Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 542, Renting a Movie.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 542.
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This episode is called Renting a Movie.
It is a dialogue between Brenda and Jang talking about renting movies to watch at home.
Let's get started.
I have to return these movies in the Dropbox today or I'll have late fees.
Can I get you anything while I'm out?
Are you still renting movies from the video store?
I use a service that delivers the movies to my mailbox.
There are never any late fees.
I've thought about subscribing to one of those services, but I think I would really miss browsing at the video store.
I like checking out the new releases and staff picks, and you never know what you'll find to buy in the bargain bins.
Renting movies online is so much quicker and easier.
I can browse the titles quickly, read the descriptions, read reviews and sometimes even watch a trailer.
Then all I need to do is put the movie in my queue, and as soon as I mail one movie back, they send me another one.
It's that simple.
It does sound easy, but not everything that's easy is better.
Some of us like to take our time to make our selections.
Whatever.
If you want to spend your time looking for movies rather than watching them, that's your prerogative.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
Our dialogue begins when Brenda says I have to return these movies in the drop box today or I'll have late fees.
A drop box two words is a large box, a large square container that has an opening where you can put things into it, usually to return something to a store.
It could also be a public library.
Most libraries, as well as video rental stores, have boxes that you can put the movie into and you don't have to go in and talk to anyone.
You just return the movie by putting it into the drop box.
There's another verb to drop off, a two-word phrasal verb, which means to leave something for someone else.
So you can drop off your movies in a drop box when you're finished watching them.
Brenda says she needs to return the movies. or she'll have late fees.
A late fee is an amount of money that you pay as a penalty for bringing something back late.
So if you rent a movie and you return it three days late, you'll probably have to pay a late fee, maybe 5, maybe 10.
It depends on the store.
For the libraries, you may have to pay a quarter.
You may have to pay a dollar.
Again, it depends on the library.
But those are late fees.
It could also be called a fine or a penalty.
Brenda then asks, Jang, can I get you anything while I'm out?
Jang says, are you still renting movies from the video store?
To rent, as you probably know, means to pay to use something for a short period of time.
You can rent a car.
You can rent a house.
You can rent a movie.
I read somewhere that in some places you can also rent a dog or a cat.
I'm not sure why anyone would do that, but if you want to.
This is America.
You can do whatever you want, they say.
Anyway, Yang asks, Brenda, are you still renting movies from the video store?
The video store is the place that you rent nowadays DVDs.
I guess in some video stores you can still rent the old VHS cassette tapes.
Yang says I use a service that delivers the movies to my mailbox, meaning the movies are mailed to his house or apartment.
There are never any late fees.
Brenda says I've thought about subscribing to one of those services, but I think I would really miss browsing at the video store.
To subscribe means to pay for a service each month.
Usually you pay a little bit every week or every month to continue having a certain service.
If you have satellite or cable television, you have to subscribe.
You have to pay a monthly fee in order to get that service.
It could be anywhere from $25 to $125.00.
Brenda says that she doesn't want to subscribe to one of these services because she thinks she would miss browsing.
To browse means to look slowly at what is available in a store, to look and see if there's anything new or interesting.
It's when you are not necessarily looking for one specific thing, but you just sort of want to see what is available.
Brenda says I like checking out the new releases and staff picks and you never know what you're going to find to buy in the bargain bins.
She says she likes checking out.
To check out is a two-word phrasal verb, meaning to look at something, to see something.
Sometimes this expression is used between people.
If you say the man was checking out the woman walking down the street, that means that he was looking at her directly in some sort of romantic or perhaps sexual way.
But here in general, to check out just means to find out, to investigate, to look at something.
In this case,
New releases are things that have just been published.
When a DVD movie is first released, meaning you can first get it first made available.
That would be called a new release.
Staff picks are when the people who work at the video store recommend movies to other people.
So there's usually a separate section, and below are the names of someone who works at the store who recommends movies.
The idea being that someone who works at the video store may know a lot about movies.
That isn't always true.
Brenda says she likes to check out the new releases and staff picks.
And you never know what you'll find to buy in the bargain bins.
