Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1154, Visiting Historical Sites.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 1154.
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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In this episode we're going to listen to a dialogue between Mary and Will and about going to historic sites.
Let's get started.
I think we should call it a day.
I think we still have time to visit one more historic site, and this one is amazing.
They've done a great job with preservation and restoration.
It's not another old castle, is it?
It's not any old castle.
This one dates back to the 1300s.
If we're lucky, we'll be in time for the last guided tour with a docent who's knowledgeable.
And I hope we have time to visit the archives, too.
Oh no, not the archives.
I wonder if they're doing reenactments to commemorate any major historical events during our time here.
If we visit this castle today, we're not coming back.
There is a lot to see in this city other than old castles and monuments.
Like art museums and stores.
It would also be nice to relax a little while on vacation.
But what's art and shopping when you're in one of the most ancient cities in the world?
And there's no time to relax.
We only have four days here.
We have to make the most of it.
Hey, where are you going?
But you won't get the full benefits of being in one of the most ancient cities in the world.
I think I'll survive.
Mary begins by saying to Will.
The expression to call it a day means to stop doing something for that day, possibly to start again tomorrow.
If you're working late at your office...
Someone may say, well, it's time to go home.
Let's call it a day.
Meaning, let's say this is the end.
We're not going to continue working today.
Mary and Will aren't working, however.
They're out visiting important historic sites.
A site, S-I-T-E, is a place of interest.
A historic, H-I-S-T-O-R-I-C site is a site that is of importance, of historical importance.
There is a difference between historic and historical, H-I-S-T-O-R-I-C-A-L.
Historical is anything from the past.
Historic is an adjective that describes something that's very important, that is important in history.
Something could be both historic and historical.
In fact, most sites, most places that you visit that are considered historic are, almost by definition, historical as well.
They're old places.
So, for example, if you go to a famous building that was built many years ago, you could call that a historic site.
You could also call it a historical site.
Many cities have historical places, places that are old but aren't important, that aren't significant in history, and so they're not historic sites.
It's a little confusing even to native speakers.
Back to our story.
Will says I think we still have time to visit one more historic site in, And this one is amazing.
They've done a great job with preservation and restoration.
Preservation, P-R-E-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-O-N, is when you try to keep something in good condition, something that is old and valuable.
Restoration R-E-S-T-O-R-A-T-I-O-N is when you take something that has been damaged that needs to be fixed and make it better.
Preservation means to keep something in its current condition.
Restoration means to fix something and make it better.
Many old buildings first need to be restored and then preserved.
Mary says it's not another old castle, is it?
A castle.
C-A-S-T-L-E is a large building usually made of stone, where kings and queens live or used to live.
Many countries, especially in Europe, have castles where kings and queens live or used to live many years ago.
It doesn't sound like Mary wants to go to another castle.
Will says it's not any old castle, meaning it is a castle, but it's a special one.
This one, he says... dates back to the 1300s.
To date back to means to have its origins or beginnings in a certain year or period, to be of a certain age.
This castle was built then in the 1300s, presumably the 1300s AD, or roughly 700, 800 years ago.
Will says, A guided tour is a tour that you take of a place or a building led by what we would call a tour guide, a person who knows about that place.
A docent.
D-O-C-E-N-T is a person who works usually in a museum, who knows a lot about the things in that museum.
Sometimes there are docents who lead tours, who guide people through a museum on a guided tour, explaining what everything means.
Will says, I hope we have time to visit the archives too.
Archives A-R-C-H-I-V-E-S usually are large collections of important documents and sometimes small objects.
Here in the United States, we have something called the National Archives.
It's a place in Washington, D.C., a building that has many old important documents and papers.
Mary, however, clearly doesn't want to go to see the archives.
She says, oh no, not the archives.
She's saying she doesn't want to go there.
Will says...
I wonder if they're doing reenactments to commemorate any major historical events during our time here.
A reenactment, R-E-E-N-A-C-T, M-E-N-T, is a presentation in which people...
Act out something that happened long ago.
Usually, this is some historical event that you want to teach other people about or you want to understand more yourself.
