M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

E: And I’m Erica.

M: And today we’re bringing you another great lesson about sports, part of our sports series.

E: That’s right and in this lesson we are talking about maybe the world’s most favorite sport.

M: Right, one of the most popular sports in the world, soccer.

E: Uhu.

M: Or also known as football in other countries.

E: Yes.

M: Okay, so, before we get started with this great lesson, let’s take a look at some of the words we’ll find in the dialogue in “vocabulary preview”.

Voice: Vocabulary preview.

E: We’re going to look at three words here. The first word is wingman.

M: Wingman.

E: A wingman.

M: Now, wingman isn’t really related to soccer in any way.

E: Okay.

M: But it’s a way of referring to somebody as your “right hand”.

E: So, your helper.

M: Your helper, your… your number one guy.

E: Okay.

M: Right?

E: So, a wingman is someone, who helps you a lot.

M: Aha, exactly.

E: Okay, our next word, tied.

M: Tied.

E: They’re tied.

M: They are tied. Now, this is an interesting word, because tie can be a noun, verb, and an adjective, right?

E: Exactly, so, in this case “they are tied” it’s an adjective meaning…

M: They have the same score.

E: Okay.

M: Uhu.

E: And a tie is…

M: Is a game that has ended with no winner or loser. Both of them had the same score.

E: Exactly, and so obviously the verb “to tie” is to reach the same score as your other team.

M: Exactly.

E: Alright, well, our third word can also be used as a noun and a verb and it is foul.

M: Fouled.

E: Fouled.

M: Okay, so, to foul somebody…

E: Is to do something to them that is not allowed in this sport.

M: Okay, and… so, when you do this, you have committed a foul.

E: Exactly.

M: Okay, so, you use it in the same way, to foul or a foul.

E: Uhu.

M: Interesting.

E: Well, we’re going to hear these three words in context now. So, why don’t we listen to our soccer dialogue?

DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME

M: Okay, so, Ecuador tied with Brazil in the Two Thousand Twenty Two World Cup.

E: Wow, Marco, I’m really happy to see that you are, ah… able to see so far in to the future.

M: Hehe. Well, I called it, so…

E: Yeah.

M: In 2022 if we do win the World Cup, you know who said it first.

E: Alright, do you have money on that?

M: Ah, yes.

E: Hehe.

M: Hehe. Alright, so, apart from this we saw some really great vocabulary in this lesson, so let’s take a look at it now in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

E: Alright, we’ve got a lot of soccer words for you, but they’re all important. So, let’s take a look at the first one, kick off.

M: Kick off.

E: Kick off.

M: So, a kick off.

E: This is how you start a soccer game, right?

M: Right, so it’s the very beginning, the referee blows the whistle and you kick the ball to another player. That’s the kick off.

E: Okay, so, our next phrase, out of bounds.

M: Out of bounds.

E: Out of bounds.

M: Okay, out of bounds, this is a great word.

E: Uhu. So, in soccer, when the ball goes out of bounds, it goes outside the white lines, right?

M: Right, outside of the playing field.

E: Okay.

M: And you can use it in all other sports, you can use it in basketball, you can use it in, ah, tennis.

E: Or football or anything.

M: Right, so…

E: Uhu.

M: Any part that is not for playing.

E: Out of bounds.

M: What’s our next word?

E: Throw in.

M: A throw in.

E: A throw in.

M: Okay, so a throw in. The ball goes out of bounce…

E: Aha.

M: How do you put it back in to play?

E: Obviously, a throw in.

M: Okay, so, you throw in the ball. That’s the only time where a soccer player will actually grab the ball with his hands.

E: Alright, now, another soccer term we have here, offside.

M: Offside.

E: Offside.

M: Okay, so, this is a little bit difficult to explain, but just imagine, you’re on the soccer field…

E: Aha.

M: And you’re trying to score a goal…

E: Okay.

M: Now, you have some defenders, right?

E: Right.

M: Those are the people who are trying to take the ball away. And you pass the ball to somebody who is behind the defenders.

E: Oh, and that person is offside.

M: Exactly, so, you must be at all times in the same position as the defenders of in front of them, but you can’t be all the way in the back.

E: Okay, so, is this a noun or a verb or an adjective?

M: So, this is an adjective, he is offside. That’s his condition.

E: Okay, great.

M: Uhu.

E: Excellent explanation, Marco, thank you.

M: Alright.

E: Now, we’re going to look at three different phrases for three types of kicks in soccer.

M: Okay, so, let’s take a look at this. The first on is goal kick.

E: A goal kick.

M: Okay, goal kick.

E: So, who does the goal kick?

M: It’s usually the goalie or the goalkeeper.

E: Alright.

M: Who… who takes the goal kick.

E: Okay, so when the goalie kicks the ball.

M: Uhu.

E: Now, what about a corner kick?

M: Okay, so, if the team is attacking. And the ball goes out of bounds…

E: Uhu.

M: In the back area near the goal, then they get a corner kick. They gotta kick the ball from the corner of the field.

