بررسی

Hello English learners, welcome back to another sports lesson with us here at English pod. My name is Marco

and I’m Erica

and today we’re gonna be talking about a very interesting and very difficult game to play and it’s golf

so we’ve got some golf vocabulary for you in this lesson. And I think we’d better actually look at a few vocabulary words in vocabulary preview before we start with the dialogue.

Vocabulary preview

On vocabulary preview today, we have three words and the first one is aficionado

aficionado

an aficionado

a golf aficionado

alright, so this basically is a very fancy word of– it’s a very fancy way of saying a fan.

Yes, someone who likes something a lot.

Okay, so you are an aficionado. I like golf.

You can also be a wine aficionado.

Okay, so it’s kind of like a hobby.

Yeah, you know a lot about it and you like it.

And now our second word is not anywhere in the dialogue.

No, but we’re gonna use it when we explain some of these words. So you need to know it.

Okay, the word is club

club

a golf club.

Okay, so a golf club is the tool you use to hit the golf ball.

Right, so it’s a long tube basically, that looks like a J, kind of

Yeah, so and you hit the ball with it.

So, that’s a golf club. And now our third word is golf course

golf course

a golf course

a course.

So this is the area where you play golf

Yeah, it’s like the golf field.

Exactly. So it’s a very big green area where you play golf. So those are the three words we have for vocabulary preview. So now we could listen to our dialogue for the first time as we listen to our sports announcers Rick Fields and Bob Copeland and see what happens on this occasion.

A: Good morning golf aficionados! My name is Rick Fields, and you guessed it, I am here with my main man, Bob Copeland.

B: Thank you, Rick! As you can see, ladies and gentleman, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are trying to win the grand prize of one million dollars!

A: Whoa, that’s a lot of cash! Let’s go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.

B: All right, we’re here at the eighth hole. It’s a par four, and has some very difficult hazards which many golfers find difficult to avoid. Although, I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole!

A: Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let’s see if he has the same luck as Jack. Tiger is asking his caddie for his driver and, he seems to be very nervous.

B: Oh no! Not a good swing at all! It’s definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole he got a bogey and before that he barely made par. He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.

A: It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep in the trees. He is having a hard time finding it and even his caddie has climbed a tree to try and spot it.

B: Oh no! A bear! Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call animal control!

So a pretty exciting ending to that dialogue there. A bear on the golf course. Yeah, I wonder if tiger’s okay.

I sure hope so because it would be a huge loss to the world of golf.

Right, so we did learn a lot about golf because they used some very specific and technical words for golf. So let’s look at these now in language take away

Language take away

All right, so the announcers were talking about the game and they’re talking about the course and they’re here on the eighth hole and they said that last time Jack Nicolaus hit a hole in one

hole in one

a hole in one

okay, a hole in one

so, this is when you hit the ball once and the ball goes in the hole.

Exactly. So it’s something very difficult to do

yes

right? A hole in one

all right, so we never made one.

Okay, so sometimes it’s also called an ace. So it can be a hole in one or called an ace

okay

now for our second word now once we get to the hole, to the ninth hole or the tenth hole, we have to tee off

to tee off

tee off

So when you tee off, you begin playing

Right, so it’s the very first instance where you put the little ball on the tee

and you hit the ball for the first time

exactly, so to tee off

now, another golf vocabulary, they were talking about a caddie

right, a caddie

a caddie

now, a caddie is a person

yes, it’s the person who carries your golf clubs

exactly, so he carries your bag, your golf clubs and basically helps you while you’re playing golf.

Yeah, he tells you which way you should hit the ball and maybe gives you a nice cold drink and looks after you.

very good. so that’s a caddie. And now the caddie, since he has to carry all the golf clubs, Tiger Woods asked him for his driver

a driver

driver

a driver

Now, a driver is a type of golf club

Right, it’s not a person.

No, no, it’s a type of golf club and it’s a very big and heavy golf club that is used to tee off.

So it’s used to hit the ball a very long way.

Yes, that is called the driver.

Okay, so and the next thing they we were talking about were some different types of scores that you could get on a hole. And the first one they mentioned was par

Okay, so you can make par

Okay, or the par of the course can be 4.

Okay, very good. So, basically the par is the maximum number of swings or strokes you can make before putting the ball into the hole.

Right, so it’s like—right, so when a hole is par 4, you should only hit the ball 4 times

4 times or less.

Yeah

Very good. Now, if you don’t make par, there are some options

you can make a bogey.

All right, a bogey

A bogey

Now, sometimes the golf course is very difficult. So instead of putting the ball in the hole, let’s say in 4 turns, you do it in 5.

Okay, so it’s one over par

one over par

that’s bad

yeah, that’s bad because you get a point. So it’s kind of strange because in golf, the more points you have,

the worse you are

the worse you are

yeah

so that is a bogey

now, they also talked about a birdie

birdie is the opposite. If you hit one underpar

so that’s good.

