M: Hello everyone! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.
E: And I’m Erica.
M: And today we’re gonna be bringing you another great sports lesson.
E: Yes, this one is for all our hockey fans.
M: I know we have a lot of listeners from Russia, so this is a very popular sport in Russia, Chez Republic…
E: Yes.
M: So…
E: And Canada.
M: And Canada, right.
E: Uhu.
M: Very very popular in Canada.
E: It’s our national game.
M: Hehe. Well, I guess cause you guys have so much ice.
E: I know, there’s nothing else to do.
M: Skiing and hockey.
E: Uh.
M: Alright, so, it’s gonna be a really fun lesson, we’re gonna have a lot of great vocabulary, so… before we start in the dialogue let’s take a look at “vocabulary preview”.
Voice: Vocabulary preview.
E: We have three words for you now, um, the first one really simple, puck.
M: Puck.
E: Puck.
M: Puck.
E: P-U-C-K. Puck.
M: So, it’s almost like duck.
E: Aha.
M: But with the P.
E: Yes.
M: And this is actually kind of like the ball that you use in hockey.
E: But it’s not as ball.
M: But it’s not as ball.
E: It’s flat.
M: It’s flat.
E: And round.
M: And round.
E: Uh.
M: So. It looks like a disk.
E: Uhu.
M: Kind of like mini frisbie [Comment: you could also hear mini freeze bee, it’s funny but it makes no sense in this context] ;o)
E: Yes.
M: And this is what the players do, this is what they…
E: They chase this around.
M: They chase it, right.
E: Yeah.
M: So in basketball you have a ball, in soccer you have a ball, in hockey you have a puck.
E: Yep.
M: Okay, our next word…
E: Key game.
M: A key game.
E: A key game.
M: So, this word key…
E: Important.
M: Means important, right?
E: Really important.
M: Really important.
E: Yeah.
M: So I can say a key game is a really important game.
E: Exactly. You could also maybe say a key player.
M: Key player is a really important player.
E: Uhu, or even a key goal.
M: A key goal, okay. So, let’s take a look at our last word now, finals.
E: Finals.
M: Finals.
E: The finals.
M: So, the finals are the last games.
E: That’s right., um, and the winner of the finals wins the championship.
M: Okay. For example, in the World Cup in soccer…
E: Uhu.
M: There’s only one game played in the finals. So, after everyone gets eliminated there’s the one game where the winner is the champion.
E: Yes.
M: Okay. So, now we’re ready to listen to our dialogue and it’s gonna be a little bit faster than usual…
E: Uhu.
M: Because it’s a sport commentator, right?
E: And it’s exiting.
M: And it’s exiting.
E: Yeah.
M: And there’s a lot of action, so don’t worry about listen to it and then we’ll come back and talk about some of the vocabulary.
DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME
M: Alright, so the Canadians versus the Russians, ha?
E: It reminds me of a classic classic game.
M: Exactly, the classic match.
E: Yeah.
M: So let’s take a look at some of the vocabulary that we heard in the dialogue in “language takeaway”.
Voice: Language takeaway.
E: We have five phrases in language takeaway today, um, and the first one is face off.
M: Face off.
E: Face off.
M: Face off.
E: So, Marco, a face off here is a noun, right?
M: It’s a noun…
E: Uh.
M: Exactly. And it’s… so in the beginning of the match the two players will stand face to face.
E: Yes.
M: Right, that’s why it’s called kind of a face off.
E: Uhu.
M: And the referee will drop the puck.
E: Yes.
M: And they’ll try to get it.
E: Exactly, so that’s the face off.
M: That’s the face off.
E: Yeah.
M: Okay, let’s take a look at our next word, check.
E: Check.
M: To check.
E: To check. So an interesting verb here, hey?
M: It… yeah, it’s really interesting because it’s different from the way that you would say check of revise, right?
E: Yes, yep.
M: This is actually kind of a violent move.
E: Yeah. So what do you do?
M: So basically in hockey you take your body and you hit another person with it.
E: Okay, so, to check someone is to hit them with you body.
M: With your body, right.
E: Aha.
M: You can’t use your arms or your legs or your hands, you can only hit them like with your shoulder or your… or your hip.
E: Yeah.
M: Sort of hip check.
E: Okay.
M: So, yeah. It’s very cool.
E: Alright.
M: Our net word, goalie.
E: Goalie.
M: Goalie.
E: Goalie.
M: A goalie is a person.
E: Right.
M: And probably the bravest…
E: Yeah.
M: Of the hockey match.
E: No kidding.
M: So, why don’t you tell us what the goalie does?
E: Um, the goalie prevents the puck from coming in the net.
M: From going into the goal, right?
E: Yeah, so the goalie stops the other team from getting a goal.
M: A goal.
E: Yep.
M: Okay, so, the goalie prevents the goals.
E: Uhu.
M: Alright, very interesting. Now, our fourth word is related to goalie.
E: Yes.
M: Save.
E: Save.
M: Save.
E: A save.
M: A save, right?
E: Yeah, it’s a noun here.
M: It’s a noun here. So, the goalie makes saves.
E: That’s right. When he stops a goal he makes a save.
M: Makes a save, right.
E: Yeah, yeah.
