Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1163.
Types of Religious Leaders.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1163.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
I promise there'll be no singing if you go there.
When you do go there, you can become a member of ESL Podcast and download the learning guide for this episode.
You can also take a look at the ESL Podcast store with additional courses in business and daily English.
And why not like us on Facebook?
Go to facebook.com slash ESL POD.
This episode is a dialogue between Mary and Alexei about types of religious leaders.
Let's get started.
I feel like an idiot.
Why?
What happened?
I just called the bishop over there Pope.
That's not so bad.
You gave him a promotion.
At least you didn't call him rabbi.
Don't laugh.
When I agreed to work at this interfaith conference, I didn't know I'd need a crash course in identifying religious leaders from their dress.
It can't be that hard.
That man over there is clearly a cardinal.
And the woman next to him is probably a minister by the look of her clerical collar.
What about the man in robes over there?
He's probably a lama or a guru.
He's definitely not an imam. but I'm not entirely sure how I would address him.
See what I mean?
I keep saying the wrong thing.
These religious leaders don't expect lay people like you and me to know as much as they do about religious dress.
That's what you think.
I called that man over there preacher, and he gave me a dirty look.
No wonder.
He's the caterer.
Mary begins our dialogue by saying, I feel like an idiot.
An idiot, I-D-I-O-T, is a person who isn't very smart, who is not very intelligent.
Alexei says, why?
What happened?
Mary says, I just called the bishop over there, Pope.
Our dialogue is about types or names of religious leaders.
Mary mentions two names, Bishop, B-I-S-H-O-P, and Pope, P-O-P-E.
A bishop is a senior leader, we might say, in a Christian church.
There are different Christian congregations we might call them or groups that use this term bishop for their leaders.
The Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Church uses this term bishop for its leaders.
The Catholic Church also has another term, as do some other Christian churches, but it's usually associated with the Catholic Church, and that is Pope.
The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, who lives in Vatican City, which is located inside the country of Italy.
There are, I should add, a few other Christian churches which also use the term Pope.
In the Roman Catholic Church.
The Pope is himself a bishop, but is considered the highest leader of the Church.
Alexi says that's not so bad.
You gave him a promotion.
A promotion is when you get a better job in a company.
Alexei is making a little joke here.
He's saying that, by calling this bishop the pope, he's giving the bishop, in essence, a more important job than he already has.
Alexei says, at least you didn't call him rabbi.
A rabbi, R-A-B-B-I, is a leader of a Jewish synagogue.
A rabbi may also be a religious scholar of the religion of Judaism.
Mary says, don't laugh.
When I agreed to work at this interfaith conference, I didn't know I'd need a crash course in identifying religious leaders from their dress.
An interfaith I-N-T-E-R-F-A-I-T-H conference or meeting would be something involving two or more religions, especially groups or meetings that involved different religious leaders talking about issues and issues, Ideas that they may have in common or that they may differ about.
Mary says that she didn't know she'd need a crash course.
A crash, C-R-A-S-H, course is a very short term.
Usually what we might describe as intense period of studying about something or learning about something.
Usually because you need to know something right away in order to do something or to perform some action.
For example, if you get a new computer and the computer has software that you have never used before and you have to use it tomorrow to do something, you may decide to take a crash course in how to use it.
You may decide to spend many hours tonight studying on how to use this particular software.
That would be an example of a crash course, when you have to learn something very quickly.
Religious leaders refer to leaders of particular religions.
Religions are systems of belief that usually talk about the meaning of life and the origins of life.
I think most people know what religion is.
Mary says that she didn't know she needed to take a crash course on identifying or figuring out religious leaders from their dress.
From their dress means how they are dressed.
She means that she doesn't know how to identify religious leaders just looking at the way they are dressed, because different religious leaders often dress differently.
Alexi said it can't be that hard, meaning it isn't really that difficult.
That man over there, he says, is clearly a cardinal, and the woman next to him is probably a minister by the look of her clerical collar.
A cardinal, C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L, is a religious leader, once again, in the Catholic Church.
A cardinal usually dresses somewhat differently than another kind of religious leader, a bishop.
In fact, most cardinals, though not all, are bishops themselves.
Cardinals are religious leaders in the Catholic Church that, among other things, participate in electing the next pope or leader of the Catholic Church.
A minister, M-I-N-I-S-T-E-R, is a leader of a Christian church.
It could be any kind of Christian church, not necessarily a Catholic church.
It could be a Baptist church or a Presbyterian church or any one of a variety of Christian groups.
In some Christian groups or churches, ministers wear what's called a clerical collar.
The word clerical, C-L-E-R-I-C-A-L, comes from the word cleric.
