Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 142.
At a nightclub.
You're listening to English as a Second Language podcast number 142.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
On this podcast, we're going to go dancing.
Here we go.
My friend Sabrina and I decided to go out dancing last weekend.
We went to a club called The Fine Line, and when we got there, there was a long line outside.
That's one thing I hate about L.A. clubs.
The hottest ones have long lines, and it's hard to get in unless you're on the VIP list.
Sometimes the bouncer will pick cute girls out of line and let them in.
Sabrina always gets attention when we go out together and the bouncer noticed her right away.
We paid the cover charge and got our wristbands.
The first thing we did was to head over to the bar.
The music is pretty good.
Hey, is that Jeff on the dance floor over there?
He's so hot.
Where?
Over there by the stage?
Let's go see.
Hey, did you guys just get here?
Yeah.
Who are you here with?
The DJ is a friend of mine.
I came with him and some of his friends.
We have a private room in back.
Do you guys want to come check it out?
Sure.
Definitely.
Well, we went dancing in this podcast.
I'm already feeling a little tired.
Podcast begins with Andrea saying that she and her friend Sabrina went dancing last weekend.
They went to a club called The Fine Line.
A club, C-L-U-B, usually is a place where people go dancing, sometimes even called a dance club.
The word club, of course, is also used for a group or organization, especially at a school.
So you could have a theater club or a music club, people who get together to sing.
But a club, when it comes to talking about a place, is usually a place where people go dancing.
Well, this club had a long line outside because many people wanted to get in.
And Andrea says that the problem with clubs here in Los Angeles is that the hottest ones have long lines.
To be hot here means to be popular, to be the ones where most people want to go that are most interesting.
Well, it's hard to get in, that is, it's hard to enter into these clubs unless you are on the VIP list.
VIP stands for Means Very Important Person.
And a VIP list would be people who are celebrities or are famous, or maybe they are rich and they know the owner of the club.
These are the kind of people that get on a VIP list.
We can use that term, by the way, VIP list or just VIP.
He's a VIP.
It means he's a very important person in the organization or whatever you're talking about.
The host of ESL Podcast is definitely not a VIP.
At the club where Sabrina and Andrea are.
The person outside of the door to the club is called a bouncer.
A bouncer B-O-U-N-C-E-R is the person who is in charge of usually there are more than one in charge of letting people in deciding who gets into the club.
And also, they're in charge of security.
If someone is being too loud or drinks too much, the bouncer will take care of that.
Usually, at least in American clubs, they're very big guys muscular, strong men, who you don't want to get in a fight with.
Let's just say
So a bouncer is usually sort of a very big, mean person.
That's the reputation of a bouncer.
Well, the bouncer, who's normally a man, likes to pick the cute or pretty girls out of line and let them in.
When we say they will pick them out of line, meaning they'll be standing in the line and they'll say you, you and you can come in.
They will let them in or let them enter.
Well, Sabrina is apparently very attractive and good-looking, so she gets picked out by the bouncer and Sabrina and Andrea are able to go into the club.
Well, in most American dance clubs, or where there's dancing, or sometimes where there's just music being played, There's what we call a cover charge.
Two words, cover, C-O-V-E-R, charge, C-H-A-R-G-E.
A cover charge is like a ticket.
It's like admission.
It's how much you have to pay just to get into the club.
I think the price of the cover charge is probably 10 15, 20 per person for most of the clubs here in LA.
I have not been to a dance club in many years.
I think 1976, something like that.
But the dance clubs here in Los Angeles are expensive for the cover charge.
Well, one thing that is true of American dance in all the states in the United States is that the drinking age, the age that you can drink alcohol legally, is 21.
But there are many clubs that will let people under 21 usually 18 and over They can go to the club, but they can't drink.
Well, they can't drink beer or wine or any sort of alcohol.
So if you are of age, that is, if you are over 21 years old and you have to show identification, then you get a certain color wristband.
And a wristband, all one word, W-R-I-S-T-B-A-N-D.
Your wrist is that part of your arm next to your hand.
It's the end of your arm, but not before your hand.
And that is a little plastic thing.
Bracelet is what it is.
It goes around your arm and your wrist and that is proof that you are old enough to drink or that you are not old enough to drink.
So if you go to the bar, you have to have the right wristband on.
Well, the first thing that Andrea and Sabrina did was to head over or to go to the bar, and The word bar has a couple of meanings.
A bar can be a place where people drink, have alcohol to drink.
But inside of a restaurant or a club, a bar is the actual place where you can order your drink.
And usually the person behind the bar who's called the bartender.
All one word B-A-R-T-E-N-D-E-R.
The bartender is the one who gives you your drinks.
So you can go and sit by the bar, In a bar.
So a bar is a place like a restaurant or a club, but it's also a part of a restaurant, club, or bar.
It's a place where you go to get your drinks.
Andrea says the music's pretty good here.
And she says, hey, is that Jeff on the dance floor over there?
The dance floor is, of course, the place where people dance.
We call that the dance floor.
It's usually one part of the club.
And Andrea says about Jeff, not me, I'm not the Jeff here, a different Jeff, says he's so hot.
And when you say a man or a woman is hot, H-O-T, it means they're very attractive.
They're very good looking.
They're very handsome or very pretty.
I am not any of those things.
So it's not me in the story here.
Sabrina says, where is Jeff, or where, over by the stage?
And the stage S-T-A-G-E is where the band if there is a band would be playing on top of a stage, usually at the front of the club.
Well, Sabrina goes over and Andrea go over to talk to Jeff.
Jeff says that the DJ is a friend of mine.
The DJ, capital D-J, means the Disc Jockey.
The Disc, D-I-S-C Jockey, J-O-C-K-E-Y. and the DJ or disc jockey is the person who plays the music.
When there isn't a live band, they just have CDs, and the person who is playing the CDs, selecting the CDs, is the DJ.
Well, Jeff says that he is a friend of the DJ, and that they have a private room in back.
In many clubs again, especially here in Los Angeles, there is usually a separate room for the VIPs, for people who are important, and they get their own little room, and that's what the private room is.
Jeff asked the women if they want to check it out, meaning, do you want to go and take a look?
And they say, sure and definitely, meaning absolutely yes.
They're very interested.
Well, now let's listen to the story, this time at a native rate of speech.
My friend Sabrina and I decided to go out dancing last weekend.
We went to a club called The Fine Line, and when we got there, there was a long line outside.
That's one thing I hate about LA clubs.
The hottest ones have long lines, and it's hard to get in unless you're on the VIP list.
Sometimes the bouncer will pick out cute girls out of line and let them in.
Sabrina always gets attention when we go out together, and the bouncer noticed her right away.
We paid the cover charge and got our wristbands.
The first thing we did was to head over to the bar.
The music is pretty good.
Hey, is that Jeff on the dance floor over there?
He's so hot.
Where?
Over there by the stage?
Let's go see.
Hey, did you guys just get here?
Yeah, who are you here with?
The DJ is a friend of mine.
I came with him and some of his friends.
We have a private room in the back.
Do you guys want to come check it out?
Sure.
Definitely.
We'd like to thank Dr Lucy Say, who wrote the script for today's podcast, and Dr Marlene Rodriguez, who helped us read the dialogue today.
Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com for the script and more information about this podcast.
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 2006.
