Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod.
My name is Marco.
My name is Catherine, and today we're talking about something that's very common in high schools all across the English-speaking world.
That's right.
Today we are going to talk a little bit about sexual education or also called sex ed.
So you may be asking yourself what exactly this means.
So let's take a look at this word on Vocabulary Preview.
Vocabulary Preview Okay, so more commonly than not, we're going to hear the phrase sex ed, E-D.
That stands for education.
This is basically a class or a training about sexuality and safety when it comes to these issues.
That's right.
So, as you said, this is a very common class.
That is part of the school curriculum in English-speaking countries.
I think maybe students are about 16 to...
15, 16 years old when they get sex ed?
We had it when I was about 13, 14.
13, 14.
So it all depends.
Now, many countries don't really have this in their public schools.
Other countries only have it in private schools.
So it's a very controversial topic about if schools should actually be teaching this.
But we'll talk about that a little bit later on.
Why don't we take a look at today's dialogue?
Let's listen to what's happening today.
All right, settle down, everyone.
As part of this school's curriculum, we'll be covering sex ed this week.
Oh, boy, yeah.
Now, I want everyone to take this class seriously.
Sexual education is very important, and I want you to ask as many questions as you can think of.
Remember, there are no stupid questions here.
Miss Carlton, what exactly is sexual education?
Are you going to teach us, like, Kama Sutra and stuff like that?
No, Jason, that's not actually what sex ed is.
Basically, we will talk about sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptives and how the male and female bodies work.
My older sister is in college, and she takes what she and her friends call the pill.
I never really understood what that is, but I know it has to do with sex or something.
Good point, Jason.
This will be the topic of our first class, contraceptives.
As you mentioned, the pill is one of the many that exist.
The birth control pill is taken daily by a woman in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but it does not protect her from contracting STDs from an infected person.
Another popular method is using condoms.
This is probably the best method if you have sex, since it not only prevents a woman from getting pregnant, but also protects you from STDs.
Yes, Jason?
What are condoms made out of?
How is it exactly that a woman gets pregnant?
Condoms are usually made out of an elastic material called latex.
As for your other question, that's a whole new class.
All right, we're back.
So now I'm sure there are a couple of words that we didn't really understand there.
So let's take a look at a couple of them on Language Takeaway.
Language takeaway.
Okay, so one of the most common phrases you're going to hear when it comes to sex and safety when you're having sex is sexually transmitted disease or STD.
That's right.
So the teacher actually mentioned the whole name sexually transmitted diseases.
And also she used the acronym STDs or STD and STD.
And what exactly are these STDs?
Well, the key word here is disease.
These are illnesses that you can get from sex.
So sexually transmitted means transmitted or passed on from one person to another person during sex.
And this could include any kind of diseases like AIDS or syphilis or chlamydia or gonorrhea.
Those are the most famous ones.
That's right.
So sexually transmitted diseases.
Now, why don't we get into the title of our lesson today?
Contraceptives.
What are these contraceptives?
Okay, so teachers are always going to explain the big difference between protection and contraception, or contraceptives.
Basically, contraceptives have to do with getting pregnant.
If you don't want your girlfriend to get pregnant and you're a guy, or if you're a girl and you don't want to get pregnant, you take contraceptives or you use contraceptives.
There are many different kinds, and I think the most common kind for preventing pregnancy or making sure you don't get pregnant is something called the pill.
That's right.
One of the kids said that his sister takes the pill.
Now, this is called the pill.
Now, you know that pills are any type of a capsule or little medicine that you swallow with water.
Mm-hmm.
But what is the pill?
Well, this is the birth control pill.
So that's a long name.
People often in conversation just say the pill, but it's called the birth control pill.
And it's a pill that women take every day or some of them different times to prevent pregnancy.
And so that means that you're trying not to get pregnant.
That's right.
Okay, so this is called a contraceptive.
Now, as you mentioned, this is a contraceptive, so it will prevent you from getting pregnant, but it will not protect you.
And, as many of you may know, the most common form of protection against pregnancy and STDs are a little device called a condom.
Okay, so a condom is, like you said, the most common kind of protection that people use and it's important because it helps you not only not get pregnant but also not get a disease.
And so people often talk about this as being the most important kind of protection from disease and pregnancy.
And it's basically just a cover for a man's penis and it prevents liquids being passed on from one person to another person.
That's right.
And actually, as you mentioned, this has to do with our next word.
It prevents you from contracting STDs like the teacher mentioned.
So to contract an STD or to contract an illness, what does that mean?
Well, contracting is a special verb that we use when we're talking about getting a disease.
You don't say, I got a disease.
You say, I contracted it.
That means I got it from somewhere or someone.
And that's one of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases.
You can contract very serious diseases just by having sex.
Now, can I say, I contracted the flu?
Yes.
I mean, it's not incorrect, but we don't really say that with the flu.
It's not a very serious illness.
You say it with very serious illnesses.
Okay.
So, yeah, I don't think you would go around saying, oh, I contracted a cold last week.
I got the cold.
And you wouldn't say this about cancer either, because cancer is not something you get from someone else.
But you say he contracted AIDS or he contracted gonorrhea, for example.
Right.
Okay, very good.
So, as you see, the spelling is actually the same as a contract, like an agreement between a company or two people, but the accent is different.
A contract is an agreement to contract that what we're talking about, illnesses.
To get.
All right, very good.
And for our final word, we're going back to condoms.
The material that they are made out of is called latex.
Okay, so latex is a very special kind of material that is, like they say in the dialogue, elastic.
