Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 402, Buying Back-to-School Supplies.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 402.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The topic for this episode is buying things for your children that they will need for school.
We'll go over some common vocabulary for things that you would use in school.
We'll listen to a dialogue between Svetlana and Quinn.
Let's get started.
Tomorrow is the first day of junior high.
Are you ready?
Sure.
It's not that big a deal.
I already put some supplies in my new backpack.
Let's see.
You have some folders, a three-ring binder, and a pen.
I don't have my books yet.
I'll get those tomorrow morning.
What else do I need?
I'm not in the second grade.
I don't need things like glue, crayons, and construction paper.
No, but you're missing a lot of stuff.
I should know.
You have a pen, but no pencils.
You have no erasers or highlighters.
You have a three-ring binder, but you don't have any ruled paper or a notebook.
I don't need all of that stuff on the first day.
You want to be prepared, don't you?
Where are your index cards?
Don't you have a calculator?
You'll need it for your math class.
Are you kidding me?
If I carry all of that plus my books...
Who will carry me to class?
Let me begin by explaining a little bit about the title for this episode.
Buying back-to-school supplies.
We could just say buying school supplies.
We say here back-to-school supplies.
To emphasize that these are children who went to school last year and are going to school again this year.
They are what we might call continuing students.
Each August all of the stores have back to school sales, things that they are selling parents and students, things that they will need for school new clothing, for example, new school supplies, etc.
Our dialogue begins with Svetlana saying, Tomorrow is the first day of junior high.
Are you ready?
Junior high is sometimes called middle school.
In the United States we have most schools divided into elementary, which is grades 1 2 3 4, 5 and usually 6.
We have middle school, which is typically grades 8, 7, and 8, or 6, 7, and 8.
This used to be called, when I was in school, junior high, and in some places it is.
Some people call it middle school.
Some people call it junior high.
The grades after that, 9, 10, 11, and 12, are called senior high grades.
Every city in the United States is a little different.
It sounds strange, but every city, every local area has its own school organization.
But generally speaking, junior high is for those children who are ages 12, 13, maybe 14.
Quinn says that he is ready.
He says sure, it's not that big a deal, meaning it's not that important, or it's not that big of a change for him to worry about.
He says, I already put some supplies in my new backpack.
Supplies is a general word for things that you need to have to do something.
You may need supplies to build a house.
You'll need supplies to run your office.
You'll need all sorts of things.
That general term is called supplies.
Things you use in order to accomplish another task.
A backpack, one word, is a thick cloth bag.
Usually it has many pockets.
These are used by school children and by college students to carry their books and their school supplies.
They're called a backpack.
You can also have a backpack if you are, for example, going camping.
You have a big bag, basically on the back of your shoulders, that you use for all of your clothing, your sleeping bag and so forth.
Svetlana says, let's see.
You have some folders, a three-ring binder, and a pen.
A folder is a large piece of thick paper, like cardboard, that is folded so that you can put papers inside of it.
A three-ring binder is a large piece of plastic that looks like a book.
It has three metal rings, three circles inside of it that you can use to put paper into and hold paper.
It's called a three-ring binder.
A pen, you probably know, is a small tool we use for writing.
Usually it has a liquid inside, which we call ink, I-N-K.
Quinn says, I don't have my books yet.
Svetlana asks him, is that all you're bringing to school?
Meaning, are you bringing anything else?
And Quinn answers, I don't have my books yet.
I'll get those tomorrow morning.
What else do I need?
He says, I'm not in second grade.
Remember, he's in junior high, so he's in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade.
He says, I don't need things like glue, crayons, and construction paper.
These are three things that you might buy for a child in elementary school, a younger child.
Glue is a white or clear liquid that you use to make things stick together.
Children often use glue in making projects at school, making things.
Young children do.
A crayon is a long piece of colored wax.
Basically it's similar to a pen or a pencil.
It's used by children to draw things on a piece of paper.
Finally, construction paper are large, thick pieces of usually colored paper that children use for things like their art projects at school.
Again, something you would find in an elementary school for younger children.
The word construction has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Talking about crayons, there was, and still is, a maker of crayons here in the United States called Crayola.
C-R-A-Y-O-L-A.
And this company made different sets of crayons.
You had a very small set that had eight colors.
Then you could get a 16-color set.
And I think the biggest was a 64-color set.
Of course, all the children wanted to have the 64-color set.
My parents just got me the eight-color set.
It's something that I still think about many years later.
Svetlana, whose name I'm sure I'm going to mispronounce at least once during this dialogue, says No, you don't need those things, but you're missing a lot of stuff, a lot of things.
I should know, she says, meaning I have the experience or the intelligence to know something.
You have a pen but no pencils.
A pencil is like a pen except it uses something called graphite instead of ink.
Usually it's made of wood.
With a pencil, you can easily erase the marks that you make.
You can get rid of them with something called an eraser, which is a small piece of rubber or plastic, often in the color pink.
Here in the US that's used to remove the marks you make with your pencil.
Many pencils have an eraser on the opposite end, the end that you don't use to write with.
So Svetlana says that Quinn has no erasers or highlighters.
A highlighter is a pen that is a very bright, very easy-to-see color.
And you can take it, and you can put this pen on a piece of paper to mark a certain section, to write over those words, but you can still see the words underneath the color.
The verb is to highlight, to put a line over the words so that people will see them more easily.
She continues, you have a three-ring binder, but you don't have any ruled paper or a notebook.
Ruled paper.
R-U-L-E-D is paper that has horizontal lines from side to side that indicate where you should write.
Ruled paper is used in many, perhaps most, schools to help children and adults to write more clearly.
A notebook is a small book of paper that you can write on.
It's blank, that is, it doesn't have anything on it other than the lines, usually.
In a notebook, you can take a page out one at a time and the rest of the pages stay in the notebook.
Quinn says, I don't need all of that stuff on the first day.
His friend says, you want to be prepared, don't you?
Where are your index cards?
An index card is a small piece of paper thick paper usually three inches by five inches, and it has blue lines on it.
It's white paper with blue lines that you use to write down pieces of information on.
They're useful in that you can organize your index cards if you are taking notes on a particular subject.
This is what teachers always tell their students to do, although I never myself actually used index cards that way and I don't know anyone who did.
Some students use index cards to try to memorize things, to study certain facts, for example.
This is usually a pretty inefficient way of learning something for the long term, but it will help you pass the test.
She also says don't you have a calculator?
A calculator is a small electronic machine that adds subtracts multiplies divides, does other mathematical operations.
You'll need it for your math class, she says.
Quinn says, are you kidding me?
Meaning, are you joking with me?
If I carry all of that plus or in addition to my books, who will carry me to class?
Suggesting that that's too much, that it's so heavy that he won't be able to carry it.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Let's see.
You have some folders, a three-ring binder, and a pen.
Is that all you're bringing to school?
I don't have my books yet.
I'll get those tomorrow morning.
What else do I need?
I'm not in the second grade.
I don't need things like glue, crayons and construction paper.
No, but you're missing a lot of stuff.
I should know.
You have a pen but no pencils.
You have no erasers or highlighters.
You have a three ring binder but you don't have any ruled paper or a notebook.
Are you kidding me?
If I carry all of that plus my books, who will carry me to class?
The script for this episode was written by Dr Lucy Saye, who was always ready for school when she was a student, I'm sure
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