A bin is a large box.
A bargain is something that is cheap, something that has a low price or a good price for what it is worth.
A bargain bin, then, is a big box that has things in it that are cheap, cheap to buy.
In a video store, the bargain bin would be movies, DVDs that the store was selling, not just renting.
Jang says that renting movies online is so much quicker and easier.
He says I can browse the titles quickly, read the descriptions, read reviews and sometimes even watch a trailer.
A review, in this case, is a written opinion that somebody has about the movie.
The word review has several different meanings, however.
Take a look at our learning guide for additional explanations.
A trailer is a short video advertisement for the movie.
It's like a movie commercial that tells you a little bit about the movie and what it is about.
Jang says, then all I need to do is put the movie in my queue.
And as soon as I mail one movie back, they send me another one.
It's that simple.
A queue.
Q-U-E-U-E is a list of things, in a particular order, that are being waited for, things that you are waiting for.
Or if you are waiting for something yourself in a line, that could also be called a queue.
That use of the word is a little more common in British English.
Here we would just say, I was waiting in line.
I was standing in line.
Q in this dialogue means the list of movies that you want to rent.
So if you rent movies online, you can pick the movies you want and then they will send them to you when you send a movie that you already rented back.
What happens is they mail you usually two or three movies at a time, and you can only have two or three movies rented at one time.
You have to return, that is, mail your DVD back to the company, and they will mail you a new movie, the next movie on your queue.
Brenda says, it does sound easy, but not everything that's easy is better.
Some of us like to take our time to make our selections.
To make your selection is just another way of saying to select, to choose.
Jang says whatever.
Whatever in this case is used to show that you either don't believe what a person is telling you or you don't agree with what another person has said.
It's an informal expression.
It's a negative expression.
You wouldn't want to say it to anyone that was in authority over you, like your boss.
Certainly not to someone that you don't know, unless you don't like the person anyway, I'm not sure.
Whatever can mean other things as well.
Once again, the learning guide will give you more information about how to use this word.
Cenk says if you want to spend your time looking for movies rather than watching them, that's your prerogative.
A prerogative is your right, something that you are allowed to do.
Brenda says, are you really going to let me off so easily?
I thought I was in for another one of your lectures.
To let someone off easily means not to fight someone.
You could argue with them.
You could fight with them.
But you decide it's not worth your trouble.
You decide to let them off easily.
Brenda says that she thought she was going to get another one of Jang's lectures.
A lecture is normally a speech that a professor would give to his students, a presentation.
But when you use it in an informal sense, it's almost always a negative description of someone who is telling you what you should do, as if they were your professor.
Teenagers might complain that their parents are always lecturing them.
They're always giving them lessons, usually about the things that they're doing wrong.
But, of course, teenagers do a lot of things wrong, so it's hard to blame the parents.
Jang says, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
This is an old expression.
It means that you can tell a person what to do and give him or her opportunities to do it, but you can't force someone to do something.
They have to want to do it.
So you can lead a horse to water.
You can bring a horse, the animal to a bucket of water, say but you can't force the horse to drink.
So this is an old expression.
What Jang is saying is that he has given Brenda the information she needs about renting online.
If she doesn't want to use it, then that's her decision.
That's her problem.
Now let's listen to the dialogue again, this time at a normal speed.
Are you still renting movies from the video store?
I use a service that delivers the movies to my mailbox.
There are never any late fees.
I've thought about subscribing to one of those services, but I think I would really miss browsing at the video store.
I like checking out the new releases and staff picks, and you never know what you'll find to buy in the bargain bins.
Renting movies online is so much quicker and easier.
I can browse the titles quickly, read the descriptions, read reviews and sometimes even watch a trailer.
Then all I need to do is put the movie in my queue, and as soon as I mail one movie back, they send me another one.
It's that simple.
It does sound easy, but not everything that's easy is better.
Some of us like to take our time to make our selections.
Whatever.
If you want to spend your time looking for movies rather than watching them, that's your prerogative.
Are you really going to let me off so easily?
I thought I was in for another one of your lectures.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
This new release of ESL Podcast 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.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
