Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1190, Dealing with Foot Problems.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1190.
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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The dialogue today is between Walt and Francesca about problems with your feet.
Let's get started.
What are you doing?
I'm selecting and organizing my photos for a presentation.
Oh, can I see?
Well, I am a podiatrist and I'm giving a talk about foot conditions.
Some of these are really disgusting.
You're looking at some of the most common foot conditions.
Blisters, horns, bunions, calluses, and athlete's foot.
What is that?
That's an ingrown toenail, and those are infected toenails.
I'm really glad I don't have either one of those problems.
You should be even happier.
You don't have one of the more serious conditions, such as fallen arches, a club foot or arthritis in your feet.
But I do have one problem.
Let me take these shoes off and show you.
P.U.
I don't even need to look at them to know you have very bad foot odor.
What should I do?
Get some new shoes, keep them dry, and change your socks every day.
Every day?
You mean I have to own more than one pair?
Walt asks Francesca at the beginning of our dialogue, What are you doing?
Francesca says, A presentation is when you give a little talk or speech to a group of people, giving them information about something.
Often, during a presentation, you will have something to show the audience, the people listening to you.
In this case, Francesca is going to be showing them some photos, some photographs, some pictures.
Walt says, oh, can I see?
All of these photos are of feet.
Your feet of course are what you walk on.
Francesca says, well I am a podiatrist and I'm giving a talk about foot conditions.
A podiatrist, P-O-D-I-A-T-R-I-S-T, is a foot doctor, a medical doctor who specializes in feet.
Walt says, ew, some of these are really disgusting.
Walt is looking at the photos, and he thinks some of the photos are disgusting.
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G.
Something that is disgusting makes you feel sick.
Something that is very unpleasant to look at might be described as disgusting.
Walt begins actually by saying ew, which we would usually spell E-W.
It's a noise you make to show that you are disgusted with something, that you find something very gross or unpleasant.
Francesca says, you're looking at some of the most common foot conditions.
Blisters, corns, bunions, calluses, and athlete's foot.
Francesca explains that these photos Walt is looking at are of some very common problems people have with their feet.
The first problem is blisters, B-L-I-S-T-E-R-S.
A blister is a red colored area of skin that is sort of like a bubble.
It is what we would call a raised area of skin.
The bubble often has a clear liquid in it.
That is caused usually by either heat that is, if you burn your skin you might get a blister or by rubbing your skin against something.
That may also cause a blister.
Blisters are very common.
Everyone gets blisters.
If you wear a pair of shoes that are too tight, you might get blisters on your feet because your skin is rubbing against the shoe.
Corns, C-O-R-N-S, are small, thick, Spots of dead skin, especially on your feet.
Once again, these are caused usually by pressure or rubbing your feet against something.
Many people have corns, little bits of dead skin on their feet.
Bunions, B-U-N-I-O-N-S are painful bumps that are found on your toe, your big toe, we would call it.
Your hand has ten fingers.
Your feet have ten toes, T-O-E-S.
The biggest toe is the first one, and that is where you would find a bunion.
Bunions can be very painful.
Calluses C-A-L-L-U-S-E-S are large areas of hard dead skin that, once again, are often found on the bottom of your feet, although you could have calluses on your hands as well.
If you work a lot with your hands, use your hands a lot, you might eventually develop areas of hard dead skin on your hands.
We would call those calluses.
You could have calluses on your hands.
You could have calluses on your feet.
Finally, there is a condition called athlete's foot.
An athlete is someone who participates in sports or who does a lot of physical activity, such as running or swimming or playing football.
All of those activities involve athletes, people who are physically fit.
Athlete's foot, however, is actually a kind of infection that grows on your feet.
It's what we would call a fungal F-U-N-G-A-L infection, often found between your toes or underneath your toenails.
Francesca then has photographs of all these different conditions.
Walt then asks, what is that?
He doesn't understand one of the photos or what is in one of the photos.
Francesca explains, that's an ingrown toenail, and those are infected toenails.
A toenail, T-O-E-N-A-I-L, is the hard part at the end of your toes.
You have fingernails at the end of your fingers.
Usually you have to cut or trim your fingernails because they grow and get too long.
The same is true with your toenails.
An ingrown I-N-G-R-O-W-N toenail is a toenail that starts to grow into your foot and can be very painful.
If something is infected, I-N-F-E-C-T-E-D
It has some sort of bacteria that causes it to be painful and perhaps turn red.
Infected comes from the verb to infect I-N-F-E-C-T and is related to the noun infection.
You can have an infection in many different parts of your body, not just in your feet.
Walt says, I'm really glad I don't have either of those problems.
Francesca says you should be even happier.
You don't have one of the more serious conditions, such as fallen arches, a club foot or arthritis in your feet.
Francesca describes three other problems you could have with your feet.
The first one is fallen, F-A-L-L-E-N, arches, A-R-C-H-E-S.
The arch of your foot is that part between the front and back of the foot on the side that goes up.
It's the part of your foot that doesn't touch the ground when you put your feet on the ground.
If you have fallen arches, your arches do touch the ground, and that can cause additional problems.
A clubfoot C-L-U-B-F-O-O-T is a condition that some people are born with in which one of the feet is twisted.
It's turned inward. and prevents the bottom of the foot from being placed flat on the ground.
Club foot is a condition that nowadays is often corrected with surgery or other kinds of early treatment with children.
Arthritis A-R-T-H-R-I-T-I-S is something that can affect your bones and joints, different parts of your body.
It is when the joints of your bone, where the bones connect together, where they come together, become swollen and often painful.
You can have arthritis in your feet, you could have arthritis in your legs, you could have arthritis in your hands.
So Francesca is describing these other, more serious conditions that can affect one's feet.
Walt says, but I do have one problem.
Let me take these shoes off and show you.
So Walt is taking his shoes off and Francesca reacts to the smell that she notices and She says P-U.
P-U is a phrase that we use that means something smells very bad or unpleasant.
She says I don't even need to look at them, meaning your feet, to know you have very bad foot.
Odor odor, O-D-O-R is smell, an unpleasant smell.
Walt says, what should I do?
Francesca says get some new shoes, keep them dry meaning your shoes dry and change your socks every day.
Doesn't everyone change their socks every day?
Walt says, every day?
You mean I have to own, I have to have more than one pair?
More than one pair of socks?
That is kind of weird, isn't it?
That Walt only has one pair of socks?
I don't think I'd want to be next to him when he took off his shoes either.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
What are you doing?
I'm selecting and organizing my photos for a presentation.
Oh, can I see?
All of these photos are of feet.
Well, I am a podiatrist and I'm giving a talk about foot conditions.
Ew, some of these are really disgusting.
You're looking at some of the most common foot conditions.
Blisters, corns, bunions, calluses, and athlete's foot.
What is that?
That's an ingrown toenail, and those are infected toenails.
I'm really glad I don't have either one of those problems.
You should be even happier.
You don't have one of the more serious conditions, such as fallen arches, a club foot or arthritis in your feet.
But I do have one problem.
Let me take these shoes off and show you.
Pee-yew!
I don't even need to look at them to know you have very bad foot odor.
What should I do?
Get some new shoes, keep them dry, and change your socks every day.
Every day?
You mean I have to own more than one pair?
If you have to make a presentation in English, you'll be glad that you've been listening to our wonderful scripts by our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
They'll teach you a lot of good English.
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 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
