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.
Hello, you guys.
Welcome.
I hope you're doing well.
I am pretty excited about the fact that it's spring.
The weather is getting warmer, which is nice.
I'm not really getting out of the house, to be honest with you.
I'm mostly cooped up inside working, because right now I've got obviously I got the content for Emboo, then I've got the speaking club and then I'm also working on a course for that I'm trying to put together.
So yeah, that doesn't leave me with much time to go and enjoy the outdoors.
But yeah, hopefully sometime today maybe not today, but hopefully sometime tomorrow I'm going to be able to get out for a walk.
We'll see.
All right, enough about that.
Today we're going to talk about transportation.
So let's listen to the story.
Thank goodness you're here finally.
Wait, is Amanda all right?
Yeah, yeah, she's fine.
Let's go in.
Hello, Principal Rodriguez.
We're Amanda's parents.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, yeah, please have a seat.
I called you in because I wanted to talk about Amanda.
She's been skipping school lately.
She's not doing well on her tests.
And I... Man, this coffee's cold.
Um, sorry.
What was I saying?
I lost my train of thought.
About Amanda skipping school?
I just thought...
I thought she was doing so well.
She told me she'd passed every test with flying colors.
I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid your daughter will not make it into college this year.
What?
No, it's impossible.
There has to be something she can do.
Maybe if she took a few tests again.
I'm sorry, ma'am, but that ship has sailed.
I knew it.
Oh, okay.
So now it's my fault?
Of course.
You're the helicopter parent.
You never leave her alone.
And now obviously she's rebelling.
Oh, okay, Mike.
Thank you so much for coming here and throwing me under the bus as if you had no part in this.
Do I need to remind you how distant you've been these past few months?
Hey, I've been away because of work.
You know that I need a job.
You know that otherwise we wouldn't be making any money.
Listen, don't worry.
Miss Wilson will have another chance next year.
Wait, did you?
Did you say Miss Wilson?
Her daughter is Amanda Scott.
Oh, whoops.
Wrong Amanda then.
Yeah, no.
Amanda's doing great.
Lovely student, by the way.
Really, you're doing a great job with her.
All right, let's begin with expression number one.
Lose your train of thought.
Man, this coffee is cold.
Sorry, what was I saying?
I lost my train of thought.
When do you lose your train of thought?
Before, after, or while talking?
You lose your train of thought while talking in the middle of a conversation, in the middle of a sentence, even.
And if you lose your train of thought, do you remember what you were saying?
No.
If you lose your train of thought, you would begin talking.
You would want to say something.
But then either you get distracted because something happens.
Or maybe you start talking about something a little different.
And you forget what you actually meant to say at the beginning of your sentence.
So that's what it is.
That's what it is like when you lose your train of thought.
You forget what you were going to say or which direction your conversation was going.
Do you often lose your train of thought?
I don't think that happens very often to me.
I don't think I often lose my train of thought.
And the reason why that doesn't happen.
I think it's because my sentences are usually pretty short and I know what I want to say and what I want to convey.
So yeah, no, it doesn't happen to me very... Wait, what was I saying?
I'm just kidding.
No, it doesn't happen to me very often.
Expression number two, pass a test with flying colors.
She told me she'd pass every test with flying colors.
If you pass the test with flying colors, what kind of score do you get?
A low one, an average one, or a perfect one?
If you pass a test or an exam with flying colors, you pass with a perfect score.
So depending on your country, that could either be an A or even an A+, or it could be a 10.
I don't know.
It depends on your grading system.
Did you pass a lot of tests with flying colors when you were in school?
I wouldn't say a lot of tests.
There were some tests that I passed with flying colors.
But yeah, I was just an average student.
I didn't pass a lot of tests with flying colors.
Expression number three, that ship has sailed.
I'm sorry, ma'am, but that ship has sailed.
If you say that ship has sailed, you say it to let someone know they have one last opportunity to do something, or that they missed an opportunity to do something.
If you say that that ship has sailed, that means that the person that you're saying that to has missed an opportunity.
There's nothing that they can do about it.
The opportunity has missed something.
If you say that a ship has sailed, do you say it with relief or with regret?
So do you go like, oh, thank goodness that ship has sailed or, oh no, that ship has sailed.
Definitely the second one.
When you say that ship has sailed, usually what you're saying is that you had a good opportunity.
You had the chance to do something, but you no longer have it, for whatever reason, because you missed that opportunity.
So usually you say that with a bit of regret, with a little bit of sadness and maybe even frustration.
When was the last time something happened that made you think that ship has sailed?
So I think I'm going to have to talk once again about my last job.
And I think one of the last times that I thought that ship has sailed was when I had already made up my mind.
I was not very happy with my job.
And so I knew I wanted to quit.
And, um, and then my boss tried to convince me to stay.
And in that moment I thought, I'm sorry, but that ship has sailed.
Like I've already made up my mind and you missed this chance.
You missed this opportunity to keep working with me.
Um, so yeah, that was the last time that I thought that ship has sailed.
Expression number four, helicopter parent.
Of course, you're the helicopter parent.
If a parent is a helicopter parent, are they too involved with their kids' lives or not enough?
If a parent is a helicopter parent, that means that they are too involved in their kids' lives.
What kind of things would a helicopter parent do?
So a helicopter parent is that typical parent that's always around, always knows what's going on with their kid's life.
They know what friends they hang out with, what they're doing at school, what they're doing after school.
They're checking to make sure that the homework is correct.
They're all overprotective.
So they're always saying like, no, don't do this.
Don't do that.
You're going to get hurt.
So they're just really, really protective and really careful.
And they know a lot about their kid's life because they get involved a lot.
Warrior parents, helicopter parents.
So I was raised by my mom.
And I can 100% say that, yes, she was indeed a helicopter parent.
She knew everything about.
You know what I was doing at school.
Especially she was really concerned about schoolwork.
She was a teacher, so that's understandable.
And then also, she also wanted to know who I was hanging out with and everything especially, she was super, super worried that something might happen to me.
So she was always telling me, don't do this, don't do that.
And I think that's part of why I grew up with a lot of fears.
But hey, at least she's kept me safe, right?
Expression number five, throw someone under the bus.
Thank you so much for coming here and throwing me under the bus as if you had no part in this.
If you throw someone under the bus, do you take the blame for something that happened or do you blame someone else?
So if you throw someone under the bus, you blame the other person.
You do not take responsibility and you actually blame, you put the blame on the other person.
And why would you throw someone under the bus?
Well, because you don't want to face the negative consequences that a specific situation might have on you.
Let's say you and your friend cheated on a test.
Well, if they found out that I cheated, then I would get in trouble.
But if I throw my friend under the bus, if I tell them hey, they cheated, or he cheated, or she cheated, then they're the ones that are going to get in trouble, not me.
So that's why you would throw someone under the bus.
Definitely not a nice thing to do, but it's something that some people do.
Have you ever been thrown under the bus.
So you are the victim in this case.
I think I'm sure it's happened a few times, but I think one of the times that I'll always remember and I think I've already talked about this but I went to a party with my ex and we walk in and we were super late and And instead these were his friends okay,
And instead of him just accepting the blame and just like not even saying anything, he immediately says hey, it was Lara's fault.
And hey, it was true.
It was my fault.
But still, he totally threw me under the bus because he didn't want to be blamed for being late.
And so he threw me under the bus and everybody could blame me, which I didn't think was exactly the nicest thing to do.
So we actually had a pretty heated discussion after that party.
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.
