Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 747, Visiting a Ranch.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 747.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Piero and Annie...
They're going to something called a ranch, basically a large farm with many different kinds of animals.
Let's get started.
Yeehaw!
What's all this?
I'm visiting my sister and brother-in-law's new ranch next month, and I'm getting ready for it.
I know I'm a city girl, but I plan to fit right in on that ranch and work alongside all of the other cowboys.
Well, you looked the part.
You've got your cowboy hat, a lasso, and are those chaps?
Yes, of course.
How else could I ride with them on the cattle drive?
Cattle drive?
Are you sure it's a working ranch?
I think so.
Why would they buy a ranch if they don't plan to have horses and livestock?
Don't ask me.
What's all that stuff in the bags?
That's all equipment I'll need to ride a horse.
A bridle, a bit, and, ta-da, my own saddle.
This is all stuff that they should have at the ranch already, don't you think?
Yes, but I'll need to go horseback riding this weekend to practice.
That's a good idea.
Have you been riding horses long?
This weekend will be my first time.
You're riding a horse for the first time this weekend and you plan to work at your sister's ranch next month.
Sure.
How hard could it be?
It's just like riding a bike, right?
Piero begins by asking Annie, what's all this?
What is all of this stuff?
What are all of these things?
Annie says I'm visiting my sister and brother-in-law's new ranch next month and I'm getting ready for it.
A ranch is a large farm that usually has lots of cows, horses, and other large animals on it.
We often talk about ranches, especially here in the western part of the United States, where there used to be very large amounts of land owned by one or two people a family typically and they would use that land for cows and horses and growing food.
The word ranch is, in American English, typically associated with states like Texas or Arizona or California.
Where there were these large pieces of land that you would find animals on.
That's where Annie's going.
She's going to a ranch owned by her sister and her sister's husband, which would be Annie's brother in law.
She says, I know I'm a city girl.
That is, she's someone who was raised in a city, not out on a farm.
We would call that perhaps a country girl or boy.
But I plan to fit right in on that ranch and work alongside all of the other cowboys.
To fit in or to fit right in means to be the same as everyone around you.
So you're wearing the same kinds of clothes.
You're acting the same.
You're doing the same things.
That's to fit in.
And he wants to work alongside all of the other cowboys.
Alongside A-L-O-N-G-S-I-D-E.
One word means together with someone else, doing something, with someone standing next to them or working with them.
Cowboys are...
People, usually men, that ride horses, and they take care of the cows and other large animals when they're riding on their horses.
Cowboys are an important part of Western United States culture, and that's what Annie wants to do.
Piero says, well, you look the part.
The expression to look the part P-A-R-T means that you look the way people expect someone to look, to dress, to act for that particular situation.
The word part here refers to an actor or an actress who is playing a certain character in a TV show or movie or play.
Someone who, for example, is in the play Romeo and Juliet and is playing the character of Romeo here would have what we would say the part of Romeo.
I have Romeo's part, meaning that's the person I'm going to be in the movie or in the play.
To look the part means that you look just like that person should look.
Piero observes that Annie has a cowboy hat, a lasso, and chaps.
A cowboy hat is a very large hat.
I'm sure you've seen one.
It is made of a thick, soft fabric, traditionally worn by men, although women can wear them too.
They're very much associated with Western U.S. culture.
You'll see them in movies about the West.
A lasso L-A-S-S-O is a long rope with a large circle on it that can be used to throw at an animal, for example, in order to catch the animal.
Chaps, C-H-A-P-S, are clothing that's similar to a pair of pants.
They're often made of leather.
They're actually worn over your pants to protect them while you are riding a horse.
I do not have a cowboy hat, a lasso, or chaps, and I've never ridden a horse.
But I've seen movies, so I know what they are.
Annie says, yes, of course she has these things.
How else could I ride with them, the cowboys?
On the cattle drive.
A cattle drive refers to a process where you have several cowboys who work together to move the cows.
We would also call them cattle, C-A-T-T-L-E, from one place to another over a very long distance.
So it's how you would move the animals if you were moving to another ranch, for example, or if you were taking them to be sold somewhere.
