Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 854, Singing Christmas Carols.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 854.
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 about singing Christmas carols or Christmas songs.
Let's get started.
What are you doing?
I'm coming up with a list of Christmas carols to sing when we go caroling.
Can I come?
Uh, I don't think... What?
You don't think I can sing in tune?
No, it's not that.
You think I'm going to forget the lyrics?
No, it's not that either.
I know what it is.
You think I'm too good.
I'll outshine the other singers.
Don't worry.
I don't mind hiding my light under a bushel just this once.
Well, it's not that either.
I just don't think you're a good fit for our group.
Not a good fit.
I'm very knowledgeable about music and know all of the traditional carols.
I've even composed some original ones that you might consider adding to your list.
I know you're very knowledgeable about music.
But in our group, it's all about the singing voice.
What's wrong with my singing voice?
Listen to this.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Andrea begins by saying this.
What are you doing?
Stephanie says I'm coming up with, I'm thinking about, I'm inventing a list of Christmas carols to sing when we go caroling.
Christmas is the Christian holiday now celebrated by people who aren't Christian.
On December 25th, And a carol C-A-R-O-L is a traditional song that is sung during the Christmas season, during the weeks before and a few weeks after Christmas.
Caroling C-A-R-O-L-I-N-G is a tradition where people get together in small groups and they go around and they sing Christmas carols in public, usually for other people, usually outside, that is not inside of a building.
I think I went Christmas caroling a couple of times when I was a teenager.
Not a lot.
You don't see people doing this very much anymore.
Andrea says, can I come?
He wants to go with Stephanie.
Can I come?
Can I come with you?
Stephanie says, I don't think.
Andrea says, what?
You don't think I can sing in tune?
To sing in tune T-U-N-E means to be able to sing a song with the right notes, not being higher or lower than you should be.
Many people say I cannot sing in tune.
That's probably true.
Stephanie says, no, it's not that, meaning it's not that she thinks he can't sing in tune.
Andrea says, you think I'm going to forget the lyrics.
Andrea is trying to understand why Stephanie is hesitant.
That is why she doesn't seemed to be very excited about him going with them on the Christmas caroling event.
He says, you think I'm going to forget the lyrics.
The lyrics, L-Y-R-I-C-S, are the words that are sung in the song.
Stephanie says, no, it's not that either.
Andrea says, I know what it is.
You think I'm too good.
You think I'm going to be so much better than the other singers.
Andrea says, I'll outshine the other singers.
To outshine O-U-T-S-H-I-N-E, one word means to be better than other people, to be, we might say, superior to other people.
You're so good that everyone sees how much better you are than the rest of the group.
Singers, of course, are the people who sing.
Andrea says, don't worry.
I don't mind hiding my light under a bushel just this once.
To hide your light under a bushel B-U-S-H-E-L means not to let other people know or see how good you are at doing something, how smart you are or how talented you are.
The expression comes from the Bible, from the New Testament, from one of the stories that Jesus tells in the Bible.
The word bushel is what we would call a unit of measurement equal to about 36 liters.
It's a measure of volume, of capacity.
But in the expression it really refers to a large container, like a large basket or bucket that would be big enough to hold a bushel of something.
If you turn the container upside down and put a light underneath it, of course you can't see the light.
And that's where the expression comes from.
Andrea is saying that because he is such a good singer, he won't try to outshine the other singers.
He won't sing as good as he could sing.
He says he'll do this just this once.
The expression just this once means only one time.
You're going to do something differently than the way you would normally do it.
Stephanie says, well, it's not that either.
To be a good fit.
F-I-T means to be similar to other people or other things in a group, especially if you're going to spend a lot of time with them.
Sometimes companies will tell people interviewing for a job at that company that that they're not a good fit for this position.
That means they don't think you have the exact qualifications or characteristics that would work well in a certain job.
Here it means that Andrea isn't like the rest of the group that's going to be singing, and so it wouldn't be a good fit.
Andrea says, not a good fit.
I'm very knowledgeable about music and know all of the traditional carols.
Andrea says he knows a lot about music and he knows all of the traditional carols.
Traditional here refers to things that have a long history, things that have been going on for a long time.
Usually we use this adjective in talking about culture or customs.
Traditional carols would be carols that have been sung for many years, many generations even.
Andreas says that he knows all of the traditional carols.
I've even composed some original ones that you might consider adding to your list.
To compose C-O-M-P-O-S-E means to create a new piece of music and usually write it down so that other people can play it themselves.
Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, these were all great composers of earlier centuries.
Anyone who writes the music for a song can be called a composer with an R at the end.
To compose, however, is the verb.
Andrea says he's composed some original carols.
Original here means new, that have not been created before.
Stephanie says I know you're very knowledgeable about music, but in our group it's all about the singing voice.
The singing voice is how well someone sings.
Your voice, V-O-I-C-E, is the sound that you make that comes out of your mouth.
Usually you are saying something that people can understand, although my wife thinks I make a lot of noise that no one understands, at least her.
Andrea says, is, according to Stephanie, someone who doesn't have a very good singing voice.
So you see, Stephanie was lying earlier in the dialogue when she said that it wasn't about the fact that Andrea couldn't sing in tune and so forth.
Really, she doesn't think Andrea is a very good singer.
And now we finally hear her say that directly.
Andrea says, what's wrong with my singing voice?
Listen to this.
And then he tries to sing a traditional carol called Jingle Bells.
Jingle Bells J-I-N-G-L-E-B-E-L-L-S two words is a popular holiday song, a popular Christmas song describing the ringing or jingling of bells.
The song goes...
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
But Andrea's not a very good singer, so it sounds like Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Wait a minute, that's how I sound.
Now let's listen to the dialogue this time at a normal speed.
What are you doing?
I'm coming up with a list of Christmas carols to sing when we go caroling.
Can I come?
I don't think... What?
You don't think I can sing in tune?
No, it's not that.
You think I'm going to forget the lyrics?
No, it's not that either.
I know what it is.
You think I'm too good.
I'll outshine the other singers.
Don't worry.
I don't mind hiding my light under a bushel just this once.
Well, it's not that either.
I just don't think you're a good fit for our group.
Not a good fit?
I'm very knowledgeable about music and know all of the traditional carols.
I've even composed some original ones that you might consider adding to your list.
I know you're very knowledgeable about music, but in our group, it's all about the singing voice.
What's wrong with my singing voice?
Listen to this.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Our script writer has a wonderful singing voice and... a very creative mind.
I'm speaking, of course, about our very own Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right 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.
