Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 807.
Getting an Unexpected Marriage Proposal This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 807.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there and take a look at some of our special business and daily English courses.
I think you might enjoy them.
This episode is a dialogue between Sean and Ayako about someone making an offer, a proposal of marriage to another person who, I guess, doesn't expect it.
Let's get started.
That's really sweet of you to say.
I would like to ask you a very important question.
Ayako, would you marry me?
Is this a marriage proposal?
Yes, and before you say anything else, I just want you to know that I've given this a lot of thought and I'm convinced that we're made for each other.
I don't think... And you just have to say the word and we could elope tomorrow if you wanted to.
A lope?
Or, if you prefer, we can have a lavish wedding.
I'm not picky.
I just want us to be husband and wife.
Sean, you're a really nice guy, but don't you think you might be jumping the gun?
No.
You know what they say.
When it's right, it's right.
We've only been on two dates.
Yes, but they have been the best two dates of my life.
Sean begins by saying to Ayako By now, by this point in time, I think you know how I feel about you.
I'm madly in love with you.
To be in love with someone means that you feel a strong romantic connection.
In this case, To be madly in love means to be very much in love, to have very strong romantic feelings toward another person.
I'm madly in love with you.
And Sean continues I believe in my heart of hearts that you are my soulmate, that you're my soulmate.
In my heart of hearts is a phrase we use when you are saying something that you believe in very much, that you know is true.
In my heart of hearts, what I really believe, what I really think is what Sean is saying here.
He really believes that Ayako is his soul mate.
A soul S-O-U-L mate M-A-T-E is a person that has all of the qualities and characteristics for a romantic partner, for the perfect romantic partner, someone who you could spend the rest of your life with, who understands the world the way you understand the world, even if you're crazy.
Ayako says, that's really sweet of you to say.
Sweet, S-W-E-E-T, here means nice, kind.
It's not a very strong word, however.
When you say, oh, that's very sweet of him, you mean it's nice of him, it's kind of him.
It's definitely a positive thing to say about someone, but perhaps not what you would say when someone says that you are his or her soulmate.
Sean says continuing on, and because I feel the way I do, because I have these thoughts, these beliefs, these feelings, I would like to ask you a very important question.
Ayako says, okay, but why are you getting down on one knee?
The expression to get down on one knee means to bend one knee and let the other knee of your leg go down against the ground.
That's the traditional pose or the traditional movement position that a man uses to ask a woman to marry him.
To get down on one knee means to ask someone to marry you.
And traditionally, that's what a man would do in asking a woman to marry him.
Sean says, Ayako, would you marry me?
Would you become my wife?
Ayako says, marry you?
She's quite surprised, shocked even.
Is this a marriage proposal?
A marriage proposal is a request from one person, usually the man, traditionally.
To marry a woman.
So Ayako is asking, quite surprisingly, if Sean is proposing to marry her.
Sean says yes, and before you say anything else, I just want you to know that I've given this a lot of thought.
I've thought about it a lot.
I've been thinking about it, and I'm convinced, I know for sure, that we are made for each other.
We are made for each other.
To be made for each other is sort of like having a soulmate.
When you are saying that this other person in this romantic relationship is perfect for you, that you each have the characteristics that match, that go together and that make you a perfect romantic couple.
There, of course, is no such thing as a perfect romantic couple, but many people do believe that their husband or wife was made for them, meaning they're perfect for them.
Ayako says I don't think.
Sean interrupts her and says and you just have to say the word and we could elope tomorrow if you wanted to.
The expression to say the word means indicate that you want to do something or the time that you want something done.
You say the word and I will take you to Venice Beach and we will go swimming.
That means whenever you want to, you just tell me and I will do it.
That's what Sean is saying here to our poor Ayako.
Sean says, we could elope tomorrow.
To elope, E-L-O-P-E, means to go and get married in secret.
You don't tell any of your family or your friends.
You just go somewhere.
Here in the United States people often go to Las Vegas because it's easy, I guess, to get married there.
They have lots of places to get married.
And you get married without telling any of your friends and family.
That is to elope.
Sean is saying that if Ayako wants to, they can go and get married today, tomorrow.
They could elope suddenly without having any sort of wedding or celebration.
Ayako says elope today.
Sean says, or if you prefer, if you want, we can have a lavish wedding.
He's saying okay well, if you don't want to elope, we can also have a very expensive, fancy elegant wedding ceremony.
That's what lavish means, something that usually costs a lot of money.
I'm not picky, Sean says, meaning it doesn't matter to me.
I'm not going to be mad one way or the other.
He can do whatever Ayako wants.
I just want us to be husband and wife, to be married.
Ayako says, Sean, you're a really nice guy.
To jump the gun means to do something too soon, before it's the right time.
To do something perhaps before something is completed.
So if you invite everyone to a party and you haven't asked your husband or wife if they can come over to your house, you've probably jumped the gun.
You've done something that you should have waited to do until you were sure of, or certain of other things.
The expression probably comes from track, that is, when people race to see who's fastest.
Usually the race begins by shooting a gun in the air.
To jump the gun means to start running before the gun fires.
And you, of course, can't do that.
That's the whole point of having the gun, so everyone starts at the same time.
Anyway, back to our story.
Ayako thinks that Sean is jumping the gun.
Sean says no.
You know what they say.
When it's right, it's right.
This is a phrase that Sean uses to defend his decision.
He's saying that When it's the right time, you just have to do it, and now is the right time.
Ayako says we've only been on two dates, meaning they've only gone out romantically somewhere as a couple or gotten together twice.
Two dates.
A date is a romantic appointment, dinner and a movie, that sort of thing.
Sean says yes, but they have been the best two dates of my life.
Well, even if they were the best two dates of his life, we would probably agree that Sean is jumping the gun in asking this woman to marry him.
By now, I think you know how I feel about you.
I'm madly in love with you, and I believe in my heart of hearts that you're my soulmate.
That's really sweet of you to say.
And because I feel the way I do, I would like to ask you a very important question.
Okay, but why are you getting down on one knee?
Ayako, would you marry me?
Marry you?
Is this a marriage proposal?
Yes.
And before you say anything else, I just want you to know that I've given this a lot of thought and I'm convinced that we're made for each other.
I don't think.
And you just have to say the word and we could elope tomorrow if you wanted to.
Elope?
Or if you prefer, we can have a lavish wedding.
I'm not picky.
I just want us to be husband and wife.
Sean, you're a really nice guy, but don't you think you might be jumping the gun?
No.
You know what they say, when it's right, it's right.
We've only been on two dates.
Yes, but they have been the best two dates of my life.
I know in my heart of hearts that Lucy Say, our scriptwriter, is one of the best at what she does.
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 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
