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Ways to Pay

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast Number 185, “Ways to Pay.”

You’re listening to English as a Second Language Podcast Episode 185. I am your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California. Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com for the Learning Guide that goes with this podcast. It includes the complete transcript, all of the vocabulary, additional definitions and uses, and cultural notes.

Today’s podcast is about the ways, or manner, that you can pay for something at a store. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

I was at the store, and when the clerk finished ringing me up, I had a few problems.

Clerk: Your total comes to $79.42.

Peter: Do you take credit cards?

Clerk: Yes, we take Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Peter: Here’s my Visa.

Clerk: Hmm…I’m sorry but your card has been declined.

Peter: Oh, I can’t imagine why. I’m sure it’s just a mistake. Here, use my MasterCard.

Clerk: Well, sir, it looks like this one is overdrawn, too. Do you have a debit card or cash? We also accept personal checks.

Peter: Like I said, I think it must be bank error. Yeah, I have a debit card, but I think there’s a fee for using it, right?

Clerk: Yes, I think the bank charges you a small fee.

Peter: In that case, I’ll write a check. Oh no, I forgot my checkbook at home. Can you hold these items for me? I can run to an ATM to get some cash. I’ll come right back.

Clerk: Sure. I can hold it for you until the end of the day.

Peter: Okay, great. I’ll be right back.

[end of story]

In this podcast, we are talking about ways to pay for something at a store. The story begins by Peter saying that he was at the store. You can say that you are at the store, or at the bank, or at school. Sometimes we use the definite article the, sometimes we don’t: “I am at the hospital,” “I am at the beach.” Usually we do, some words like school we don’t. Here, we are at the store. In other words, we’re in the store, and the clerk has finished ringing me up. “To ring up,” or “to ring someone up,” means that you take something you want to buy to the person who works at the store, the clerk, and he or she gives you the total amount of what you are going to purchase with the tax and all of the things you want to buy. So to ring someone up means to take their money for something they want to buy.

Well, I had a few problems, or I should say, Peter had a few problems. The clerk says to Peter: “Your total comes to $79.42.” “Your total comes to” is the expression that a clerk will use when telling you how much money you have to give him or her for what you want to buy. You could also say: “It comes to,” and the price or you might also hear, “That will be 79.42” - any of those expressions, “your total comes to,” “that will be,” or simply, “it comes to” can be used to tell you how much money you have to give them. Notice also that the clerk does not say 79 dollars and 42 cents. They say simply, 79.42, meaning 79 dollars, 42 cents.

Peter says: “Do you take credit cards?” “Credit cards” are something you can use to pay for something and the company, the big credit card companies, will pay for you and then you have to pay the companies. You probably are familiar with this. Well, the clerk says: “we take Visa, MasterCard, and American Express,” Visa and MasterCard are the two most popular cards in the United States for credit cards. American Express is less popular, but is still something that many people use. Many stores have their own credit cards, so you could go to, for example, Robinson May, which is a department store, and they sell many different types of things, they have their own credit card that you can get from them.

Well, Peter decides to use his Visa, his Visa credit card. The clerk then tries to process the credit card. “To process” means they take the card, and they put it through a machine that reads the card. The verb we usually use there is, “to swipe.” To swipe a credit card means to take the card and put it into a machine that reads the information. Well, unfortunately for Peter, the clerk tells him that his card has been declined. When we say you credit card “has been declined,” that means the credit card company says to the store, this person doesn’t have money or there is a problem with their credit card account. And the company will not allow you to use the credit card. And this is what happens to Peter. Maybe he didn’t pay his bill, maybe he’s used too much money for one month. Most credit cards have a limit to how much money you can spend in a month or in a certain amount of time.

