Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,082, Traveling to a Remote Island.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1,082.
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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This episode is a dialogue between Leandro and Allison about going to an island far, far away.
Let's get started.
When you said you got a plum job working abroad, I thought you were going to Europe or Asia.
Where exactly is Hewler Island?
It's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Here, I'll show you on the map.
Wow!
It's a bit remote, isn't it?
It is, but it's also unspoiled and beautiful.
I've seen photos, and it looks like my idea of paradise.
See?
After I get settled, you should come for a visit.
It looks a little desolate.
Is it hard to get to?
You would need to take a 19-hour flight from here to the mainland and then a two-day boat ride to reach it.
Aren't you worried about living in such isolation?
It's so far from civilization.
There are other people living on the island, you know, so it's not like I wouldn't see another living soul for days.
Oh, I'm glad there's a community living there.
What is the population of Huler Island?
It's small, which isn't unusual for an island this size.
How small?
When I move there, it'll increase to seven.
If you visit, you'll make eight.
I'll give the idea of that trip all the consideration it deserves.
Leandro begins our dialogue by saying to Allison when you said you got a plum job working abroad, I thought you were going to Europe or Asia.
A plum job is a very desirable job, a good job that perhaps pays a lot or has a lot of benefits.
This expression, a plum job, is actually quite old in English.
It goes back at least to the 19th century.
A plum is a small, sweet fruit that was considered very desirable.
And so we have a plum job, meaning a very desirable job.
Leandro is asking Allison about a plum job that she got working abroad.
The term abroad, A-B-R-O-A-D, means in another country.
In a foreign country, we could also say.
Leandro thought Allison was getting a job in Europe or Asia.
Instead, she appears to be working somewhere called Hewler Island.
An island is a piece of land surrounded by water.
Leandro wants to know where Hewler Island is.
Allison says it's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Here, I'll show you on a map.
A map, of course, is a diagram or drawing of a certain place, a geographical location.
Leandro says The term far flung, hyphen flung F-L-U-N-G means very far away, at a very long distance from here.
We might also use the term that is used in the title of this episode, remote, R-E-M-O-T-E.
Something that is remote, is very far away from other people, very far away often from cities or what we might loosely call civilization.
It might be a place that is isolated.
That is, it's not next to anything else.
It is at a great distance from other places.
Leandro says it's a very remote place.
He says it's a bit remote, isn't it?
A bit means a little bit, a small amount.
Ellison says it is, but it's also unspoiled and beautiful.
Something that is unspoiled is something that is not spoiled.
So you need to know the definition of spoiled.
Something that is spoiled is something that is ruined, something that has gone bad, something that is in a very poor condition or state.
So unspoiled would be a place where very few people have gone, a place that is still, in this case, beautiful.
Allison says, I've seen photos, meaning photographs of this island, and it looks like my idea of paradise.
Paradise, P-A-R-A-D-I-S-E, is a perfect place, an ideal place.
In some religions it's associated with the idea of heaven, a place where you go when you die, if you're good, of course.
But we also use it to describe a beautiful place to visit or often to go on vacation.
Allison says...
To get settled means to become comfortable in a new place or a new position, especially if you are moving from one place to another.
If you move from one city to another...
It takes a while for you to get settled, to get everything in the right place, to figure out where everything is in your new city, and so forth.
Allison is inviting Leandro to come and visit her.
Leandro says it looks a little desolate.
Desolate, D-E-S-O-L-A-T-E, means empty.
It's a negative word. way of describing a place that looks like it doesn't have very much there.
If you drive out into the middle of the desert outside of Los Angeles, many parts of it seem desolate.
They seem as though there's nothing there.
There's nothing interesting there.
Although some people love the desert, and so for them, it's not desolate at all.
Leandro says, is it, meaning the island, hard to get to?
Is it hard to travel to, is what he's asking.
Allison says you would need to take a 19-hour flight from here to the mainland and then a two-day boat ride to reach it.
