B: Don’t worry, Shaq always screws up free throws.
A: You were right! He didn’t make the shot!
B: That was a great shot! A three pointer, yeah!
A: Did you see that? He traveled and the ref didn’t call it!
B: This ref needs glasses. Hey ref, open your eyes! I can’t believe he didn’t see that!
A: Okay... end of the first quarter... Alright, I’m gonna make a beer run.
M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.
E: And I’m Erica.
M: And today we have another great elementary lesson for you all.
E: That’s right. We’ve got a lesson for all you sports fans out there.
M: Right, we’re doing a podcast on sports today. Uh, we’re starting off with basketball.
E: Aha. So, we’ve got lots of language about basketball and sports in this lesson today.
M: Great, so, let’s take a look at our “vocabulary preview”.
Voice: Vocabulary preview.
E: Two words for you today. The first one is foul.
M: Foul.
E: Foul.
M: A foul.
E: Basically, it’s an action in a game that is not allowed.
M: Right, so, if you’re playing basketball and you kick the other player…
E: That’s a foul.
M: That’s a foul. That’s a pretty big foul.
E: Yeah, if you’re playing soccer and you pick up the ball…
M: That’s also a foul.
E: Aha.
M: Our second word is ref.
E: Ref, R-E-F.
M: Also known as a referee.
E: Uhu.
M: Right? So, a referee is…
E: Basically, like the judge of a game.
M: The judge of the game.
E: Yeah.
M: So, he is the one that will…
E: Say “that was a foul!”
M: That was a foul.
E: Yeah.
M: Exactly.
E: Yeah.
M: Ref. Also known as referee.
E: Okay, so, two great words; we’re gonna hear them in our dialogue and we’re going to be listening to two guys, who are watching a basketball game on TV.
DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME
M: Alright, a really common situation whenever you’re watching games with the friends, right?
E: You need to get a beer.
M: Hehe. We’ll talk about that in a little while. Um, let’s take a look at “language takeaway”.
Voice: Language takeaway.
M: Okay, let’s take a look at our first word on language takeaway - free throw.
E: Free throw.
M: Free throw.
E: Free throw. This one is a bit hard to say, isn’t it?
M: It’s a little bit hard to explain, but if you’re playing basketball…
E: Uhu.
M: And if someone fouls you, you get a free throw.
E: So, that’s when all the players line up around you and you can throw the ball.
M: To the basket without anyone blocking you or anything.
E: Right.
M: A little bit complicated, but I’m sure the basketball fans understand what a free throw is.
E: Alright, our next word is…
M: Make the shot.
E: Make the shot.
M: Make the shot.
E: Let’s listen to some examples and we’ll understand the meaning of make the shot.
Voice: Example one.
A: I can’t believe it. He made the shot from the other side of the court.
Voice: Example two.
B: There’s no way he’s going to make that shot. He’s way too far away from the net.
Voice: Example three.
C: If Gretzky makes the shot, they’re gonna with the Stanley Cup.
M: So, it’s clear now. To make the shot is to successfully…
E: Th…
M: Put the ball in the basket.
E: You can use this expression in other sports as well, right? M: Yeah, you could use it in hockey.
E: Uhu.
M: To make the shot. You could also use it in golf, when… in a lot of different sports they use the term to shoot.
E: Yes.
M: Shoot the ball.
E: So, uh, anytime you shoot the ball, you can make the shot.
M: Exactly.
E: Uhu.
M: Okay, our next word today – three pointer.
E: Three pointer.
M: Three pointer.
E: A three pointer.
M: It’s a shot in basketball when you get three points.
E: Yes.
M: Usually this shot is taken from further out.
E: Yeah, a farther distance.
M: Yeah. So it’s a little bit more difficult to make this shot.
E: Yeah. You know, sometimes people might say “a three point shot” or something like that.
M: Well, technically you’re allowed to take two steps in basketball.
E: Okay.
M: So, when you take more than two steps, then it’s…
E: Alright, alright, alright.
M: Traveling.
E: I understand.
M: Hehe. So, yeah, traveling means to take more than two steps with the ball.
E: Let’s listen to the dialogue a second time. This time it’ll be a bit slower, so that we can understand some of these great phrases we just talked about.
DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)
M: Alright, sports fans, so now let’s take a look at “fluency builder”.
Voice: Fluency builder.
M: Okay, today on fluency builder we have two really common words that you would listen to while you’re watching a game.
E: Yeah, these are sort of slangy words, hey?
M: Yeah, they’re kind of, uh, common…
E: Like informal.
M: Informal.
E: Uhu.
M: The first one that we have is screw up.
E: Screw up.
M: Screw up.
E: Screw up.
M: To screw up.
E: Yeah, so, this is a good way of saying…
M: To make a mistake.
E: Uhu.
M: Let’s listen to some examples of how this word is used.
Voice: Example one.
A: Jill, you really screwed up this time, you’re fired.
Voice: Example two.
B: This game is important. If you screw it up, we’re out of the finals.
Voice: Example three.
C: I’m sorry, I know I screwed up. Will you forgive me?
M: Okay, so, screw up is mess up.
E: Yeah, make a mistake.
M: Make a mistake.
E: Aha.
M: Great! And our last word on fluency builder today – a beer run.
E: A beer run.
M: Beer run.
E: So, what is this beer run?
M: You run to get beer. Hehe.
E: Hehe.
M: You go to the store and get beer.
E: Okay.
M: Get more beer.
E: So, it’s just an expression to… meaning to go and get more beer.
M: Yeah, usually you’re watching a game…
E: Uhu.
M: Or you’re at home with your friends, you run out of beer, so, somebody has to make… [NOTE: anohter one useful phrase – “to run low on something”]
E: Go get some beer.
M: Go get some beer.
E: Yeah.
M: Make a beer run.
E: Yeah.
DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME
M: Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed our lesson today. We’ll be bringing you more sports lessons in the future.
E: Yes.
M: So, if you have a particular sport that you wanna learn about, you can tell us.
E: Uhu.
M: And we’ll…
E: Come to our website englishpod.com.
M: Yeah, and, uh, leave us your comments or your suggestions or any doubts that you have.
E: Uhu. M: And we’re always there to answer it, so, we’ll see you there.