Welcome to English as a second language podcast, number twenty.
Hello and Welcome to today’s English as a second language podcast.
My name is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, senior researcher at the center for educational development here in Los Angeles, California.
If this is your first time listening, please go to our website at “www.eslpod.com” for more information on how to listen to this podcast and for the text of today’s first section.
As usual, we will have two parts of our podcast. First, a short discussion and then an explanation of vocabulary and expressions.
Today’s topic, Lucy will talk about buying a new computer.
Now let’s get started.
My computer has been acting up on me.
It’s a pretty old model and I need to replace it. So, I decided to call up my friend, Kevin to ask for his two cents.
Kevin is a computer whiz. He knows PC really well since he worked on them for years, but in his heart of hearts, he is a big Mac fan. So, I thought he would be a good person to ask.
I have always used the PC.
I do mostly word processing. So, I don’t need anything fancy, but I see people I know doing cool things with photos and videos. So, I like to take a crack at some new programs in the future.
Well, I call up Kevin to tell him What I needed.
He immediately Started throwing out specs. He said, “You need at least 2 gigahertz processor and 1 gig of memory and make sure it has a writable DVD drive.”
“Wow”I said, “All of that is way over my head. Let back up for a minute then.” He laughed and said he had gotten carried away.
“Ok”he said, “Let’s start at the beginning.
The processor determines how easily and how fast you can use the programs on your computer. Got that?”
I said that I did. Then, he continued, “How much RAM memory you have is very important too. Your computer would go faster, the more you have. So, I recommend getting at least one gigabyte of RAM memory.”
“I think I’m following you so far” I said.
“Great” he said, “Another thing you want is a drive that handles both DVDs and CDs.
Some drives can just read DVDs and some can record on the blank ones.
If you want to burn your own videos, you want a writable DVD drive. Remember though, that is just the computer itself.
Don’t forget that you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers.”
“Ok” I said, “I think I’ve got all that. Now, here is the burning question: mac or PC?”
He said, “Now, that’s a whole different thing. do you have a couple of hours?”

Now let’s talk about some of the vocabulary and expressions that Lucy used.
Lucy Started by saying that her computer was acting up.
To act up means to cause you problems, we can use this expression for a computer, we can also use it for your stomach.
My stomach is acting up. Meaning, it’s causing me problems. Or we can use it for children.
The children are acting up. They’re making noise. They’re causing problems. So, anything that starts to cause problems can be said “to be acting up.”
Lucy said she had an old model of computer.
The model of a computer is sort of like the type of a computer. For example, I have a Macintosh computer.
The model of my computer is a PowerBook G4. Or you could have a PC computer and the company is Dell and the model is an Inspiron.
Model is another word for type.
Lucy said she called up her friend, Kevin.
To call and to call up mean the same thing.
She asked Kevin for his two cents.
To give someone your two cents or your two cents worth means to give your opinion.
Sometimes, it just means in opinion. Sometimes, the expression is used to indicate some humility or some modesty about your opinion. For example, well, I don’t know for sure, but here’s my two cents worth and then you give your opinion.
Lucy’s friend, Kevin is a computer whiz.
to be a whiz at something means to be very good at it, to be an expert.
sometimes with computer’s, we use the term “geek.”.
A computer geek is someone who is an expert at computers; however, this is often a negative term. To use the term “geek”can be an insult because it also implies that you do not have very good social skills, you don’t relate well to other people, you have problems communicating with other people. So, be careful about using the word “geek.” It’s sometimes an insult.
Lucy said that, “Kevin in his heart of hearts is a big Mac fan.” The expression “heart of hearts” means deep down what you really truly believe or what you are really and truly like.
I live in California, but in my heart of hearts, I still feel I am from Minnesota. Meaning that there is where my most strongest feelings rather life?.
Lucy said She was going to use her computer to do some word processing.
Word processing is as you probably know, typing documents, letters.
Microsoft Word for example is a word processor.
She said that she wanted to take a crack at new programs.
To take a crack at something means to try something, usually something that maybe you’re having difficulty with or someone else is having difficulty with. For example, you could say here, “Let me take a crack at that television set that isn’t working.” And you are going to try, in other words, to fix it. So, to take a crack at something means to try something.
When Kevin started explaining to Lucy what she needed, he started throwing out specs.
To throw out something in this context means to give someone information.
He started throwing out information, usually means giving us information very fast, very quickly.
The phrase “to throw out” also means to put in the garbage, to get rid of.
Throw out and throw away are used for garbage and for junk or trash; but here, to throw out means to give to another person information very quickly.
Specs are specifications.
The specs of a computer are its processor speed, it’s RAM, its hard drive and how big the hard drive is. All of these are specifications and the word we use sometimes informally is “specs.”
Lucy was told by Kevin that she should get a writable DVD drive.
A writable drive for computers is a drive that you can make a disk on it: such as, a CD or in this case a DVD. Some DVDs are R O M or ROM. Meaning, you can only read a disk. You can’t make a disk. A writable disk is one way you can make a disk.
Lucy said that the information Kevin was giving her was way over her head.
She said, “It was over my head.” To be over your head means to be too difficult. Something you don’t understand is way over your head.
She asked Kevin to back up for a minute.
To back up physically, means to go backwards, to move backwards, but here, to back up means to go over it again, to go back to a certain point and start over again.
Kevin had gotten carried away.
To be carried away means you get so excited and so interested in something that you begin to talk too fast or start talking over someone’s head. That is when you get carried away.
Any time you get very excited, too excited that starts to cause problems is getting carried away.
After explaining something to Lucy, Kevin asked her, “Got that?” This is an informal way of saying, “Do you understand that?”
You can respond by saying, “Yes, I get it.” Meaning, I understand it.
Lucy said later that she thought she was following Kevin so far.
She said, “I’m following you.”To follow someone has two meanings:
Physically, it means go behind someone to walk or drive behind someone, but here, it means to understand.
“Do you follow me?” Means, do you understand me.
Lucy also used a couple of terms: blank  and burn.
A blank CD or a blank DVD is an empty DVD.
A CD or DVD or cassette can all be blank.
Sometimes, we use the expression “My mind is blank.” or “My mind went blank.” Meaning, I forgot something. It escaped. It’s empty. My mind is empty. That’s the expression.
To burn something, a DVD or CD, as many of you know, means to record something. It’s the same as to write something to a DVD or to write something to a Cd. Means, to record it, to burn it.
A burning question is a question that is very important, that is extremely interesting. It is not related to the term “burn” in the sense that is hot.
A burning question means that it’s a very important question.
Finally, Kevin told Lucy that choosing between a Mac or PC is a whole different thing. Meaning, it’s a completely different topic that would require much more explanation.
That’s going to do it for today’s English as a second language podcast.
Once again, we urge you to email us, Tell us who you are and where you are listening to us.
“eslpod@eslpod.com” is our email address.
My name is dr.Jeff McQuillan, from Los Angeles,California.
Thank you for listening. We’ll see you next time.
Esl podcast is produced by center for educational development in Los Angeles, California.
This podcast is copyright 2005.