We use the term mainland, M-A-I-N-L-A-N-D, to describe a country that includes one or more islands.
However, most of the land of the country is on one of the seven continents North America, South America Africa Asia Europe, Antarctica and Australia.
So in the United States, for example, the mainland consists of the parts of the United States that are part of the North American continent.
It does not include the islands, say, of Hawaii or of Puerto Rico or of Guam or of the U.S.
Virgin Islands or other U.S. territories.
The mainland, then, is the main part of the country that is located on one of the seven continents.
Now it gets a bit confusing, of course, because Australia is also an island, but you understand the general idea here.
The mainland is the main part of the country Unless, of course, the country is itself mostly an island.
Then you wouldn't talk about the mainland, since the entire country is an island.
It's only used when a country has both islands and a significant amount of land on one of the continents.
Allison is describing this island and is telling Leandro that he has to fly to the mainland of whatever country this island is part of and then take a two-day boat ride, a ride in a small ship, in order to get to the island.
Leandro says, aren't you worried about living in such isolation?
Isolation is when you are alone, when there is no one else around you.
He says this island is so far from civilization.
Civilization means society, a well-developed culture that people have, usually with some sort of established government and social rules and so forth.
The word civilization can be a tricky one to use nowadays, because traditionally it has been used to describe more industrialized, more westernized countries and societies versus those that were less so.
More generally, the term is used to describe a place where there are Services, shall we say electricity and water and food, and stores and houses, things that we associate with modern society.
Allison says.
However, there are other people living on the island, you know, so it's not like I wouldn't see another living soul for days.
The expression another living soul, S-O-U-L, means another person, another human being.
Leandro says, oh, I'm glad there's a community living there.
He's glad, he's happy that there are lots of other people there on this island as well.
He then asks, What is the population of Hewler Island?
The population is the number of people living in a certain place.
Allison says it's small, which isn't unusual for an island this size.
Leandro then asks, How small, meaning exactly how many people are we talking about here?
Allison answers.
When I move there it'll increase to seven, meaning the population will go up to seven.
And if you visit, you'll make eight.
You'll make eight here means that we will have that number of people.
In other words, this island only has six people living on it.
If Allison goes there, the population will go up to seven people, and if Leandro visits, there'll be eight people there.
Now, normally if you visit a place, we don't count that as part of the place's population.
But Allison is speaking in more general terms here.
Well, Leandro clearly is not very interested in visiting Allison on this very small island.
He says somewhat sarcastically, somewhat jokingly.
I'll give the idea of that trip all the consideration it deserves.
Consideration means careful thought when you think about the advantages or disadvantages, the pluses or minuses of something.
Leandro is saying that really he's not going to think about this at all because it's not an idea that appeals to him, that he thinks it would be a good one.
He's not going to visit Allison on this very small island. named Hewler Island.
Is there a Hewler Island?
Well, no.
We just made that name up.
Though there are people named Hewler.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
When you said you got a plum job working abroad, I thought you were going to Europe or Asia.
Where exactly is Hewler Island?
It's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Here, I'll show you on the map.
Wow, I had no idea you'd be working in such a far-flung place.
It's a bit remote, isn't it?
It is, but it's also unspoiled and beautiful.
I've seen photos and it looks like my idea of paradise.
See?
After I get settled, you should come for a visit.
It looks a little desolate.
Is it hard to get to?
You would need to take a 19-hour flight from here to the mainland and then a two-day boat ride to reach it.
Aren't you worried about living in such isolation?
It's so far from civilization.
There are other people living on the island, you know, so it's not like I wouldn't see another living soul for days.
Oh, I'm glad there's a community living there.
What is the population of Huler Island?
It's small, which isn't unusual for an island this size.
How small?
When I move there, it'll increase to seven.
And if you visit, you'll make eight.
I'll give the idea of that trip all the consideration it deserves.
Listening to the scripts of Dr Lucy Say, our script writer, is a bit like being in paradise a wonderful place.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