Yeah, that’s good because you have -1, one less than par

Alright, so this is actually a lot of weird, crazy, strange language, birdie, bogey, caddie, driver. Why don’t we listen to the dialogue one more time to help us understand.

A: Good morning golf aficionados! My name is Rick Fields, and you guessed it, I am here with my main man, Bob Copeland.

B: Thank you, Rick! As you can see, ladies and gentleman, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are trying to win the grand prize of one million dollars!

A: Whoa, that’s a lot of cash! Let’s go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.

B: All right, we’re here at the eighth hole. It’s a par four, and has some very difficult hazards which many golfers find difficult to avoid. Although, I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole!

A: Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let’s see if he has the same luck as Jack. Tiger is asking his caddie for his driver and, he seems to be very nervous.

B: Oh no! Not a good swing at all! It’s definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole he got a bogey and before that he barely made par. He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.

A: It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep in the trees. He is having a hard time finding it and even his caddie has climbed a tree to try and spot it.

B: Oh no! A bear! Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call animal control!

All right, great. So, I think it’s clear now what type of rules they have in golf and how it works. So why don’t we take a look now at some of the phrases that we heard in the dialogue in fluency builder.

Fluency builder

Okay, one of the phrases I want to talk about is something that Bob Copeland said. He said, as you can see, ladies and gentlemen, we’re here at beautiful Pebble Beach.

Okay, as you can see

as you can see

so, this usually goes in the beginning of a sentence.

Yeah, it’s a way to say, I know you can see this. I’m telling you something you know.

Okay, so maybe I’m showing you my house and I can say, as you can see our living room is very spacious.

Yes. So this is actually a really helpful phrase that can help you sound really native like, so why don’t we hear some examples of how it’s used.

Example 1

As you can see, we recently remodeled our entire kitchen

Example 2

As you can see here, the damage to the building is very serious.

Example 3

As you can see, the hairstylist made a mistake when cutting my hair.

All right, great. So, as you can see. Now, for our second phrase, well Tiger Woods wasn’t doing very well and the announcer said, it’s not his day.

It’s not his day

It’s not his day, today

All right, so when it’s not your day, you’re having a bad time or a bad day.

right. Maybe you’re having difficulties or you’re having bad luck that day.

Yeah. So, for example, today I had a headache and I ripped my pants and I spilled coffee on myself. So it really wasn’t my day.

Okay, it’s not your day today.

No.

great phrase and also very common and makes you sound very native.

That’s right. Now the last phrase, similar to it’s not your day, we also heard that Tiger was having a hard time

Okay, to have a hard time

to have a hard time

now, if you have a hard time with something

you have difficulty with it.

Okay, now it’s not only related to golf, right?

of course, you can talk about anything like this. So, I’m having a hard time understanding what this word means.

Okay, or when I was in school, I had a hard time with math.

All right, me too.

so to have a hard time means that you have difficulties with something. So, great phrases great words. Let’s listen to this dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more about golf.

A: Good morning golf aficionados! My name is Rick Fields, and you guessed it, I am here with my main man, Bob Copeland.

B: Thank you, Rick! As you can see, ladies and gentleman, we are here in beautiful Pebble Beach where the top golfers in the world are trying to win the grand prize of one million dollars!

A: Whoa, that’s a lot of cash! Let’s go to the course and see how Tiger Woods is doing.

B: All right, we’re here at the eighth hole. It’s a par four, and has some very difficult hazards which many golfers find difficult to avoid. Although, I did see Jack Nicklaus hit a hole in one on this very same hole!

A: Tiger Woods is about to tee off, and let’s see if he has the same luck as Jack. Tiger is asking his caddie for his driver and, he seems to be very nervous.

B: Oh no! Not a good swing at all! It’s definitely not his day today. On the seventh hole he got a bogey and before that he barely made par. He will definitely not get a birdie on this shot.

A: It seems that his ball has flown somewhere deep in the trees. He is having a hard time finding it and even his caddie has climbed a tree to try and spot it.

B: Oh no! A bear! Run, Tiger, run! Somebody call animal control!

All right, so Marco, I know that in the Western business world golf is actually super important for your career, isn’t it?

Well, many times, you know what you see in movies or the stereotype is that business is done on a golf course.

yeah

and, yeah it is true many times you know, people will invite you out to a golf course and you’ll be playing a game and talking business and relaxing at the same time.

So, maybe you negotiate a deal out on the golf course.

exactly. And of course if you lose, it’s a good thing because then the deal will pull through.

Okay. Well, actually I know that is so important for people who are wanting to do well in business and many people who don’t speak English as their first language, take golf English lessons.

Right. so not only golf lessons, like how to play golf but also in English

like how to talk about golf, how to talk to other people and make deals while you’re on the golf course

yeah, because like in many other sports golf has also its slangs and its terms and stuff. So, yeah, it’s very interesting and it’s one of those cultural things.

That’s right. So if you have any questions or comments about today’s lesson why don’t you visit our website at Englishpod.com.

Right, we’re always there to answer any questions or doubts you might have. And until next time we’ll see there.

Goodbye.