Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 421.
Internet Dating This is English as a Second Language podcast number 421.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful, sunny Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
You can download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions, Free money and a complete transcript of this episode.
Well, there's no free money, but there is all the rest of that.
This episode is called Internet Dating.
It's about finding love on the Internet.
Let's get started.
I know a lot of people are doing it, but I'm not so sure about trying an internet dating service.
What do you have to lose?
This website says that it screens all of its members.
Let's look at some of the profiles.
We have to select the criteria for a search.
Let's see, gender, female, location, Los Angeles, age range, 26 to 35.
Wow, you got 243 hits.
I think you'd better narrow down the search criteria.
Okay, I'll search for people who live within a 50-mile radius.
That gives us 72 hits.
Click on that one.
Let's see.
This woman is 29 and she's an accountant.
She's very pretty.
Do you think people would upload any photos that weren't flattering?
Still, I think she's promising, don't you?
Anyway, who doesn't tell a few white lies in their dating profile?
It's not like you're misrepresenting yourself.
If you sign up for a trial membership, you'll have to do the same thing.
Will I?
What will I need to lie about?
Nothing, nothing.
You're perfect just the way you are.
Our dialogue begins with Kevin saying to Un, I know a lot of people are doing it.
But I'm not so sure about trying an internet dating service.
He says he's not so sure.
That means he has doubts.
He doesn't know if this is a good idea.
An internet dating service is an online business that helps you find and meet other people you may be romantically interested in.
Un says, what do you have to lose?
This expression, what do you have to lose, means that you should do something because nothing bad can happen as a result.
It isn't going to hurt you in any way.
What do you have to lose?
This is sometimes said when someone perhaps, is in a desperate situation, in a situation where they don't have a lot of other options and doing something will be better than doing nothing.
Un says, this website says that it screens all of its members.
To screen as a verb here means to review or to look at something and decide if it is acceptable or if it is good enough.
If you go into a company, the company will screen the people who want to work there and the people who are applying for the job.
They will look at their information and decide who they want to interview, for example.
Screen has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Un suggests to Gavin that they look at some of the profiles.
A profile is usually a short description that gives some general information about something, especially a person or a company.
So on these Internet dating sites they have profiles of different people that describe them in a general way.
Kevin says, all right, okay.
We have to select the criteria for a search.
Criteria is the plural for the noun criterion, C-R-I-T-E-R-I-O-N.
A criterion is something that you use to judge someone or some other thing, some sort of rule or standard that you use to decide if something is good enough or not.
So, for example, if you are applying for a job, one of the criteria may be that you have a college degree.
You graduated from college.
That's an example of criteria.
Well, Kevin says they have to select the criteria for a search.
To search for something is to look for something.
So when we are on the Internet, we can search for things.
In this case, Kevin is searching for his love, his true love, somewhere out there in the world.
Kevin gives some criteria.
He begins with gender, male or female.
Kevin is looking for a female.
Location here in Los Angeles.
And finally, age range.
The range of something is the highest and lowest values or number of something.
Age range refers to the ages of the people, in this case, that Kevin is looking for.
So the age range, for example, for those who go to high school in the United States, would be 14 to 18, from 14 years old up to 18 years old.
Kevin is looking for women between the ages of 26 and 35.
That's his age range.
Men often look for women who are their age or younger, and this is perhaps the case with Kevin.
We don't know.
Kevin could be an old person.
45, for example, like me, looking for a younger woman.
Well, not me, Kevin.
Back to the story.
Un says, wow, you got 243 hits.
A hit when you are talking about searching for something and is finding something that meets your criteria, that fits your criteria.
So if you put in, for example, ESL podcast and you search in a search engine such as Google, the first hit, the first link you will see on the page, is for ESL.
ESL podcast, this podcast.
That's a hit.
Hit has several meanings in English, different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some more explanations.
So Un says that Kevin got 243 women who live in Los Angeles between the ages of 26 and 35 who are registered on this internet dating service.
Un says, I think you'd better narrow down the search criteria.
To narrow down is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become more specific in what you are looking for to be more specific.
In this case, he has to find more specific criteria so that there are fewer hits.
He has too many right now.
Kevin says, okay, I'll search for people who live within a 50-mile radius.
Radius, R-A-D-I-U-S. is the distance between the middle of a circle and the edge of the circle.
It's used here to specify or to describe an area around where, in this case, Kevin lives.
So a 50-mile radius would be anything that would be 50 miles from Kevin's house or anyone.
When he does that, he gets 72 hits, 72 women who live within 50 miles of his house.
Un says, click on that one.
She selects one. and says, let's see, this woman is 29 and she's an accountant.
She works in a business where she takes care of the money, figuring out how much money the company has, for example.
She's very pretty, Un says.
Kevin says, do you think people would upload any photos that weren't flattering?
Flattering as an adjective means attractive, something that makes you look attractive.
So what Kevin is asking here is well, of course, the picture that the woman puts on the website is beautiful, because everyone would put the most beautiful photograph of themselves they could find.
It's clear that Kevin is a little skeptical.
That is, he has some doubts about whether this woman really is very pretty.
Un says still, meaning even though, despite what you say, I think she's promising.
When something is promising, here we mean it has a lot of potential to be good or useful.
It's something that seems good or interesting to But you're not quite sure.
You're not certain.
But it looks good.
Un says this woman looks promising.
Anyway, she says, in any case, who doesn't tell a few white lies in their dating profile?
A white lie is a small or unimportant lie, something that isn't true, but it isn't serious.
So, for example, if you meet a woman and you say to her, I'm 5 feet 10 inches.
When you're really 5 feet 9 inches... well, that's a white lie.
You want to make yourself seem taller.
But if you tell her that you are single when in fact you are married well, that would be a little bit more than a white lie.
So Un is saying that people sometimes...
Don't tell the complete truth in their dating profiles on these internet websites.
Un says, it's not like you're misrepresenting yourself.
To misrepresent means to say something to make someone believe that thing, but it isn't true.
So if I said I'm single when in reality I'm married and I am married, then that would be misrepresenting myself.
I would be essentially telling someone something that wasn't true.
Well, Un says that a few white lies, a few exaggerations...
She then says, If you sign up for a trial membership, you'll have to do the same thing.
If you sign up, if you become a member, you will have to do the same thing.
Some websites offer what's called a trial membership, which is where you can sign up for the membership for a week or a month some period of time to see if you like it.
And then if you like it, you can continue to use it by paying for it.
Kevin says...
Will I, meaning will it be necessary for me also to tell some white lies?
What will I need to lie about?
Un says nothing, nothing.
You're perfect just the way you are.
Of course, Un doesn't really believe that, but she wants Kevin to think that he's perfect.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I know a lot of people are doing it, but I'm not so sure about trying an internet dating service.
What do you have to lose?
This website says that it screens all of its members.
Let's look at some of the profiles.
Alright.
We have to select the criteria for a search.
Let's see.
Gender, female.
Location, Los Angeles.
Age range, 26 to 35.
Wow, you got 243 hits.
I think you better narrow down the search criteria.
Okay, I'll search for people who live within a 50-mile radius.
That gives us 72 hits.
Click on that one.
Let's see.
This woman is 29, and she's an accountant.
She's very pretty.
Do you think people would upload any photos that weren't flattering?
Still, I think she's promising, don't you?
Anyway, who doesn't tell a few white lies in their dating profile?
It's not like you're misrepresenting yourself.
If you sign up for a trial membership, you'll have to do the same thing.
Will I?
What will I need to lie about?
Nothing, nothing.
You're perfect just the way you are.
The script for this episode was written by someone who never tells a white lie, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us 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.
