Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 251, Stranger on an Airplane.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 251.
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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Our dialogue today is called Stranger on an Airplane, about two people who meet on an airplane.
They're going to introduce themselves to each other, and we'll see what happens.
Let's get started.
Excuse me, I'm in the window seat.
Oh, sure.
Let me get up and let you in.
Thanks.
Are you traveling on business?
Yes, I am.
I'm changing planes in Denver on my way to South Carolina, and then I'm off to Georgia on Wednesday.
There's no rest for the wicked.
That's a lot of traveling.
Doesn't your husband or boyfriend mind?
Oh, I'm not married or seeing anyone.
How about you?
Where are you headed?
I'm going to Jacksonville Florida, to visit my parents for a few days, but I'll be back in Los Angeles by next weekend.
Are you from LA originally?
No, I was born and raised in Kentucky, but I've been living in L.A. for the past four years.
What part of L.A. do you live in?
I live not too far from the airport in Westchester.
Have you heard of it?
That's a coincidence.
I just rented an apartment in Westchester and I'm moving in when I get back.
With all of this traveling, it made sense to move closer to the airport.
That seems like a wise move.
You know, since I'm in the neighborhood, let me know if you need any help moving.
I'd also be happy to show you around and give you the rundown on some of the better restaurants in the area.
Here's my card.
The number on the bottom is my cell phone.
Thanks.
That would really be nice.
By the way, I'm Fay.
I'm Dustin.
It's nice to meet you.
You too.
Our dialogue takes place on an airplane.
The passengers, the people getting on the airplane are taking their seats.
This is before the airplane goes up into the air.
And Faye says to Dustin, a man who's sitting in one of the seats, excuse me, I'm in the window seat.
The window seat, you can guess, is the seat on an airplane next to a window.
In an airplane that has three seats on each side, we call the ones nearest the window the window seats.
The ones that are nearest to the aisle A-I-S-L-E, which is the path where you walk in between the seats.
We call those seats the aisle seats.
And the other seat we would call a middle seat.
So Faye says to Dustin, I'm in the window seat.
We can guess that Dustin is sitting in the aisle or the middle seat.
And Faye is asking him to get up, to leave his seat so she can get into her seat.
Dustin says, oh sure, let me get up and let you in, let you go into your seat.
Dustin then asks Faye, are you traveling on business?
He's starting a conversation with her.
Faye says, yes, I am.
To change planes means to get off one airplane and go to another airplane to continue on with your trip.
For example, if you are flying from Los Angeles to New York City, you may have to fly to another city such as Chicago or Denver.
Change planes, get on a different plane and then fly from Chicago or Denver to New York.
She says that she's on her way to South Carolina, meaning she's going towards, she's in her trip that is going towards or to South Carolina.
And then she says, I'm off to Georgia.
Georgia.
To be off to means to be going to or to be headed to.
You could also say to be leaving for.
I'm off to work means I'm going to my company where I work.
She then says, This is an old expression.
There's no rest for the wicked, W-I-C-K-E-D.
The wicked are people who are bad, people who do bad things.
In this case, there's no rest for the wicked means that you have to continue doing something, even though you want to stop.
The joke is that because you are a bad person, you have to continue working.
So she's making a little joke here.
Dustin says To mind M-I-N-D means in this case to be bothered by something or to not like something.
Someone may say, I don't mind if the children are yelling outside of my window.
That means they are not bothered.
They are not annoyed.
Or, if you ask me, I would say I mind very much that the children are screaming outside of my window.
Now, this is an interesting question that Dustin asks.
Doesn't your husband or boyfriend mind?
Dustin.
I think is being pretty obvious here that he's trying to find out if Faye is married or has a boyfriend, is in a romantic relationship.
So he thinks he's being smart by asking this question.
Of course Fay, we hope, is smart enough to know that Dustin is trying to get information from her for his own reasons.
Fay says, oh, I'm not married or seen anyone.
To be seeing someone in this case means to be dating someone, to be involved in a romantic relationship.
She says, I'm not seeing anyone.
How about you?
Where are you headed?
How about you could mean are you in a relationship with Then she says, where are you headed?
And Dustin just answers the second question.
I'm going to Jacksonville, Florida to visit my parents for a few days.
He's going to the state of Florida to visit his parents.
But I'll be back in Los Angeles by next weekend or before next weekend.
Dustin then asks Faye, are you from LA, Los Angeles, originally?