M: Okay, we have some examples, so we can understand this form of using save.
E: Yes.
Voice: Example one.
A: That was an unbelievable save!
Voice: Example two.
B: The goalie didn’t make the save.
Voice: Example three.
C: What a save! The Russians win!
E: Yeah, a little bit unusual hear that save is a noun instead of a verb but I think those examples were helpful.
M: Uhu.
E: Uhu.
M: Now let’s take a look at our last word. Breakaway.
E: Breakaway.
M: Breakaway.
E: A breakaway.
M: Okay, so you have two words there that we know already. Break.
E: Yes.
M: Right. And away.
E: Yep.
M: So what do these two words together actually mean?
E: Well, imagine a group of hockey players all fighting to get the puck, right?
M: Uhu.
E: And then one player breaks off… breaks out…
M: Escapes.
E: Of the group, yeah, yeah-yeah. And he is… he skates down the ice and he has the puck.
M: Uhu.
E: And he’s far away from the other players.
M: Right, right, so he’s going away from the other players by himself.
E: Yeah.
M: Okay, so breakaway.
E: Uhu.
M: Alright. So, we’ve looked at a lot of hockey language here.
E: Yep.
M: And I think it’s time now to listen to our dialogue again. This time we’re gonna slow it down a little bit.
E: Yes. I think this will help you to understand these words a little bit better.
DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (Slow pace)
M: Okay, this dialogue is interesting because we have commentators narrating or describing what’s happening.
E: Yeah.
M: In that moment, right?
E: Yeah, and they’re using some interesting grammar, aren’t they?
M: Exactly, they are, because some actions are happening in that moment, but… we noticed something a little bit strange.
E: Alright, well, let’s look at it in “grammar breakdown”.
Voice: Grammar breakdown.
M: Okay, let’s listen to this sentence that we previously heard in the dialogue.
SENTENCE FROM THE DIALOGUE (2 times)
E: I noticed that he’s using the present simple, right?
M: Yeah.
E: Yeah, even though the action is now…
M: Uhu.
E: It’s in present simple.
M: Yes, even though the action is happening in that moment he’s not using the present progressive…
E: Yeah.
M: Or the present continuous [FYI: present progressive = present continuous]
E: Yep.
M: This is because, if you noticed, the actions are very very brief.
E: And fast.
M: And fast.
E: And exiting.
M: Exactly.
E: Uhu.
M: So you… don’t really have enough time to say, for, example, he is shooting… right?
E: Yes.
M: Because it’s only one quick action, he shoots the puck very fast.
E: Uhu.
M: Right. Or for example, you wouldn’t really say he is passing.
E: Yeah, he is passing the puck.
M: Right. It’s just one quick action, he takes it and he passes it and the action is finished.
E: Yes, I think we can see a few more examples of this. Let’s listen again.
SENTENCE FROM THE DIALOGUE (2 times)
E: Here we can hear that he’s using the present simple again, because these are very short actions that finished quickly, right?
M: Exactly.
E: And it… it’s actually very very common when you’re describing something you see…
M: Uhu.
E: That’s happening now…
M: Uhu.
E: That’s really exiting, it’s common to use present simple.
M: Exactly, if you pay attention, most sporting events are in the same way, right?
E: Yep, uhu.
M: Ah, they would describe the actions that are happening in the present simple.
E: Yep.
M: Not present progressive.
E: Yeah, but Marco, you have an example of, um… up some present progressive here, right?
M: Yes, let’s listen to this sentence.
SENTENCE FROM THE DIALOGUE (2 times)
M: Now, we heard this sentence he’s flying down the ice.
E: Uhu.
M: Right. Now this one in the progressive.
E: Yeah, why is that?
M: Well, first of all, when we say he’s flying down the ice is not that he’s literally flying, okay?
E: No, he’s not in the airplane.
M: He’s just skating really fast…
E: Yep.
M: Right. So we kind of exaggerate and we say oh, he’s flying down the ice, but he’s actually skating…
E: Uhu.
M: So, this is a progressive action…
E: So, it’s…
M: He is doing it.
E: It’s happening for more than one second.
M: Yeah.
E: Yeah.
M: Exactly. So that’s why we would say he’s flying down the ice instead of he flies down the ice.
E: Yes.
M: Right.
E: Yep.
M: Unless he was like really really really fast.
E: Yeah.
M: Okay.
E: Okay, so here we see that sometimes in English we do use present simple to talk about what’s happening now, right?
M: Uhu.
E: When it ha
E: When it happens really really quickly. M: Uhu. E: Or when we want to show that it’s really exiting. M: Exactly. E: Yep. M: Makes it much more exiting if we just use the present simple. E: Yeah. M: Okay, let’s listen to this exiting dialogue one more time and we’ll come back and talk a little bit more. DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME M: Alright, so hockey is the Canadian national sport. E: Well, actually it isn’t… M: It isn’t. E: The national sport, yeah. M: What is it? E: Lacrosse isn’t… M: Lacrosse! E: Yeah, but anyway, we’re not… we don’t have a lesson about lacrosse today. M: Not yet. E: No, um, but actually all Canadians love hockey. M: Uhu. E: Like we start playing hockey when we’re about two years old. M: Yeah, I’ve heard that…
