Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning.
Welcome back.
This week's topic is crimes.
So let's listen to the story.
Here we go.
Oh my gosh.
Did you hear about Stephanie?
No, not that Stephanie.
The one from our school.
Apparently she got caught shoplifting at Walmart.
I don't really know.
I think a lipstick or something like that.
When I first heard, I thought they were going to standard juvie.
You know?
Because of her age.
Yeah, well, apparently she got lucky and she only got sentenced to 50 hours of community service.
So she has to work at the local library for I don't even know how many weeks.
And You know I'm right here, right.
Oh, yes, Stephanie.
I'd like to take this book.
Thank you.
Anyway...
Okay, so it's time to take a look at today's expressions.
So let's begin with expression number one, get caught.
She got caught shoplifting.
If you use the expression get caught, is it because you were doing something good or something bad?
If you get caught, that means that you were doing something that you shouldn't have been doing, okay.
So something probably bad to either be embarrassed of or guilty about.
And if you get caught, are people aware or unaware of what you were doing?
If you get caught, those people who caught you are the ones that know what you were doing.
So imagine I am stealing some food from the kitchen and you get caught.
Well, the people that have caught you, that have seen you, know what you were doing.
They know it perfectly.
So have you ever gotten caught doing something you shouldn't have?
Yes, I've got caught, unfortunately, many times.
But, for example, the first thing that comes to my mind is the time that I skipped school and my mom caught me.
That was a bad one.
Another time when I got caught cheating on a test.
That happened probably more than once.
So yeah, just like everybody else, you do bad things and sometimes you get caught.
Expression number two, shoplifting.
She got caught shoplifting.
If you shoplift, do you steal from a store or from a house?
Shoplifting, just like the word itself tells you, is about stealing from a shop or from a store.
And do you use a weapon when shoplifting?
No, that's the thing.
It's not a robbery.
So when you're shoplifting, you go to the store and you pretend that you're a customer.
So maybe you buy a few things or maybe not.
And you just walk around.
Then when you see something that you want to steal, you put it like under your coat or in your bag, making sure that nobody sees you.
There's no violence involved.
And have you ever seen someone shoplifting?
I unfortunately have.
I believe – I clearly remember one time and he was at a supermarket and he was this older man.
He must have been probably like 70 or so.
And I clearly saw him and I think he knew that I caught him.
And I remember going up to my mom.
I was pretty young back then.
Going up to my mom and telling her.
And she was just like, mind your own business.
Don't say anything.
And at the end of the day, he was probably struggling.
I don't think he was doing it just for the fun of it.
So yeah, I didn't do anything.
But I did catch him.
So he got caught.
Expression number three, juvie.
They were going to send her to juvie.
Is juvie a detention center for young people or adults?
Juvie comes from the word juvenile detention center.
So...
It's for young people.
We're talking minors, so anybody who's younger than 18 years old.
Why can you be sent to juvie?
Well, every time you commit a pretty serious crime, you can be sent to juvie.
If you cheat on a test at school, you're not going to be sent to juvie.
There's going to be other punishments.
But, for example, if you do drugs and you get caught, or for example, if you I don't even know if you hurt someone then yes, you could be sent to juvie.
And careful when we're talking about like legal terms, because a lot of times things will differ based on the country where you are.
So juvie is usually referred to, is used in the United States.
So the name may differ or you may not even have anything like it in your country.
And do you think it's a good idea to send a kid to juvie?
Honestly, I don't think juvie is a great idea, because if a kid is already having problems, I don't think that kind of center is actually going to help them become a better person.
So I wish there were other options for juvie. younger kids to get help.
But I know that a lot of times there aren't.
So if that really is the only option, I guess it's okay.
It's a really tough one.
Expression number four, get sentenced to.
She only got sentenced to 50 hours of community service.
If you get sentenced to, let's say, one year of prison, who makes that decision?
It's the judge.
There is a judge that decides how bad your punishment should be.
And now, what can you be sentenced to?
So there's many things you can be sentenced to.
You can be sentenced to spend some time in prison, so you can use the expression.
He got sentenced to five days in prison, three years in prison, Or he got sentenced to death.
Okay, that's the extreme.
Or he even got sentenced to pay a fine, which is, you know, no big deal, especially compared to the death thing.
So you can use it with whatever the sentence is, which is what's great about this expression.
Okay.
Expression number five, community service.
She only got sentenced to 50 hours of community service.
Do you get paid for doing community service?
No.
Community service is volunteer work that you do, like the word says, in your community.
So it can be maybe going to a nursing home to help older people or maybe going to a dog shelter.
And you do not get paid for it, especially when you're doing community service because you've committed a crime, because that's your punishment.
Obviously, you're not going to get anything from it.
And is doing community service a good punishment in your opinion?
I think it could be a great punishment because I think it teaches you something.
It's not just about the punishment.
It's also about giving you a different perspective.
Imagine going to work with the disabled or at a food bank or at a dog shelter.
You kind of put things into perspective and maybe you start – caring about others more, which will make it less likely that you're going to commit a crime in the future.
I think.
I'm no psychologist, but this is my idea.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
