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English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 91
TOPICS
Ask an American: Interpreters
Pronouncing years and punctuation marks, school leavers and dropouts
_____________
GLOSSARY
interpreter – a person who translates from one language to another as the
words are spoken
* Interpreters must know both languages very well to do their work because you
have to translate what people are saying while they’re saying it, with no time to
look up words in a dictionary.
to bring in – to hire; to arrange for someone to work somewhere for a period of
time
* The company brought in some extra receptionists to answer the extra phone
calls last week.
parent-teacher conference – a meeting between a teacher and a student’s
parents, to talk about the student’s performance or behavior at school
* During the parent-teacher conference, the teacher said that Siobhan was doing
very well in math, but wasn’t doing as well in science.
work habits – how a person studies or works; how well a person studies or
works
* The teacher told his students to improve their work habits by studying for at
least two hours every night without listening to music or talking on the phone.
to follow directions – to do what another person tells one to do; to do what one
is supposed to do
* Please follow the directions at the top of the page when you complete this form.
needs – things that one needs; things that one must have
* The manager said that his office’s needs include more desks, chairs, and
copiers.
progress – advancement; becoming better at something and moving ahead
toward the end goal
* Moshe has shown a lot of progress in his English class this year.
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 91
to border on – to be very close to doing something; to be very close to a certain
way of being, acting, or feeling
* Mali was so happy that she was bordering on tears.
disservice – something that doesn’t help; something that hurts another thing or
person; something that makes another thing or person worse
* The city government does a disservice to its citizens when it doesn’t repair its
roads or bridges.
support – help; assistance
* Community members showed their support for their neighborhood by raising
more than $4,000 to fix up the park.
academics – related to education and school; subjects that are studied at school
* The university’s best basketball player is very good at sports, but she needs
help with her academics.
the last thing on (one’s) mind – something that one isn’t thinking about
* Getting married is the last thing on Jacquie’s mind. She is focused on working
and her career.
filler – short sounds or words that are used when one doesn’t know what to say,
or when one is searching for the correct word.
* My advice is, when you’re giving a speech, don’t use filler words, like “uh,”
“um,” “er,” and “you know.”
punctuation mark – a non-letter symbol that is used in writing, such as “,?.!-
()&$/’:;, used to separate ideas and sentences, or to tell readers where to pause
* Punctuation marks like exclamation points (!) can make your writing more
exciting!
school leaver (British English) /dropout (American English) – a student who
decides to stop going to school and does not graduate
* There aren’t very many good jobs for high school dropouts because most
companies want to hire people with more education.
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 91
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Punctuation Changes Everything
When writing in English, it is extremely important to use punctuation marks
correctly. Sometimes just a small change in punctuation can change the entire
meaning of the sentence!
For example, “consider” (look at) these two phrases that use the same words in
the same order, but have different punctuation that changes the meaning.
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
The first phrase means that a woman is nothing if she doesn’t have a man in her
life. The second phrase means that a man is nothing if he doesn’t have a woman
in his life. Even though they use the same words in the same order, they have
“entirely” (completely) different meanings.
Here’s another example of how punctuation can change the meaning of a
phrase.
The man dropped the bullet in his mouth.
The man dropped, the bullet in his mouth.
A “bullet” is the piece of metal that comes out of a gun. The first phrase means
that the man put the bullet into his mouth, and we can “assume” (believe) that the
man is still alive. The second phrase means that the man “dropped,” or “fell to
the floor,” meaning that he is lying on the floor with a bullet in his mouth, so we
can assume that the man died when a bullet was shot from a gun into his mouth.
As in our first example, these two phrases use the same words in the same
order, but one comma entirely changes the meaning.
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 91
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You're listening to ESL Podcast's English Café number 91.
This is ESL Podcast's English Café episode 91. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff
McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
On this Café, we're going to talk about interpreters for parents in the United
States at our schools. This is another of our Ask an American episodes, where
you get a chance to hear other voices speaking English at a native rate – at a
normal speed – and then we'll go back and explain it. And as always, we'll
answer a few of your questions. Let's get started!
We're going to listen to some other speakers of English today and give you a
chance to hear some different voices. Sometimes it is helpful to be able to see
the words that people are saying, especially for an episode like this one. To do
that, you can download a Learning Guide on our website at eslpod.com.
Our topic today is “interpreters.” “To interpret” has a couple of meanings in
English. One meaning is to translate for someone who is talking, or speaking.
So, you say something in one language, I then “translate it” – put it into the words
of another language. A person who interprets is called an “interpreter”
(interpreter). There was a movie recently, called The Interpreter , about a woman
who worked at the United Nations. I think Nicole Kidman, the Australian actress,
was the star of that movie.
Interpreters work in many different places. In the United States, as you know,
there are many, many immigrants that speak different languages. Many times,
immigrants who come here send their children to schools. The parents do not
always have a very high level of English in order to communicate with their
children's teachers. Many schools have interpreters to help the parents
communicate with the teachers. Most of the parents do learn English, but many
times it takes them a long time to learn enough to be able to communicate all
they want to with the teachers, so the schools provide interpreters. In fact, there
is a national, or federal, government organization, we would say an “agency,”
that says that schools have to provide interpreters where possible. Many
schools, of course, have maybe a dozen or more languages spoken at the
school, so this is not always possible. But when there is a large group of
parents, who speak a language other than English, a school will often bring in an
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 91
interpreter. When we say “bring in,” we mean they will get an interpreter to come
to the school.
American schools have something called “parent-teacher conferences.” “Parent-
teacher conferences” are meetings between the parent and the teacher to talk
about how their child – how their student – is doing. Usually we do this twice a
year, it depends on the school. When I was a teacher – a high school teacher –
we would have parent-teacher conferences four times a year, so the parents
could come in and talk to the teacher about their child, and the teacher could tell
the parent how the child was doing.
We're going to listen now to some parents and teachers talking about this
problem of bringing in interpreters. First, we'll listen to a teacher who is talking to
a parent about how their child is doing in her classroom. The student's name is
German; he's a Russian student, or a student originally from Russia. His mother
speaks Russian. Notice what the teacher says about the student, what he
seems to be doing well. We'll listen first, and then we'll go back and explain it:
[recording] Female teacher: Well, let's get started on German. He is doing a
good job at his work habits. In fact, he is very good at listening and following
direction.
The teacher here is talking to the parent, telling the parent that her son has been
doing a good job at work habits. “Work habits” (habits) would be getting their
schoolwork done, finishing the things that the teacher gave them to do. The
teacher also says that the student is very good at listening and following
directions. “To follow directions” means to do what the teacher tells you to do, to
listen to the teacher and do what he or she says. Let's listen again:
[recording] Female teacher: Well, let's get started on German. He is doing a
good job at his work habits. In fact, he is very good at listening and following
direction.
This next quote comes from one of the teachers that works at the school, talking
out why interpreters are so important for the parent-teacher conferences:
[recording] Male teacher: Parents know their children best; they want what's best
for their children. If we don't allow them to speak in a language that they're most
comfortable with to talk about the needs of their child, or the progress of their
child, then we're bordering on doing a disservice to parents if we have the option
to provide the first language support.
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