It's stretchy.
And it's almost plasticky, but it's very, very tough.
It's very strong, and that's why they make condoms out of it.
And I think we also see things made out of latex.
For example, doctors, when they're operating, they wear latex gloves.
That's right.
Obviously, they don't want to use materials that are weak or that are thin, because they need to protect their patients from germs.
And so latex gloves and latex condoms are very, very common because they are so durable.
That's right.
Okay.
So a lot of interesting stuff there.
Why don't we now jump on over and take a look at a couple of different phrases on Fluency Builder.
Fluency Builder.
So this first phrase is something you should be very, very familiar with if you've ever been in a classroom in America or Canada.
Oftentimes with younger children or with high school children.
People get really worked up very excited.
You know, kids are yelling and talking and they're giggling and they think that oh, sex is so funny.
And so the teacher always says, settle down.
Settle down.
Okay.
So if somebody tells you to settle down hey hey, settle down.
Settle down, that means calm down, be quiet.
You're too excited.
Calm down.
So you can use this with your kids, maybe.
Settle down.
We need to go.
Come on, get in the car.
That's right.
So just kind of be quiet, be a little bit calmer.
It's a very, very, very important phrase, especially if you're talking to younger people.
Okay.
And well, of course, when you're talking about sex with teenagers or younger people, everyone's laughing and giggling because it's such a weird thing for them.
And the teacher said, I really want you to take this class seriously.
Okay.
Okay, so take this class seriously.
This comes from a sentence structure that's very, very important.
To take something seriously.
I take my studies very seriously.
Or you guys should take this class seriously.
It's important.
It means listen, pay attention.
This is important and you need to know this.
It's kind of like a way to instruct someone to really pay attention.
That's right.
Or what if you say I want you to take me seriously?
That means I want you to really think about what I'm saying and not just talk to me like I don't really understand what's going on.
Okay, very good.
So to take something seriously is the structure.
Now moving on to our final phrase.
When we were talking again about contraceptives, we talked about avoiding pregnancy.
And we have a phrase that we use called unwanted pregnancy.
Okay.
Okay, so pregnancy is what happens when someone gets pregnant.
They're going to have a baby.
But an unwanted pregnancy is a certain kind of pregnancy.
It means when someone did not plan to get pregnant or did not want to get pregnant.
So, unwanted is the opposite of wanted.
It means like it was an accident.
Right.
So, you wouldn't really say an accidental pregnancy because it, you know... It's still a kid.
Exactly.
So, you didn't want to get pregnant, but you did.
That's why we say unwanted pregnancy.
Okay.
Or you'll hear very often condoms help prevent unwanted pregnancy or the pill helps prevent unwanted pregnancy.
That's right.
Okay, so a lot of interesting stuff there.
I think it's worthwhile for us to listen to our dialogue for one last time.
All right, settle down, everyone.
As part of this school's curriculum, we'll be covering sex ed this week.
Oh boy, yeah.
Now, I want everyone to take this class seriously.
Sexual education is very important.
And I want you to ask as many questions as you can think of.
Remember, there are no stupid questions here.
Miss Carlton, what exactly is sexual education?
Are you going to teach us, like, Kama Sutra and stuff like that?
No, Jason, that's not actually what sex ed is.
Basically, we will talk about sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptives and how the male and female bodies work.
My older sister is in college, and she takes what she and her friends call the pill.
I never really understood what that is, but I know it has to do with sex or something.
Good point, Jason.
This will be the topic of our first class, contraceptives.
As you mentioned, the pill is one of the many that exist.
The birth control pill is taken daily by a woman in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but it does not protect her from contracting STDs from an infected person.
Another popular method is using condoms.
This is probably the best method if you have sex, since it not only prevents a woman from getting pregnant, but also protects you from STDs.
Yes, Jason?
What are condoms made out of?
How is it exactly that a woman gets pregnant?
Condoms are usually made out of an elastic material called latex.
As for your other question, that's a whole new class.
All right.
So, coming back, we obviously didn't cover all forms of contraception and forms of protecting yourself against STDs.
But I remember very clearly in school, when we talked about this, they said the best protection, the best way to not get pregnant or to get STDs, is celibacy.
That's right.
Celibacy is not having any sex.
When I was in school, they said the safest sex is no sex.
Yeah.
Because there's always a little bit of danger.
And so this is something that I think they tell a lot of young people to scare them.
But there is some truth to it.
Yeah, of course.
Now, what do you think about this topic?
Do you think it's worthwhile and we should teach children sexual education?
Or many people protest against it and say this is wrong.
We shouldn't be giving kids condoms when they're in high school.
Well personally, I think that kids in most parts of the world will have sex, whether or not you tell them not to.
And so because of that, because everyone's going to there are always going to be people trying it.
I think it's important to you know, inform students and inform kids who are in high school of options and of safety and of important health measures, because otherwise you risk unwanted pregnancies and you risk people getting you know these very serious diseases like AIDS.
That's right.
I think it is a very important topic.
Some countries or some places, even within the United States, are a little bit more conservative than others.
And so many times they are against this type of education.
But I've actually encountered people who never received sexual education and well, until they were maybe like 18, they thought they can get pregnant by a kiss.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that's one of the dangers.
Obviously, there are both sides to this issue.
And we're curious to know what you think.
Do you think that sex ed should be a course or should be something that people talk about in schools, in high school or in college?
Do they do this in your home country?
Let us know.
Our website is EnglishPod.com.
All right.
We'll see you guys there.
Bye.
Bye.
