Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 429, Giving Awards and Congratulations.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 429.
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 eslpodcom, where you can download a learning guide for this episode to help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Giving Awards and Congratulations.
It will use...
Several vocabulary words that we associate with congratulating, telling someone they did a good job, as well as giving out awards to people.
Let's get started.
Part of my job as school principal is to hand out awards and scholarships to students.
We recently had a ceremony to do just that.
Miguel, I want to commend you for your work this year and congratulate you for winning the science award.
It is well deserved.
The recipient of this year's Community Service Award is Monique for her outstanding achievements.
My heartiest congratulations to you, Monique.
I am also very proud of another one of our students Hugo, who has been awarded the ESL Podcast Award.
This prestigious award honors the achievements of outstanding students.
Hugo, a job well done.
Finally, we are also honoring one of our teachers today for her dedication to her students and to the school.
We are recognizing the achievements of Ms.
Niebuhr.
I cannot imagine a more deserving teacher.
Please accept my sincere congratulations.
Our story begins with the principal of a school, the leader or head of a school, talking about how one of his duties, one of his responsibilities, is to hand out or to give out awards, and An award is something you give a person because they have done something very well.
A scholarship is money you give to a person so that he or she can pay for an education, to go to a school.
We recently had a ceremony to do just that, says the man in the story, the principal.
A ceremony is a special event that honors a person or a group of people.
Usually it's a somewhat formal event.
Ceremony has a couple of different meanings in English, however.
So take a look at the learning guide for this episode for some additional explanations.
The principle says we recently had a ceremony to do just that.
The expression to do just that means to do exactly what we were just talking about.
We were talking about handing out awards and scholarships, and We had a ceremony to do just that to hand out awards and scholarships.
The principal begins first by giving an award to Miguel.
He says, Miguel, I want to commend you for your work this year.
To commend someone means to praise them, to say publicly that they have done something very well.
So he's commending Miguel for his work and he congratulates him for winning the science award.
To congratulate Miguel means to say you are happy because something good has happened to another person.
If someone gets a new job, you may congratulate them.
If your girlfriend leaves you, her friends might congratulate her because they didn't like you to begin with.
Well, back to the principle.
The principle says...
The science award was well-deserved.
When we say something is well-deserved, we mean that something should have happened because this person worked hard for it or did all the things that were necessary.
Something that is well-deserved is something that you have earned.
You have worked for it, and now you get this reward.
And that is only right.
That is the correct thing.
The principle then says that the recipient of this year's Community Service Award is Monique.
A recipient... is someone who receives something, someone to whom something is given.
To be the recipient of an award means that the award was given to you.
This award is for community service, for students who help out in their local community.
The winner is Monique. and she won for her outstanding achievements.
Something that is outstanding is something that is very good, something that is very impressive.
An achievement is something that you have done, usually something that's difficult or something that is in a specific field, or You may have achievements at work.
You sold more than anyone else or you did a better project than anyone else.
You achieved your goals.
You achieved what you wanted to.
So Monique has had outstanding achievements.
She has done some very good things.
The principal says, my heartiest congratulations to you, Monique.
Something that is hearty means friendly happy, something that is sincere, something that you really mean.
So heartiest congratulations are my most sincere, my friendliest, my happiest congratulations.
The principal says that he is also proud of one of his other students Yugo, who has been awarded the ESL Podcast Award.
To be awarded something means to receive an award, to receive an honor, to receive recognition.
The Nobel Prizes are among the most important awards in literature, science, and so forth.
Hugo won the ESL Podcast Award, probably for the smartest students, since only the smartest people listen to ESL Podcast.
This prestigious award, he says, honors the achievements of outstanding students.
Something that is prestigious is something that is well-respected, very important. one of the best.
The Nobel Prizes are prestigious.
If you win one, you are considered a very important person.
Now, if you're a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and you receive a Nobel Prize, you get your own parking space.
You see, there are very few parking spaces, good parking spaces, at that university.
So if you win a Nobel Prize, well, you get a parking space.
In some places, a parking space is as important as winning a prize.
Yugo has won a prestigious award that honors the achievements of outstanding students.
The verb to honor means to show publicly that you have done something very well.
This is something that is usually done to someone who is important or someone who has done something that you want other people to know about.
Yugo is told by the principal, a job well done.
The expression, a job well done, is a phrase used to show that someone has done something very well.
It's a way of congratulating someone on doing a good job.
A job well done.
Finally, there is an award given to one of the teachers.
The award is for her dedication to her students and to the school.
Dedication here means commitment, working hard on something.
This teacher has worked hard, and so they are recognizing her achievements.
This is Ms.
Niebuhr winning this award.
I can't imagine a more deserving teacher, the principal says.
Someone who is deserving is someone who has earned something for what they have done.
Someone who should get this award because of all they have done.
The principal says to Ms.
Niebuhr, please accept my sincere congratulations.
This is a somewhat formal expression to congratulate someone.
Please accept my sincere congratulations.
You are telling someone you are very happy or proud of what he or she has done.
Now let's listen to the dialogue this time. at a normal speed.
Part of my job as school principal is to hand out awards and scholarships to students.
We recently had a ceremony to do just that.
Miguel, I want to commend you for your work this year and congratulate you for winning the science award.
It is well-deserved.
The recipient of this year's Community Service Award is Monique for her outstanding achievements.
My heartiest congratulations to you, Monique.
I'm also very proud of another one of our students Hugo, who has been awarded the ESL Podcast Award.
This prestigious award honors the achievements of outstanding students.
Hugo, a job well done.
Finally, we are also honoring one of our teachers today.
For her dedication to her students and to the school, we are recognizing the achievements of Ms.
Niebuhr.
I cannot imagine a more deserving teacher.
Please accept my sincere congratulations.
The outstanding script for this episode was written by 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.
