stopping.
Hey, you just made an illegal U-turn.
What else could I do?
Anyway, we're back on track now.
Watch out for those speed bumps.
You really are blind without your glasses.
You're going too fast.
According to that sign, this is a school crossing zone.
The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour.
That's only true when the lights are flashing.
Is that a detour sign?
I can't believe it.
Will I never get home?
The script for this episode was written by someone who never has to squint because she has perfect eyesight Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us 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.
