Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 583, Going to a Spa.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 583.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is called Going to a Spa.
It's a dialogue between Tim and Jan using vocabulary that you would find at a spa.
Let's get started.
This is the life.
Spending the day at a spa is my idea of paradise.
Yeah, it's great.
Aren't you enjoying yourself?
The massage was okay, but why do I have to get a facial and a body wrap?
I'm a guy.
Men need rejuvenating, too.
These are all holistic treatments, and you'll feel like a new man when you're done.
Just enjoy the pampering.
I feel like an idiot.
How am I supposed to relax?
I don't need a body scrub or another massage.
I just want to get out of here.
When will we be done?
After this, all we have left are manicures and pedicures.
What?
I'm not getting a manicure or a pedicure.
You did promise to go with me to the spa if I agreed to have your four college friends stay in our house for two weeks remember.
Yes, I remember.
All right, let's get this over with.
Just be glad I didn't sign you up for waxing.
Jan begins by saying to Tim, this is the life.
That expression this is the life is used to show when you are very happy and You're enjoying yourself very much, especially doing whatever it is you are doing right now.
Jan says spending the day at a spa is my idea of paradise.
A spa.
S-P-A is a business where people go to, usually receive some sort of treatment or service that makes them healthier, makes them relax, makes them more beautiful.
That would be a spa.
I definitely need a spa.
Well, this spa is Jan's idea of paradise.
Paradise is a place that is very enjoyable, a very pleasant place.
We might say heaven.
This place is my idea of heaven, my idea of paradise.
Tim says, yeah, it's great.
Jan says, aren't you enjoying yourself?
She thinks maybe Tim doesn't really like the spa that much.
Tim says, the massage was okay, but why do I have to get a facial and a body wrap?
I'm a guy.
A massage M-A-S-S-A-G-E is when someone touches you with their hands, usually to try to relax your muscles, to relax your body, to relieve tension.
We might say
Tim says the massage was okay.
But he wants to know why he needs to get a facial and a body wrap.
A facial, F-A-C-I-A-L, is a special treatment for your face, you can guess, that cleans it.
It is usually something that involves using different creams or things that they put on your face.
I don't know.
I've never had one.
A body wrap is where your whole body is covered in some sort of liquid cream, lotion or something else.
It's supposed to make the skin of your body softer.
Facials and body wraps are things that traditionally a woman would get at a spa, not a man.
I should also mention that wrap W-R-A-P, as in body wrap, has other meanings in English that can be found in the learning guide.
So Tim says, I'm a guy, meaning I'm a man, I'm a male.
I should not have to get these things.
Jan says, men need rejuvenating too.
To rejuvenate means to make younger, to make you feel better, make you feel new.
Some people work all day, they come home, they have a glass of wine, and they feel rejuvenated.
They feel like they now have more energy.
Jan says.
Holistic means here relating to your entire body, relating to all of your health, not just one particular part.
The word holistic is used in many different ways, but usually it refers to the whole, the W-H-O-L-E of something, although it's spelled H-O-L-I-S-T-I-C.
No W.
Jan says that these holistic treatments will make Tim feel like a new man.
She says, just enjoy the pampering.
Pampering comes from the verb to pamper, P-A-M-P-E-R.
To pamper someone is to do some things for them, to make them feel good, to relax them, to make them feel comfortable.
Often these are things that we might consider luxurious, expensive, something that makes you feel good.
How am I supposed to relax?
Jan says, why don't you get a body scrub or a scalp massage instead?
A body scrub.
S-C-R-U-B is when they put certain things on your body, perhaps something that is rough, something that is what we would call abrasive.
They rub it on your body in order to remove the dead skin cells, so that your skin seems brighter and younger.
A scalp massage refers to your scalp S-C-A-L-P, which is the skin on top of your head, underneath your hair, if you have hair.
So a scalp massage would be someone massaging the top of your head, basically.
Jan says, maybe that'll calm your nerves.
To calm your nerves means to make you feel more relaxed and comfortable.
The person who comes home and has a glass of wine or a cup of tea feels may do so to calm their nerves, to make them less tense, make them more relaxed.
The word calm has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at the learning guide for some additional explanations.
Tim says, I don't need a body scrub or another massage.
I just want to get out of here.
When will we be done?
When will we be finished here?
Jan says, A manicure M-A-N-I-C-U-R-E is when you go somewhere and they make your fingernails look good.
They cut them, they perhaps paint them, if you're a woman, typically.
It's supposed to make your fingernails look better.
A pedicure, P-E-D-I-C-U-R-E, is the same thing but for your toenails, the nails on your feet.
When I'm talking about nails, I'm talking about something that is at the end of each finger or toe, on the top of them, that protects the very top of the finger.
Again, manicures and pedicures are typically things that a woman would get, not a man.
Tim says, what?
I'm not getting a manicure or a pedicure.
Jan says, Remember?
You see, the reason Tim is there is it's something he is doing for his wife.
What his wife is doing for him is allowing him to invite his friends from college, from his college years many years ago to stay in their house.
Tim says, yes, I remember.
All right, let's get this over with.
Let's get this over with means let's complete this.
Let's finish this as soon as possible.
Usually you say it about something that is painful or not pleasant.
Jan says, just be glad I didn't sign you up for waxing.
Waxing W-A-X-I-N-G is another beauty treatment where hair is removed from a particular part of your body by taking hot wax.
Wax is what you make a candle out of.
You take hot wax and you put it on the skin and then you allow it to cool a little so that it isn't as hot, and then you pull it off and with it will come your hair in that part of your body.
It can, needless to say, be somewhat painful, especially for a man who has a lot of hair.
So Jan is saying just be glad I didn't sign you up for meaning make an appointment for you for waxing something that would again normally be done to a woman.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
This is the life.
Spending the day at a spa is my idea of paradise.
Yeah, it's great.
Aren't you enjoying yourself?
The massage was okay, but why do I have to get a facial and a body wrap?
I'm a guy.
Men need rejuvenating too.
These are all holistic treatments, and you'll feel like a new man when you're done.
Just enjoy the pampering.
I feel like an idiot.
How am I supposed to relax?
Why don't you get a body scrub or a scalp massage instead?
Maybe that'll calm your nerves.
I don't need a body scrub or another massage.
I just want to get out of here.
When will we be done?
After this, all we have left are manicures and pedicures.
What?
I'm not getting a manicure or a pedicure.
You did promise to go with me to the spa if I agreed to have your four college friends stay in our house for two weeks.
Remember?
Yes, I remember.
All right, let's get this over with.
Just be glad I didn't sign you up for waxing.
Your English, we hope, was rejuvenated today by the wonderful script by Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
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 2010 by the Center for Educational Development.