Peter says: “Oh, I can’t imagine why.” I can’t imagine why my credit card has been declined; that’s what Peter means. I can’t imagine why, I don’t know why, I am surprised. You would use this expression when you are very surprised about something, you are telling the person that you have no idea, why this has happened. Peter says, “I am sure its just a mistake. Here, use my MasterCard.” He gives the clerk his MasterCard and, what happens? Well, it turns out that that card, the MasterCard, is declined as well. The clerk says, “It looks like this one is overdrawn too.” “To be overdrawn” means that you have spent too much money. You have gone beyond, or above your limit. “To overdraw,” as a verb, means to take more money or to try to spend more money than you actually have. In this case, to try to spend above your credit card limit.

So the clerk says, “Do you have a debit card or cash? We also accept personal checks.” Other ways to pay are with a “debit card.” A “debit card” is a card that takes money directly from your bank account. It doesn’t got to a credit card company. It goes directly to you bank and they electronically take the money. Cash, well, everybody knows what cash is. The store also accepts personal checks. “Personal checks” is a check with your name on it, from your bank account. Peter says, “Like I said, I think it must be bank error.” A “bank error” is when the bank makes a mistake. So Peter is saying, “Oh, the bank has made a mistake.” He says, “I have a debit card, but I think there’s a fee for using it, right?” Peter is asking the clerk if his bank will charge him money, that is, if he will have to pay extra money to use his debit card. Most banks in the United States, you have to pay extra money each time you use a debit card that takes money out of your bank directly. A “fee” is money that you have to pay for something. The clerk says, “Yes, I think the bank charges you a small fee.” The verb “to charge” means that they make you pay something.

Peter says, “In that case, I’ll write a check.” But of course, this is Peter’s very unlucky day, and he says, “Oh no, I forgot my checkbook at home.” “Checkbook,” all one word, is the little book that has your checks in it, your personal checks. Peter says, “Can you hold these items for me?” “To hold (something)” at a store means that the store take what you want to buy and puts it in a place where no one else can buy it, and they keep it there for you until you come back to pick it up. Most stores will hold things for you for a short amount of time.

Peter says, “I can run to an ATM to get some cash.” An “ATM” is an Automatic Teller Machine, this is a machine where you can get money from your bank account by putting in your ATM card, a special card the bank gives you to get money out of the machine. Most people just call it an ATM but it stands for Automatic Teller Machine. A “teller” is actually the person who works at a bank, who gives you money at a bank, but this is a teller machine, so you’re getting it from a machine. Peter says, “I’ll come right back.” “To come right back” means I’ll return immediately, right after I finish getting my money from the ATM, I will come, and I will return here. I will come right back. The use of right there “right” means immediately. We say “right away,” we mean immediately. So when Peter says: “I will come right back,” he means “I will return immediately.” The clerk says, “Sure, I can hold it for you until the end of the day.” The end of the day means, until we close tonight. So if it is four o’clock in the afternoon, and the store closes at 9 PM, they will hold it for him until 9 PM. And if he does not return by 9 PM, before 9 PM, they will put it back out in the store for someone else to buy. Peter says, “OK, great, I will be right back.” Now lets listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.

[start of story]

I was at the store, and when the clerk finished ringing me up, I had a few problems.

Clerk: Your total comes to $79.42.

Peter: Do you take credit cards?

Clerk: Yes, we take Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Peter: Here’s my Visa.

Clerk: Hmm…I’m sorry but your card has been declined.

Peter: Oh, I can’t imagine why. I’m sure it’s just a mistake. Here, use my MasterCard.

Clerk: Well, sir, it looks like this one is overdrawn, too. Do you have a debit card or cash? We also accept personal checks.

Peter: Like I said, I think it must be bank error. Yeah, I have a debit card, but I think there’s a fee for using it, right?

Clerk: Yes, I think the bank charges you a small fee.

Peter: In that case, I’ll write a check. Oh no, I forgot my checkbook at home. Can you hold these items for me? I can run to an ATM to get some cash. I’ll come right back.

Clerk: Sure. I can hold it for you until the end of the day.

Peter: Okay, great. I’ll be right back.

[end of story]

The script for today’s podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse. If you have a question or a comment about our podcast, you can email us at eslpod@eslpod.com. From Los Angeles, California, I am Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening, We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2006.