When someone asks where you are from originally, they're referring to the place where you were born and raised.
Usually,
In this case, originally refers to the beginning or an earlier time.
Faye says, no, I was born and raised in Kentucky.
We use that expression a lot to be born and raised, to talk about where you were born, where your mother was when she had you as a baby and where you grew up, where you went to school and so forth.
That is to be born and raised.
I was born and raised in St.
Paul, Minnesota, for example.
Fay was born and raised in Kentucky, another state in the eastern part of the US, but she's been living in LA for the past four years.
Fay asks which part of L.A.
Dustin lives in.
Dustin says, I'm not too far from the airport in Westchester.
Westchester is a neighborhood here in Los Angeles, close to the Los Angeles International Airport.
Dustin says, have you heard of it?
And Faye says, that's a coincidence.
A coincidence?
C-O-I-N-C-I-D-E-N-C-E is when two things happen at the same time and you are somewhat surprised.
Usually,
When two things happen at the same time or in the same way, we may say, well, that's a coincidence.
For example, you may tell your friend that you saw a good movie yesterday.
And your friend says, oh, really?
I saw a good movie too.
And you say, well, which movie did you see?
And your friend says, I saw Little Miss Sunshine, which is a popular movie here in the US right now.
And you say, what a coincidence.
I saw that movie also yesterday.
Faye says that it is a coincidence because she has just rented an apartment in the same neighborhood where Dustin lives in Westchester.
And she's going to be moving in.
She's going to be taking her things from her old apartment and putting them into her new apartment when she gets back, when she returns to LA.
With all this traveling, she says, it made sense to move closer to the airport.
The expression to make sense, S-E-N-S-E, means to be logical, to be a good idea.
Dustin says that seems like a wise move.
A wise W-I-S-E or smart or intelligent move means a good idea, something that was good for the person to do.
Dustin says that since he's in the neighborhood, since he lives near Faye's new apartment, let me know if you need any help moving.
What Dustin here is doing, of course, is creating an opportunity for him to see Faye again when they return to Los Angeles.
Dustin says I'd be happy to show you around and give you the rundown on some of the better restaurants in the area.
To show someone around means to show them the most interesting and important places, usually in a city or in a neighborhood.
To show you around has a couple of other meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional definitions.
Dustin also says he can give Faye the rundown, R-U-N-D-O-W-N, one word.
To give someone the rundown means to give them an explanation or a description of something.
Dustin says he can give Faye the rundown on some of the better restaurants.
He can tell her where the good restaurants are and, for example, where they could go and have dinner.
Dustin then gives her his card, his business card.
He says the number on the bottom is my cell number, my cell phone or mobile phone number.
Faye says, thanks, that would be really nice.
And after now they have been talking to each other for a couple of minutes they introduce themselves.
They actually give their first names.
She says, by the way, I'm Faye.
By the way is an expression we use to mean some additional information.
Here is some more information in this case.
Dustin says, I'm Dustin.
It's nice to meet you.
And Faye says, you too.
Ah, Faye and Dustin.
What will happen to them in the future?
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Excuse me, I'm in the window seat.
Oh, sure.
Let me get up and let you in.
Thanks.
Are you traveling on business?
Yes, I am.
I'm changing planes in Denver on my way to South Carolina and then I'm off to Georgia on Wednesday.
There's no rest for the wicked.
That's a lot of traveling.
Doesn't your husband or boyfriend mind?
Oh, I'm not married or seeing anyone.
How about you?
Where are you headed?
I'm going to Jacksonville Florida, to visit my parents for a few days, but I'll be back in Los Angeles by next weekend.
Are you from LA originally?
No, I was born and raised in Kentucky, but I've been living in LA for the past four years.
What part of LA do you live in?
I live not too far from the airport in Westchester.
Have you heard of it?
That's a coincidence.
I just rented an apartment in Westchester, and I'm moving in when I get back.
With all of this traveling, it made sense to move closer to the airport.
That seems like a wise move.
You know, since I'm in the neighborhood, let me know if you need any help moving.
I'd also be happy to show you around and give you the rundown on some of the better restaurants in the area.
Here's my card.
The number on the bottom is my cell phone.
Thanks.
That would really be nice.
By the way, I'm Faye.
I'm Dustin.
It's nice to meet you.
You too.
The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
That's all we have time for today.
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 2007.
