Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1094, Tracing One's Genealogy.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1094.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff Quillen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll get a learning guide, if you do, for each and every one of our current episodes.
The learning guide contains all of the vocabulary definitions, cultural notes and a complete transcript of everything we say.
This episode is a dialogue about your genealogy who your parents grandparents, great-grandparents and so forth are.
Do you think you can help me trace my genealogy?
Sure, I can try.
We can get started by talking to your parents and grandparents.
Oral interviews will give us some names of your relatives.
I've already talked to them and I grew up hearing stories about my lineage on both sides of my family.
That's great.
If you know some of the people you're descended from, we can start by looking at public records and historical records from the area.
You're from Tennessee, right?
That's right.
There are a lot of people in Tennessee with my last name, though.
Well, we can triangulate the information we get to zero in on your ancestors.
Then you can have a genetic analysis done.
A DNA test is generally accepted proof.
Good.
It's about time someone in my family established the blood connections.
Blood connections to whom?
Elvis, of course.
Elvis?
You think you're related to Elvis?
His last name was Presley.
My last name is Presley.
My first name is Aaron.
His middle name was Aaron.
It can't be a coincidence, especially considering my talent.
Talent?
Sure, listen.
Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now, go cat, go.
I consider that counter-evidence.
Aaron begins our dialogue by asking Corey, do you think you can help me trace my genealogy?
Your genealogy, G-E-N-E-A-L-O-G-Y, is a list or a description of...
The relatives that you have your parents, your cousins, your grandparents, your uncles all the way back to however far back you can trace your genealogy.
The verb to trace, T-R-A-C-E, here means to follow, to find out where something begins.
People often talk about being able to trace their genealogy back to medieval England or to the 17th century.
Another term for genealogy is family tree.
Your family tree is the same as your genealogy.
It's a list or description of all the people who are related to you, including all of those who came before you.
Corrie says, sure, I can try.
I can try to help you trace your genealogy, she's saying.
We can get started by talking to your parents and grandparents.
Oral interviews will give us some names of your relatives.
Your relatives R-E-L-A-T-I-V-E-S are the people who are related to you, who are part of your family, either as brothers sisters cousins aunts uncles, grandparents.
Any of those relationships refer to your relatives.
Corey suggests doing oral interviews, sitting down and talking to someone and either recording what they say or writing down what they say.
Of course, if you want to find out who your ancestors were, the people who came before you, your relatives from previous generations, you would need to, or would be highly advised to, talk to your grandparents and your parents to get started in finding out the names of the people who are related to you.
Aaron says, The term lineage L-I-N-E-A-G-E refers to a description of how you are related to someone in a previous generation or born there.
I've used the term generation a couple of times here.
Let me explain what I mean by that.
You and your brothers and sisters and your cousins are all one generation.
Your parents and your aunts and uncles are another generation.
Your grandparents are another generation.
You could create a diagram or a chart that shows these different generations as different lines on the chart or on the diagram.
Corey says that's great.
If you know some of the people you're descended from, we can start by looking at public records and historical records from the area.
The expression to be descended D-E-S-C-E-N-D-E-D from someone means to be the child, grandchild or great-grandchild and so forth of a person.
So I am descended from my parents, Patrick and Mary McQuillan.
I'm also descended from my grandparents and my great-grandparents.
These are people who came before me, who are my relatives.
Public records refers to government records that anyone can go and look at.
Not all of the Records or information that the government has are public, however.
Some of it is not information you can look at.
But a lot of information that the government collects is public.
Anyone can go and look at it.
That has been made even easier now with the Internet.
Historical records or historical information, written histories or written pieces of information about what happened in the past.
So public records are also historical records in many cases.
But historical records can refer to other documents, other information that is available, including perhaps a local history about the area from which your ancestors came.
Corey then asks Aaron, you're from Tennessee, right?
Aaron says, that's right, meaning that's correct.
There are a lot of people in Tennessee with my last name, though.
Corey says, well, we can triangulate the information we get to zero in on your ancestors.
Aaron is saying that he's from the state of Tennessee, which is located in the central eastern part of the United States.
