Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1254, Being Under a Corrupting Influence.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 1254.
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 Anne and Elio about being influenced by people whose behavior, whose actions are not always very good.
Let's get started.
I don't like our sun. watching those films and reading those books.
They're corrupting his mind.
I don't like it either, but he's old enough to read and watch what he likes without our interference.
But they're brainwashing him.
Those books and films are full of evil, perverted ideas.
They're certainly blasphemous and profane.
I agree with you.
But what can we do?
Maybe his interest in them will be short-lived.
Even if he loses interest, we'll have to find a way to reverse the damage that's been done.
He'll need to be deprogrammed.
Maybe their effect will be short-lived too.
Deep down, he's a good kid.
We both know that.
Yes, but those ideas are dangerous.
I hope he doesn't act on them.
All right.
I'll only think good thoughts.
Good.
Where are you going?
I'm hoping for the best, but just in case, it doesn't hurt to monitor what he's saying on social media.
And begins our dialogue by saying to Elio I don't like our son watching those films and reading those books.
They're corrupting his mind.
To corrupt, C-O-R-R-U-P-T, can have several different meanings.
Here it refers to changing a person's behavior, the way a person acts in a negative way to influence someone, so that he starts acting, dishonestly perhaps, or in a way that we don't approve of.
Elio says I don't like it either, but he's old enough to read and watch what he likes without our interference.
Interference I-N-T-E-R-F-E-R-E-N-C-E is used to describe a situation where someone is getting in our way or getting involved in our affairs, in our actions, in a way that we don't want.
The verb is to interfere.
So interference is when someone does something that either prevents someone from doing what he wants or changes what someone does in a way that that person isn't very happy about.
Elio doesn't think that he and Anne can interfere in their son's reading and film watching.
Anne says, but they're brainwashing him.
To brainwash B-R-A-I-N-W-A-S-H means to use some method to of influencing the way someone thinks, usually in such a way that the person loses their own ability to think for himself.
We usually associate brainwashing with some sort of political or religious leader who is making his followers.
The people who believe in him, do things that they would not otherwise do.
It's always used in a negative way.
That is, we use the verb to brainwash when we are referring to someone who is influencing other people to believe things they would not otherwise believe on their own.
Anne says those books and films are full of evil, perverted ideas.
Evil, E-V-I-L, is the opposite of good.
It means very bad and is often used to refer to things that are perhaps the worst cases of some sort of ethical or moral badness.
You might say.
There's often a religious meaning to the word evil.
Perverted, P-E-R-V-E-R-T-E-D, refers to something that is unnatural or we might say abnormal, A-B-N-O-R-M-A-L.
Abnormal is not normal, not usual.
Perverted is often an adjective used to refer to sexual actions or sexual desires that are considered abnormal.
Elio says that these books are certainly blasphemous and profane.
I agree with you, he says.
Blasphemous B-L-A-S-P-H-E-M-O-U-S is an adjective used to describe something someone says against God or against religion in a very, I guess we would say disrespectful way, in a not nice way.
Profane, P-R-O-F-A-N-E, can mean simply the opposite of sacred, S-A-C-R-E-D.
Sacred refers to things related to God and profane would refer to things related to.
However, it also has another meaning, which means the same as, or something similar to blasphemous, which is not respectful of religion or religious teachings.
Blasphemous usually refers to things said against God himself as a being, whereas profane, when it's used in the negative sense, is something that is said against religion or religious teachings that, of course, are related to God in most belief systems.
Elio says, but what can we do?
Maybe his interest in them will be short-lived.
Elio isn't sure what he and his wife can do about their son's interest in these books.
He says maybe his interest in them will be short, S-H-O-R-T hyphen lived, L-I-V-E-D.
Short lived means lasting or going on for a very short amount of time.
Temporary.
Anne says, even if he loses interest, we'll have to find a way to reverse the damage that's been done.
To lose L-O-S-E interest in something is to no longer want to know more about it or no longer want to be involved with it.
To reverse R-E-V-E-R-S-E can mean to go in the opposite direction, to go backwards instead of forwards, for example.
Damage, D-A-M-A-G-E, is some negative effect on damage. a person, or a thing.
To reverse the damage would be to take something that has been hurt or harmed and make it better again, or return it to its previous healthy condition or state.
Anne thinks their son may need to be deprogrammed.
To deprogram D-E-P-R-O-G-R-A-M means to take someone who has been brainwashed, who has been convinced to believe things that he would not otherwise believe, and return that person to his original way of thinking, to reverse the damage of brainwashing.
You could think of it as
These terms brainwashing and deprogramming were used Quite popular or at least you would hear them more often in the 1960s and 70s when, at least in the United States, there was a lot of news stories about cults C-U-L-T-S.
Cults are usually religious groups that have beliefs and practices that are very different than the normal accepted common religious groups.
You don't hear people talking about deprogramming as much anymore.
In any case, Elio says maybe their effect will be short-lived too.
Effect here means result or consequence.
He says, deep down, he's a good kid.
Deep down is an expression we use to refer to something that is part of someone's nature or something that someone has, even though it doesn't look as though they have it.
For example, we may describe someone as being honest deep down, even though right now the person is lying or being dishonest.
Deep down might also be used to describe what someone really believes or truly believes, even though the person seems to be saying something different right now.
Anne says...
Those ideas are dangerous.
I hope he doesn't act on them.
To act, A-C-T, on something is to take something you believe and do something about it.
To actually change your behavior based on something you think or believe in.
Elio says don't even think it.
That would spell disaster.
To spell, S-P-E-L-L, disaster, D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R, means to have a very bad result or to create a very big problem.
Anne says, all right, I'll only think good thoughts.
Elio says, good.
Then Anne says, where are you going?
Elio responds, I'm hoping for the best, meaning in this case, I hope our son is okay.
But just in case meaning, if I am wrong about that, It doesn't hurt to monitor what he's saying on social media.
To monitor M-O-N-I-T-O-R means to observe and watch something, especially when you are trying to make sure that nothing bad happens to that thing or even to that person.
When you are in the hospital, The doctors and nurses will monitor your heartbeat, or perhaps your breathing, to make sure that nothing bad is happening to you.
Social media refers to websites and services online, such as Facebook and Twitter, where people share their thoughts and photos with other people.
Social refers to being part of a group, and media refers to ways of communicating or ways of transferring information or giving information, including photographs and movies, to other people.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I don't like our son watching those films and reading those books.
They're corrupting his mind.
I don't like it either, but he's old enough to read and watch what he likes without our interference.
But they're brainwashing him.
Those books and films are full of evil, perverted ideas.
They're certainly blasphemous and profane.
I agree with you.
But what can we do?
Maybe his interest in them will be short-lived.
Even if he loses interest, we'll have to find a way to reverse the damage that's been done.
He'll need to be deprogrammed.
Maybe their effect will be short-lived, too.
Deep down, he's a good kid.
We both know that.
Yes, but those ideas are dangerous.
I hope he doesn't act on them.
Don't even think it.
That would spell disaster.
Alright, I'll only think good thoughts.
Good.
Where are you going?
I'm hoping for the best, but just in case, it doesn't hurt to monitor what he's saying on social media.
The effect of listening to our dialogues by our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr Lucy Say, will be to improve your English.
And that's a good thing.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks 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 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
