EC092_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 92

TOPICS

Fourth of July, Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, Schoolhouse Rock, will versus

shall, to come off

_____________

GLOSSARY

preamble – a written introduction to a document or book; the written introduction

to the U.S. Constitution

* The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution describes the most important principles

in American government.

founder – a person who starts an organization, business, school, or government

* Who was the founder of Greenpeace?

to be in effect – to be valid; to be in use; to be the current rule or law that must

be followed

* The new passport rules will be in effect beginning October 15.

to be on display – to be shown to the public; to be available for people to look at

* Some of Claude Monet’s paintings are on display at the Metropolitan Museum

of Art in New York City.

to set (words) to music – to take words that have already been written and

write music so that those words can be sung

* Tracy Chapman is a folk singer who sets her own poetry to music.

union – a group of states or countries that work together and share a central

government

* Do you think that South American countries will ever establish a union like the

European Union?

justice – fairness; the fair and reasonable treatment of people through a legal or

community system

* A country needs to have a strong justice system to punish its criminals and

protect its citizens.

domestic – within one country; not international

* Americans’ domestic concerns include education, health care, and

unemployment.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 92

tranquility – an environment or atmosphere of peace, quiet, and calmness

* Wayne lives in a big city, but on his vacations he searches for tranquility by

going to places in nature.

welfare – the safety, happiness, and health of a person or group

* Many people believe that as a country’s economy improves, the welfare of its

citizens should improve, too.

liberty – freedom; not being overly controlled by the government or other people

* Do you think that citizens of this country have more liberty than other people

do?

posterity – future generations; the people who will live in the future

* Dan keeps old photos and documents of his famous mother for posterity.

to establish – to begin something; to start a business, organization, school, or

government

* Willamette University was established in 1842.

will – a word used to talk about future actions by putting verbs into the future

tense

* When will Jeremiah finish his medical degree?

shall – an uncommon, formal, old-fashioned word used to talk about future

actions by putting verbs into the future tense

* When shall we meet again?

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 92

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Schoolhouse Rock Videos and Songs

The Schoolhouse Rock “series” (group of related things) has almost 50

educational videos and songs. The Schoolhouse Rock videos and songs are

mostly about language, science, money, mathematics, and America (history and

government). The videos were “broadcast” (shown) on TV between 1973 and

1986. Many people who were children at that time remember the videos and

songs “fondly” (very positively).

One of the most popular videos was “Conjunction Junction,” which taught

children about “conjunctions.” “Conjunctions” are words like “and,” “but,” and “or”

that join two parts of a sentence together. Each part of the sentence was drawn

on one train car and the conjunction word was the “junction” (connecting piece)

for the train.

One of the most popular videos about American government was “I’m Just a Bill,”

which taught children about how laws are made in the U.S. government. A “bill”

is the original idea that a congressperson formally “proposes” (suggests). Then

there is a lot of discussion and voting and, eventually, the bill can become a law.

In the sciences, “The Body Machine” was a video that taught children to think

about their bodies as machines that need good food to make energy to live.

Another science video, “Interplanet Janet,” taught children about astronomy, the

planets, and the solar system.

These songs are a lot of fun to listen to. You can find the “lyrics” (the words to a

song) for all the Schoolhouse Rock songs at www.schoolhouserock.tv.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 92

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to ESL Podcast's English Café number 92.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast's English Café episode 92. I'm

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Be sure to visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for

this episode. While you’re there, you can also take a look at our ESL Podcast

Store, which has some additional courses that you may be interested in.

In this Café, we are going to talk about the Fourth of July. Since this episode is

originally being released on the Fourth of July, we'll talk about the Preamble to

our Constitution in the United States, what that is. We're going to talk a little bit

about something that most Americans of my generation know about, something

called “Schoolhouse Rock,” and why that's related to the Fourth of July. And as

always, we'll answer a few of your questions. Let's get started!

The Fourth of July, you may know, is Independence Day in the United States.

It's a national holiday; most people do not have to work today, and all of the

government offices are closed. The Fourth of July is a celebration of our

independence from the country of England. For more information on the Fourth

of July, listen to last year's program about the Fourth of July: Café number 39,

which you can find on our website.

This year, I'd like to talk about the U.S. Constitution. Now, the U.S. Constitution

was not written until many years after the Declaration of Independence. The

Declaration of Independence was the document that the original colonists who

“broke away” from, or separated from, England had written “to declare,” or to

announce, their separation.

The Constitution was written several years later, and the beginning of the

Constitution contains something called the “Preamble.” The “preamble”

(preamble) is like an “introduction,” it is something that goes before the main

document. You may recognize “pre” (pre) to mean something that goes before,

and the “Preamble” is the beginning, it goes before the rest of the U.S.

Constitution.

The Preamble is a single sentence – long sentence – which tries to describe why

the original founders of the United States – the people who started the United

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 92

States – were writing this Constitution. A “founder” (founder) is someone who

begins an organization or begins a new country. So, the founders of the United

States wrote this “Constitution,” this document that described the government

and how it would be organized.

The U.S. Constitution is considered the “highest,” or most important, law in the

United States. It was “adopted,” or became official, back in 1787 in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was our first capital city in the United States. It is

one of the oldest written Constitutions that is still in effect in the world. When we

say something is “in effect” (effect), we mean that it is still “followed,” it is still

being used as the official law.

You can actually see a copy of the U.S. Constitution if you go to Washington

D.C. – the original paper – the original Constitution. It is on display in the

National Archives. When we say it is “on display” (display), we mean you can go

and see it; it's, like, in a museum. The National Archives is the building in

Washington D.C., our “present,” or current, capital, where you can find many

important historic documents.

The Preamble to the Constitution is one long sentence, and it contains some

difficult information – some difficult vocabulary. Most Americans, especially of

my generation, know the Preamble. Not necessarily because we memorized it in

school, but we watched television. And on the television, on Saturday morning,

when most kids watch TV – they watch the cartoons, the animated cartoons on

Saturday morning – during the Saturday morning cartoons, back when I was a

child in the 1960s and 70s, one of the television stations, the American

Broadcasting Company, “ABC” we call it, had a special series to teach children

things about American history, and math, and social studies – geography, that

sort of thing.

These were short two or three minute videos that they would play in between the

cartoons, with the commercials. These became very well known, and very well

loved by many people of my age, and one of these short videos was about the

Preamble to the Constitution.

All of these videos had music, so they were like songs. And so, many of us

“memorized,” can remember, the Preamble to the Constitution because we

learned it as a song. Kind of a strange way of teaching, but it is something that,

as I said, many Americans of my age can remember very well.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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