Piero is surprised.
He says, "'Cattle drive?'
Are you sure it's a working ranch?
That is, it's a ranch that is still operational, that is still functioning as a ranch?
And he says, I think so.
Why would they buy a ranch if they don't plan to have horses and livestock?
Horses, you probably know, are large animals with four legs.
Livestock are animals that are raised, are born and grow up on a farm, usually for food or for something the animal produces.
Livestock could be anything from cows, sheep, pigs, goats.
These are all possible animals that we would call livestock.
L-I-V-E-S-T-O-C-K.
One word.
Piero is asking Annie if this is in fact a real ranch with horses and animals.
Annie says, I think so.
Why would they have a ranch without these things?
Piero says, don't ask me.
What's all that stuff in your bags, in your luggage, the things you use to carry your clothes when you travel?
And he says, that's all equipment I'll need to ride a horse.
A bridle, a bit, and ta-da, my own saddle.
A bridle B-R-I-D-L-E is something made of leather that you put over the horse's head and and it allows you to control the horse more easily.
There's another word that is also pronounced bridal B-R-I-D-A-L, which refers to a woman who's getting married.
We call that woman a bride.
So bridal would be the adjective referring to the things related to the bride.
You wouldn't want to put a bridle on the bride, of course, unless perhaps you're the future husband.
Annie says that she has a bridle and a bit, B-I-T.
A bit.
Here is a metal bar that goes in the horse's mouth and is used along with the bridle to control the horse.
Bit has many meanings in English, however.
Take a look at our learning guide for some of those.
The expression ta-da T-A, hyphen D-A or TA-DAH is something we use when we are introducing something surprising, but we're doing it in sort of a humorous way.
It's an expression that perhaps used to be used by magicians when they were about to do something surprising for the audience.
But now we use it in a humorous, joking way to show something to someone that they might be surprised to see.
You want to show someone, for example, your new pair of sunglasses.
So you turn around away from them and you put them on, and then you turn back around and you say ta-da, what do you think?
And they say, oh, they're beautiful, even if they're not.
Because, of course, you don't want to insult the person, right?
Well, Annie is surprising Piero by saying and showing that she has a saddle, S-A-D-D-L-E.
A saddle is the thing that you use to put on top of the horse, to sit on the horse, so you don't fall off.
Piero says, this is all stuff they should have at the ranch already, don't you think?
Annie says, yes, but I'll need to go horseback riding this weekend to practice.
Horseback, one word, riding, is when you ride a horse.
You get on to the horse's back, literally, and And you ride the horse.
You make it move and you go with it, usually.
I have never been horseback riding and I really don't want to go horseback riding.
Piero says, that's a good idea.
Have you been riding horses long, for a long time?
And he says this weekend will be my first time.
Piero says, you're riding a horse for the first time this weekend.
And you plan to work at your sister's ranch next month?
Piero's surprised since, of course, Annie doesn't have very much experience riding horses.
She's never done it before.
And she wants to work on the ranch riding horses.
Annie says, sure.
How hard could it be?
This question is asked when we think something will not be very difficult.
She says, it's just like riding a bike, right?
It's similar to riding a bicycle, which I don't think it is.
But what do I know?
I've never ridden a horse.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
What's all this?
Well, you look the part.
You've got your cowboy hat, a lasso, and are those chaps?
Yes, of course.
How else could I ride with them on the cattle drive?
Cattle drive?
Are you sure it's a working ranch?
I think so.
Why would they buy a ranch if they don't plan to have horses and livestock?
Don't ask me.
What's all that stuff in the bags?
That's all equipment I'll need to ride a horse.
A bridle, a bit, and ta-da, my own saddle.
This is all stuff they should have at the ranch already, don't you think?
Yes, but I need to go horseback riding this weekend to practice.
That's a good idea.
Have you been riding horses long?
This weekend will be my first time.
You're riding a horse for the first time this weekend and you plan to work at your sister's ranch next month.
Sure.
How hard could it be?
It's just like riding a bike, right?
If you want to fit right in with all the other kids speaking English, you should listen to the scripts by our wonderful writer, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