E: This is a great chance to score a goal, isn’t it?

M: Exactly, yes.

E: Okay, and our final kick, a penalty kick.

M: Penalty kick.

E: Penalty kick.

M: So, if a player gets fouled, while he is in the area near the goal.

E: Okay.

M: He gets a penalty kick, so basically it’s just him… I think it’s thirteen or fifteen steps away from the goalie.

E: Uhu.

M: And he gets the opportunity to score or to kick the ball.

E: So, there’re no defenders or other players on the way.

M: Nobody, uhu.

E: Wow, another great chance to score a goal.

M: Right.

E: Alright, well, these are all great soccer words. I think we should hear them again in context, so let’s listen this time a little bit slower.

DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow pace)

M: Alright, so, we heard these words that we were talking about in context and now some really interesting phrases came up and this would be a good time to take a look at them in “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

E: Well, Marco, there’re three great phrases in this dialogue that I wanna look at. Um, the first one “on the brink of”.

M: We are on the brink of.

E: We’re on the brink of soccer history.

M: Okay, so, “on the brink of”. What is… what exactly does that mean?

E: Why don’t we hear some examples to help us understand the meaning?

Voice: Example one.

A: Look, we don’t have any money. We’re on the brink of going bankrupt.

Voice: Example two.

B: The two countries are on the brink of war.

Voice: Example three.

C: We’re on the brink of an important discovery.

M: Alright, so, great examples “on the brink of”, at a critical point.

E: Exactly, it means you’re almost there, right?

M: Okay, yeah, very good. And what about this next phrase that I saw and it was really interesting. No question about it.

E: No question about it.

M: No question about it.

E: No question about it.

M: Alright, so, this is a statement, that doesn’t really make much sense. Well, what am I saying, when I say “oh, no question about it”?

E: You’re saying “I agree”, “there is no doubt”, “you’re right”

M: You’re right.

E: Uhu.

M: Okay.

E: Well, let’s give some examples. I could say “there’s no question about it, Ecuador is a great soccer team”.

M: Ah, there is no question about that.

E: Hehe. Yeah.

M: Alright, so, or you can say “no question about it, our company makes the best products on the market”.

E: Okay, so, really useful phrase, that you can use in sports or anywhere else.

M: Okay. And now let’s take a look at our last phrase for fluency builder and it’s a really good one to exaggerate a little bit.

E: Okay.

M: By a mile.

E: By a mile.

M: By a mile.

E: So, he was offside by a mile.

M: Right, so, the commentator is saying that he was very offside.

E: That it was really obvious.

M: Right.

E: Uhu.

M: So, you can use that also in different context, maybe not in sports.

E: Okay, so, maybe we can say “our company is ahead of all the others by a mile”.

M: Right, or if you tell somebody to guess your age and they say “oh, I think you are forty two”.

E: Oh, you could say “you’re off by a mile”.

M: Right, why?

E: So you’re really really wrong.

M: Right, exactly.

E: Yeah.

M: So, it’s a way of exaggerating a little bit.

E: Yes, and saying it’s really obvious.

M: Right.

E: Uhu. Well, three awesome phrases and I think it will help us to hear them one more time. So, let’s listen to the dialogue.

DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME

M: Okay, well, as you all may know, soccer is a very popular sport especially in Latin America.

E: That’s right. And your favorite team, Ecuador.

M: Hehe.

E: Are they… Are they really this good in soccer, they’re really gonna win the Twenty Twenty-two Cup?

M: Well, maybe not.

E: Hehe.

M: Well, actually Ecuador has… has improved with time, but usually it’s the strong teams like Argentina and Brazil, who, ah, dominate the region, right?

E: Right.

M: Um, but yeah, hopefully we’ll make it next time.

E: Okay, well, I have my money on Ecuador and…

M: Hehe. For 2022.

E: But, yeah, not on Canada. There’s no hope for us.

M: Well, Canada is doing really well now. They, actually…

E: Really?

M: Ah, beat Mexico, if I’m not mistaken.

E: Oh, actually, that’s sort of… yeah, I kind of remember that now.

M: Hehe.

E: But, there’s… I think there’s no hope for us to beat Brazil or Argentina, one of these big countries.

M: We have the next World Cup coming up, so it’s really exciting and I don’t know who’s gonna win.

E: Alright, well, um, listeners! Who do you think is going to win? Who is the best soccer team out there?

M: Hehe. Right, there’re really good soccer teams. Although, some of the… some countries aren’t really known for their soccer like Russia. You don’t really hear too much soccer from Russia.

E: Really?

M: Or from China is for that.

E: I wonder how popular it is in these countries.

M: Hum, so let us know, come to our website englishpod.com, tell us how popular soccer is in your country or what team you are a fan of. I know many people like the European Cups and they’re fans of, ah… ah, Barcelona or the Italian teams.

E: Well, come to the website. Marco and I are always around to answer your questions and until next time… Good bye!

M: Bye!