A cleric is a religious leader.
Collar, C-O-L-L-A-R, here refers to something worn around the neck.
The word collar usually refers to jewelry or something worn around a person's neck.
You can think of your dog having a collar.
That's something that goes around the dog's neck that usually you connect something to in order to control the dog along ways. rope or a long piece of material called a leash, L-E-A-S-H.
Well, we're not talking about dog collars here.
We're talking about religious collars, which are usually pieces of white material stiff, thick white material that goes around the neck of a religious leader, a Christian religious leader.
Many ministers often wear a black shirt with this white collar that it goes around the neck.
Mary says, what about that man in robes over there?
A robe, R-O-B-E, is something you wear over your body that is very long.
It's almost like a very large dress.
It could be worn by a man or a woman.
Alexei says that the man that Mary is pointing at is probably a lama or a guru.
A lama, L-A-M-A, is a Tibetan or Buddhist monk, or a title for a religious leader of Buddhism.
You can think perhaps of the Dalai Lama from Tibet.
A guru.
G-U-R-U is a spiritual teacher, usually associated with Hinduism or Buddhism, or possibly a leader in the Sikh S-I-K-H religion.
Alexei says the man that Mary is pointing at is probably a lama or a guru.
He says, he's definitely not an imam, but I'm not entirely sure how I would address him.
An imam.
I-M-A-M is a Muslim religious leader, a leader of a group that believes in Islam I-S-L-A-M.
Alexei says he's not entirely sure, meaning he's not exactly sure, how I would address him.
To address A-D-D-R-E-S-S.
Someone is to speak to someone in a particular way, especially using some sort of title, some sort of name for that person.
For example, if you meet the President of the United States, you would probably say it's nice to meet you, Mr President.
That's how we would address the President of the United States.
If you were talking to the Pope of the Catholic Church, you would say Your Holiness or Holy Father.
Those are terms of address, how you would talk to that person when you first talk to that person.
If you are in a courtroom, and you are talking to a judge.
The proper form of address is probably your honor, H-O-N-O-R.
That's how you would address or talk to that person.
Alexei is not sure how to address some of the religious leaders.
Mary says, see what I mean?
I keep saying the wrong thing.
Alexei says these religious leaders don't expect lay people like you and me to know as much as they do about religious dress.
A lay person is someone who is not a religious leader or who doesn't have a position of religious leadership within a church or religious group.
Another term for laypeople would be laymen, although it's become more popular now to say laypeople.
But it means the same thing usually, unless someone is distinguishing between a man and a woman, in which case you may say layman or laywoman.
Alexi is basically telling Mary not to worry too much, that these religious leaders don't expect her to know who's who, if you will, by their religious dress.
Mary says, that's what you think.
The expression that's what you think is usually used to show that you disagree with what the other person says.
Usually you say this right before you're going to present an example of why you think the other person is wrong.
And that's exactly what Mary does.
She disagrees with Alexei.
She says, that's what you think.
And then she gives her example of why Alexei is wrong.
She says, I called that man over there preacher.
And he gave me a dirty look.
The term preacher P-R-E-A-C-H-E-R is another religious title that could be applied to lots of different people, not just a leader of a religious community or a Christian church.
Though there are many Christian churches who use preacher in the same way that other religious groups use.
Minister Mary says she just called someone preacher and that person gave her a dirty look.
To give someone a dirty look means to look at them as if you were angry, to show that you didn't like what that person said.
Alexi says, no wonder, meaning, well, that's not surprising.
The person that Mary was talking to is the caterer.
The caterer, C-A-T-E-R-E-R, is the person whose job it is to prepare and serve food at a meeting or event.
Mary called the caterer who, of course, is not a religious leader in any sense a preacher, and that's why the caterer gave her a dirty look.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I feel like an idiot.
Why?
What happened?
I just called the bishop over there, Pope.
That's not so bad.
You gave him a promotion.
At least you didn't call him a rabbi.
Don't laugh.
When I agreed to work at this interfaith conference, I didn't know I'd need a crash course in identifying religious leaders from their dress.
It can't be that hard.
That man over there is clearly a cardinal, and the woman next to him is probably a minister by the look of her clerical collar.
What about the man in robes over there?
He's probably a lama or a guru.
He's definitely not an imam but I'm not entirely sure how I would address him.
See what I mean?
I keep saying the wrong thing.
These religious leaders don't expect lay people like you and me to know as much as they do about religious dress.
That's what you think.
I called that man over there a preacher, and he gave me a dirty look.
No wonder.
He's the caterer.
If you need a crash course in any kind of special vocabulary, you should talk to our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
Or better yet, just listen to her wonderful scripts.
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.
