Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 308, Formatting a Document.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 308.
Be sure to visit our website at eslpod.com and download a learning guide for this episode.
Our learning guides contain all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions not found on the podcast, cultural notes, comprehension questions and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is called Formatting a Document.
It's about making a document on your computer with something like Microsoft Word.
Let's get started.
I've just switched over to this program and I can't figure out how to format my document.
Can you help me?
I can try.
Let's take a look.
What do you want to do?
I want to change the margins so I can fit more on a page.
I don't know how to change the default settings.
I also want to put this section on a separate page.
Okay, you can adjust the margins by moving this up and down and from side to side.
If you want this section on a separate page, just add a page break.
Oh, I see.
What if I want to add a header or a footer?
You go to this pull-down menu and select the header and footer option.
Then, you can type in the text you want.
If you want to add a page number, just insert one by selecting it from this menu.
That seems easy.
What if I want to change the font?
You can change the font style or size by selecting the text and then making the change on the toolbar.
See?
Yeah, that seems simple enough.
I also want to change the orientation of the page.
How do I do that?
Right now, your document is portrait.
To make it landscape, you just go to the page setup and change it.
That all seems pretty easy.
I think I've got it.
Good.
Give it a try.
If you get stuck, I can try to help.
Okay, great.
Now can you go over again how to change the margins, insert a page number, change the page orientation and add a footer.
The dialogue is between Franz and Helen.
Franz begins by saying...
The verb to format...
Here means to change the appearance of your document, to change the way the document looks when you print it on a piece of paper, to change its style, to make, for example, certain things bigger or certain things smaller.
That would be part of formatting.
Fran says, can you help me to Helen?
Helen says, I can try.
Let's take a look.
Let's look at it.
What do you want to do, she asks.
Fran says I want to change the margins so that I can fit more on a page, so that I can put more on a page.
The margins are the white spaces on the top, the bottom, and the sides of the page.
There's normally nothing in the margins.
It's empty white space.
Margin has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Fran says that I don't know how to change the default settings.
Default, D-E-F-A-U-L-T, are the normal settings of something on a computer.
The settings are the way that the program is set up, what you get when you open the program and you don't change anything.
Those would be the default settings.
Fran says, I also want to put this section on a separate page.
Helen says, OK, you can adjust the margins by moving this up and down.
To adjust means to change, usually to make a small change in something.
I need to adjust my schedule this morning.
I need to make a change in it this morning.
Helen says you can adjust the margins by moving this up or down, pointing to something on the computer screen, or from side to side.
If you want this section on a separate page, she says, just add a page break.
When you're working in Microsoft Word or other computer programs and you want a new page to start, you insert or put in a page break that makes the document start a new page somewhere.
Fran says, oh, I see.
What if I want to add a footer or a header?
In a word processing or typing document like Microsoft Word, the header is the space at the very top of the page.
The head is at the top of your body.
The footer is is at the bottom of this page, just like your feet are at the bottom of your body.
We call those the header and the footer.
These are usually the places where you put the page number, for example, and perhaps some other information.
Helen says to answer Fran's question.
You go to this pull-down menu and select the header and footer option.
A pull-down menu is when you click on something on a computer program or on a web page and you get a list and you go through the list and you pick or select one of the things on the list.
A menu is a list of options.
Helen says then you can type in the text you want.
If you want to add a page number, just insert or put in one by selecting it from this menu.
Fran says, that seems easy.
That appears to be easy.
What if I want to change the font?
The font, F-O-N-T, is the style of letters.
It's the style that the letters are made in, the shape of the individual letters.
For example, in... many computer programs, you can select Times Roman or Times New Roman.
That's the name of the font.
That's the way the letters look.
Another popular font would be Arial, A-R-I-A-L.
Another popular font would be Helvetica.
All of these are fonts that you find on a computer program and on a web page.
Helen answers Fran's question by saying You can change the font style or size, how big the letters are, by selecting the text and then making the change on the toolbar.
See?
See?
She's indicating how to do it on his computer.
A toolbar T-O-O-L-B-A-R.
One word is a group of related commands, related options on a computer program.
Usually the toolbar is at the top of the page.
You'll often see little pictures, little images that you can click on to do certain things.
For example, on Microsoft Word, you can cut, you can delete, you can paste.
To put something in a document is to paste it.
And these all have little images, little icons, we might call them, in the toolbar.
So the toolbar is the place where you can go to make changes in your document.
Franz says, that seems simple enough, meaning that seems easy.
I also want to change the orientation of the page.
How do I do that, he asks.
The orientation is the direction of the page.
It could be vertical, like most pages that you print.
We would call that portrait orientation.
P-O-R-T-R-A-I-T A vertical or portrait orientation is when it is taller than it is wide.
It is higher than it is wide.
The opposite of that would be a landscape orientation.
Landscape, L-A-N-D-S-C-A-P-E, one word, is when the piece of paper is wider than it is tall, wider than it is high.
This is a horizontal orientation.
That is less common, the landscape orientation.
The most common orientation is vertical or portrait.
Landscape has a couple of meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Helen says to Franz, right now your document is portrait.
To make it landscape, you need to go to the page setup and change it.
The setup, S-E-T-U-P, one word, are the settings and controls for doing something.
The things you have to do, the things you have to prepare before something else can be done.
Page setup is where you go and change things for that page the margins, the orientation and so forth.
Franz again says, that seems pretty easy.
I think I've got it.
Helen says, good.
Give it a try, meaning try it yourself without me.
If you get stuck, I can help.
To get stuck.
S-T-U-C-K is a two-word or phrasal verb meaning not to be able to continue to do something.
You start doing something and then you forget how to do it or you don't know how to continue.
That's to get stuck.
You can get stuck on your homework.
You start your homework if you're a student.
You do the first page and then you're confused.
You're lost.
You get stuck.
Franz says, okay, great.
Now can you go over again?
Can you review how to change margins, insert a page break, change the page orientation and add a footer?
Franz, of course, is asking Helen to explain everything to him again.
Franz is what we call not too bright, not too smart.
Now let's listen to the dialogue again, this time at a normal speed.
I've just switched over to this program, and I can't figure out how to format my document.
Can you help me?
I can try.
Let's take a look.
What do you want to do?
I want to change the margin so that I can fit more on a page.
I don't know how to change the default settings.
I also want to put this section on a separate page.
Okay.
You can adjust the margins by moving this up and down, or from side to side.
If you want this section on a separate page, just add a page break.
Oh, I see.
What if I want to add a header or a footer?
You go to this pull-down menu and select the Header and Footer option.
Then, you can type in the text you want.
If you want to add a page number, just insert one by selecting it from this menu.
That seems easy.
What if I want to change the font?
You can change the font style or size by selecting the text and then making the change on the toolbar.
See?
Yeah, that seems simple enough.
I also want to change the orientation of the page.
How do I do that?
Right now, your document is portrait.
To make it landscape, you just go to the page setup and change it.
That all seems pretty easy.
I think I've got it.
Good.
Give it a try.
If you get stuck, I can try to help.
Okay, great.
Now can you go over again how to change the margins, insert a page number, change the page orientation and add a footer.
The script for this episode was by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you 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.