However, there are many different people in Tennessee with his same last name.
Therefore, if you are looking in the public records or in historical records, there will be a lot of people who have names Aaron's last name who may or may not be his relatives.
Corey says that they can triangulate the information.
To triangulate T-R-I-A-N-G, U-L-A-T-E can mean to measure something that is, the length or height of something that you don't know by using other measurements.
However, in a more general sense, to triangulate means to take different pieces of information in order to narrow down the options or in order to identify the relevant object or thing.
In this case it means to take other information about the people who have Aaron's last name in Tennessee and narrow use that other information to decide which of the people who have his last name are actually his relatives.
That's why Corey says we can triangulate the information we get to zero in on your ancestors.
To zero, Z-E-R-O, in on something is to focus your attention on something, to identify one thing.
In this case, they're identifying Aaron's ancestors, his relatives who came before him.
Aaron then asks what if I want proof positive that I'm related to someone?
Proof P-R-O-O-F is evidence clear evidence that shows something is either true or false.
So proof positive would be clear evidence, detailed evidence that is absolutely certain, that tells you with certainty whether something is true or not.
Corey says, then you can have a genetic analysis done, a DNA test is generally accepted proof.
A genetic analysis is a study of biological information that can help identify who your relatives are.
The most common way is to use your DNA.
Your DNA is the specific biological information that identifies you.
DNA is the biological information inside your body's cells, the smallest or one of the smallest units of your biological makeup.
DNA determines a lot of different things about the individual human being and can be used to identify people who are related to you.
Aaron says, good, it's about time someone in my family established the blood connections.
It's about time is a phrase that we use to mean that we have been waiting for something for a long time and now we are pleased or happy to learn that it has finally happened.
It's about time someone in my family, Aaron says, established the blood connections, meaning the biological relationship.
Corey's a little confused.
She says, blood connections to whom?
To what specific person are you talking about?
Aaron says, Elvis, of course.
He means the famous singer Elvis Presley.
Corey says, Elvis?
You think you're related to Elvis?
Aaron says, his last name was Presley.
My last name is Presley.
My first name is Aaron.
His middle name was Aaron.
It can't be a coincidence, especially considering my talent.
A coincidence is a somewhat surprising, unexpected set of events that happen at the same time or that are somehow related without any planning or apparent purpose.
In this case Aaron is saying that he shares names with Elvis Presley and he He also is talented like Elvis Presley.
Corey says, talent?
Aaron says, sure, listen.
And then he sings a line from one of Elvis Presley's most famous songs.
Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now, go cat go.
That, of course, is a line from Blue Suede Shoes, a song by Elvis Presley.
Song very badly, I know.
Corey says.
In other words, she's listened to Aaron sing and she doesn't think that the singing talent that Aaron has is anything like the singing talent that Elvis Presley had.
That's why she says that Aaron's singing is counter evidence.
Counter evidence would be some indication, some fact that would show that what you are saying is not true or is not possible.
Aaron's bad singing shows, according to Corey, that he's probably not a relative of the great singer Elvis Presley.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Do you think you can help me trace my genealogy?
Sure, I can try.
We can get started by talking to your parents and grandparents.
Oral interviews will give us some names of your relatives.
I've already talked to them and I grew up hearing stories about my lineage on both sides of my family.
That's great.
If you know some of the people you're descended from, we can start by looking at public records and historical records from the area.
You're from Tennessee, right?
That's right.
There are a lot of people in Tennessee with my last name, though.
Well, we can triangulate the information we get to zero in on your ancestors.
What if I want proof positive that I'm related to someone?
Then you can have a genetic analysis done.
A DNA test is generally accepted proof.
Good.
It's about time someone in my family established the blood connections.
Blood connections to whom?
Elvis of course.
Elvis?
You think you're related to Elvis?
His last name was Presley.
My last name is Presley.
My first name is Aaron.
His middle name was Aaron.
It can't be a coincidence, especially considering my talent.
Talent?
Sure.
Listen.
Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now, go cat go.
I consider that counter-evidence.
If I were to zero in on the main reason these podcasts are successful, I would have to say that it is the script writing by the wonderful Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
