Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning!
And welcome back.
This week's topic is money.
Let's hear the story.
So I'm normally pretty thrifty.
I prefer not to spend my money on unnecessary stuff.
You never know what could happen.
But I've been a Backstreet Boys fan ever since I was a little girl.
And when I found out that they were coming to my town to perform, I simply couldn't resist.
I debated whether to get regular tickets or splurge on front row tickets.
Well, It turns out, I waited too long and by the time I tried to purchase them, regular tickets were sold out.
I really thought I'd miss my chance to see my favorite band live, but then I realized I still have one option.
VIP tickets are still available.
Sure, they cost an arm and a leg, about $350, but I decided it was worth it.
I had to dip into my savings to pay for them.
But guess what?
Thanks to the VIP pass, I got to meet the band.
I still can't believe it.
So, any Backstreet Boys fans out there?
I personally am, or was when I was younger.
So let's look at the words.
Word number one, thrifty.
I'm normally pretty thrifty.
If you are thrifty, are you careful about the way you spend your money or not?
Yes.
If you're thrifty, you are very careful about the way you spend your money.
And if you're thrifty, is that considered a good quality or a negative thing?
Well, being thrifty, it's actually considered like a positive thing because if you're thrifty, that means that you don't spend your money on stupid things, but you spend it wisely.
So are you thrifty?
I am not thrifty at all, unfortunately.
And sometimes I spent money on things that I really don't need.
Yeah.
So hopefully you're not like me and you're thrifty.
Word number two, splurge on.
I debated whether to splurge on front row tickets.
So if you splurge on something, do you normally buy something cheap or expensive?
Well, if you splurge on something, it's usually something expensive, or at least something that you consider expensive.
And when you splurge on something, are you buying something because it's necessary or just because you want to?
Yep, just because you want to.
It's not something that you need in the moment, but it's something extra that you want to spend money on.
So what was the last thing that you splurged on?
Okay.
So actually I haven't been spending a lot of money lately because I'm traveling and I literally cannot buy things because otherwise I wouldn't know where to put them, because I'm traveling with only one backpack.
Um, so lately I've had to be pretty thrifty and I haven't been able to spend a lot of money.
I guess I um lately bought a pair of pants, even though I already had a pair of pants uh, that I'm traveling with.
So I guess I splurged on it, um, because it really wasn't necessary.
Oh, you know what else I splurge on?
Food.
That's something I splurge on all the time, even when I'm traveling.
Word number three, to be sold out.
Regular tickets were sold out.
If something is sold out, can you still buy it?
Nope.
Unfortunately, if something is sold out, you cannot buy it anymore.
And why can you not buy something that is sold out?
Well, basically because there's none left.
Whatever you want to buy, they already sold all of the stock, all of the items that they had.
Whether it was tickets or clothes, if something is sold out, it's finished.
Have you ever wanted to buy something that you couldn't because it was sold out?
No.
Well, probably I can't think of anything specific right now.
But I mean.
A lot of times if you see something online that you want to buy and it's sold out most of the time, you can just wait and they will restock it.
So no.
And if it has happened, it's not something that deeply affected me.
So it was probably something silly that I really didn't need.
Okay.
Word number four, cost an arm and a leg.
Short, they cost an arm and a leg about $350.
If something costs an arm and a leg, is it really cheap or really expensive?
Well, just think about it.
An arm and a leg, that's pretty priceless.
So if something costs an arm and a leg, it's really expensive.
And if you say something costs an arm and a leg, do you think the price is fair or it's unreasonably high?
Well, a lot of times you will refer to something as costing an arm and a leg, when you think the price doesn't make sense.
It's unreasonably high.
It's too high.
So what things are notorious for costing an arm and a leg?
Well, I can think, I don't know.
The first example that I can think of is a Ferrari or any sports car similar to a Ferrari.
You know, they cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
So yeah, they definitely cost an arm and a leg.
Word number five, last word of today's episode, dip into.
I had to dip into my savings to pay for them.
If you dip into your savings, do you use the money or not?
Yes, you do use the money if you dip into your savings.
And does dipping into your savings involve taking large quantities of money or small?
Well, if you only dip into your savings, you're only taking out a small amount of money.
Have you ever had to dip into your savings at what for?
Well, unfortunately, yes.
And many times there was this period of my life where I was really trying to save up some money.
But on the other hand, I couldn't, um, And so what I would do is I would save up money.
And then the following month, because I needed extra money, I would dip into my savings.
And then save a little bit more money at the end of the month when I got my salary.
And then again, dip into my savings.
So I got into this cycle.
And at the end of the day, I wasn't really saving anything up because I was using my savings all the time.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