You'll dress up, perhaps in the clothing that people might have worn many years ago and reenact certain famous events.
This is quite popular in certain areas.
I'm not really someone who loves the whole idea of reenactments, but people do like them.
They can certainly teach us about the way things were perhaps many years ago.
People like to reenact old battles.
People like to reenact other famous historical events.
It's sort of like putting on a play, but you are acting out or trying to recreate the actions of people many years ago.
To commemorate C-O-M-M-E-M-O-R-A-T-E means to remember and honor someone or something in a special way.
Reenactments can commemorate some important events, some historical events.
Once again, we see that word historical meaning old.
The word major here means very important.
Will then, is wondering if the people at this particular castle will be doing any reenactments to commemorate some major historical event while Mary and Will are visiting.
Mary says, if we visit this castle today, we're not coming back.
Mary is saying that if they go to this castle today they are not going to return later in their trip because she wants to see other things.
She thinks there is more to see than castles and monuments, M-O-N-U-M-E-N-T-S.
A monument is some object that was built to remember people and honor important people or events.
If you go to the capital of the United States, Washington DC, you will see many monuments to important people and to important events.
Monuments are sometimes built to honor people who have died, in a war, for example, or to remember certain important events in a country's history.
Will says, like what?
He's asking Mary, what other important things are there to see in this city other than castles and monuments?
Mary says, like or such as art museums and stores.
Art museums M-U-S-E-U-M-S are places where you of course can see famous pieces of art, paintings and sculptures and that sort of thing.
Mary says, it would also be nice to relax a little while on vacation.
Many people go on vacation to see things, but they perhaps don't relax very much.
They don't just sit and read or talk.
Will says, Ancient, A-N-C-I-E-N-T, means very old.
Will is saying that museums and shopping are not very important compared to the other historical things that you can see in this city.
He continues, And there's no time to relax.
We only have four days here.
We have to make the most of it.
To make the most of something means to take full advantage of it, to use something the most you can.
Will says, Mary says, I think it's time to split up.
To split S-P-L-I-T up is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to separate, for two people to stop doing something together.
Normally, when we use the verb to split up talking about a married couple, we're talking about two people who are no longer going to be together in their marriage.
Or you could talk about a boyfriend and a girlfriend splitting up.
However, we can also use this when we are traveling or we are going to a place and each person wants to go to a different part of that place.
We could split up.
One of us could go shopping and the other could go to monuments, and then we could meet up back again later at our hotel.
That's the kind of splitting up Mary is talking about, I think.
Mary says, you go see your castle and I'll explore on my own.
To explore E-X-P-L-O-R-E means to move around a place without any clear plan, just to see what you will discover, what you will find new.
Will says, Mary says, She's not really concerned about it.
She says, I think I'll survive, meaning...
It's okay, it's not that important to me.
I'm going to be okay even if I don't visit all of the things that you want to visit.
Now see, I'm a lot like Will.
I like to go and see everything when I go on a vacation.
And my wife is a little bit more like Mary.
She'd rather relax more.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I think we should call it a day.
I think we still have time to visit one more historic site, and this one is amazing.
They've done a great job with preservation and restoration.
It's not another old castle, is it?
It's not any old castle.
This one dates back to the 1300s.
If we're lucky, we'll be in time for the last guided tour with a docent who's knowledgeable.
And I hope we have time to visit the archives, too.
Oh no, not the archives.
I wonder if they're doing reenactments to commemorate any major historical events during our time here.
If we visit this castle today, we're not coming back.
There's a lot to see in the city other than old castles and monuments.
Like what? like art museums and stores.
It would also be nice to relax a little while on vacation.
But what's art and shopping when you're in one of the most ancient cities in the world?
And there's no time to relax.
We only have four days here.
We have to make the most of it.
Hey, where are you going?
I think it's time to split up.
You go see your castle and I'll explore on my own.
But you won't get the full benefits of being in one of the most ancient cities in the world.
I think I'll survive.
Before I call it a day, I want to thank our wonderful script writer, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks 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.
