Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 463, Washing the Car.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 463.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, for this episode on our website to help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Washing the Car.
It's a story about what happened when I went to get my car washed.
And of course, it will use a lot of vocabulary that is related to washing your car.
Let's get started.
I saw a group of teenagers holding up signs for a fundraising car wash for their school.
My car was very dirty, so I pulled over and paid for a car wash and a wax.
I think that the students had more enthusiasm than car washing skills.
Yes, they had hoses, buckets filled with soapy water and sponges, but they seemed more interested in getting each other wet than in getting the dirt off the car.
I kept wanting to jump up and say, After washing the car, they rinsed it and dried it with towels.
They also vacuumed the interior and washed the windows.
At least the windows were spotless.
Finally, they waxed and polished the car and were finished.
I went over to inspect the washed car.
All I can say is I'm glad this was a fundraiser to support their school.
If these students do as well in their classes as they did on my car...
They need all the education they can get.
This is an interesting story for me because I actually worked at a car wash when I was 15 years old.
It was my very first paying job.
I worked washing cars and drying them with towels.
It was maybe one of the worst jobs I've ever had, but when you're 15 and you want some money during the summertime, that's the kind of job that you can get.
Our story begins by me saying that I was driving down the road, and To hold up means to put your arms and hands in the air, and you are holding something so that people can see it usually.
Hold up actually has a couple of different meanings in English, so take a look at that learning guide I talked about for some additional explanations.
A fundraising event is when people try to make money for an organization or a program their school perhaps, their religious or charitable organization.
You have a fundraiser, a fundraising event.
In this case, the fundraising event is a car wash.
This is actually quite common in the US during the spring and summer, or here in California, just about any time of the year, because it is warm throughout the year.
A group of students stands at the corner where they are washing cars and try to get people to come in and get their car washed.
They are usually trying to raise money for some school organization that they are part of.
I say in the story that my car was very dirty.
It's always dirty.
So I pulled over and paid for a car wash and a wax.
A car wash is either the place where people wash cars or it's, in this case, the event where people pay to have their cars washed by other people or by a machine.
I say I also paid for a wax, W-A-X.
Wax is a layer of...
A type of oil that is put on your car so that it shines and that it is protected from the sun.
Many people wax their car after they wash it.
They put this wax, this material on the car.
I say that I think the students had more enthusiasm than car washing skills.
Enthusiasm means excitement, interest, a feeling of wanting to do something.
They were very enthusiastic to use the adjective, but they weren't necessarily very good at washing cars.
Yes, I say they had hoses, buckets filled with soapy water and sponges, but they seemed more interested in getting each other wet than in getting the dirt off the car.
They had hoses, which are long tubes made of plastic that water moves through.
You use a hose, for example, perhaps to put water on your plants or your garden.
A firefighter uses a hose to put water on a burning house.
A bucket is a large container with a handle on it that is used to store something.
It can be used to move water from one place to another.
In this case, the buckets were filled with soapy water, that is, water with a lot of soap, or cleaner, in it.
Sponges are soft pieces of thick material with many holes in them that absorb the water.
They are used for taking the water and using it to make something clean.
A sponge absorbs water, we say.
It sort of sucks up the water into it.
These students had hoses, buckets and sponges the things that you would use to wash a car but they seemed more interested in getting each other wet than in getting the dirt off the car.
That is, they were more interested in having fun by getting each other wet with the water.
Then they were in cleaning the car, getting the dirt, anything that is unclean small pieces of soil or dust, for example off of the car.
I say that I kept wanting to jump up and say, hey, you missed a spot, but I didn't.
I kept wanting to, meaning I was wanting to for a long time.
I wanted to stand up and say, hey, you missed a spot.
A spot is a small area of something.
When we say you missed a spot, we mean that when you were cleaning something, you didn't get everything clean.
There are certain small parts that are not clean.
This can happen if you are washing your car.
The car is big.
You may not see all of the dirt.
I say that after washing the car, the students rinsed it and dried it with towels.
To rinse R-I-N-S-E means to pour water over something in order to get rid of the soap that.
So, when you wash a car by hand, by yourself, you take the sponge, you put it in the soapy water.
You then clean the car with the soapy sponge and when you're done, you take the hose and you put water on the car to remove the soap and the dirt.
Removing soap and dirt from the car with water is called rinsing.
After you rinse the car, then you dry it.
You make it dry with towels, large soft pieces of fabric that are used to get water off of something.
The teenagers, I say, also vacuumed the interior and washed the windows.
To vacuum means to use a large machine that cleans carpets by picking up dirt with strong air suction.
The air pulls the dirt into the machine.
This is a vacuum as a noun, and the verb is to vacuum.
So they vacuumed, past tense, the interior, the inside of the car.
I say that at least the windows were spotless, meaning they didn't do a great job, but at least the one thing they did right was the windows, because they were spotless, meaning they were perfectly clean, no dirt at all.
Finally, they waxed and polished the car and were finished.
To polish, P-O-L-I-S-H, means to rub something until it shines, until it reflects light.
Typically, when you put wax on a car, you make the car shiny by taking a towel and rubbing and moving the towel over the car to make it shiny, to make it reflect light.
Polish has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Notice also this word is spelled the same as Polish.
Polish refers to someone from the country of Poland.
Even though it has the same spelling, it has a different pronunciation when used as a verb, Polish.
I end the story by saying I went over to inspect the washed car.
To inspect means to look at something very carefully, Usually looking for mistakes or problems.
All I can say is I'm glad this was a fundraiser to support their school, Meaning they didn't do a very good job on my car.
I hope they do a lot better in school than they did washing cars.
Now let's listen to the story, this time at a normal speed.
Okay, here we go.
I kept wanting to jump up and say, hey, you missed a spot, but I didn't.
After washing the car, they rinsed it and dried it with towels.
They also vacuumed the interior and washed the windows.
At least the windows were spotless.
Finally, they waxed and polished the car and were finished.
I went over to inspect the washed car.
All I can say is I'm glad this was a fundraiser to support their school.
If these students do as well in their classes as they did on my car, they need all the education they can get.
The script for this episode was written by someone full of enthusiasm, Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
