Buying a TV

Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name isMarco.

And my name is Catherine. So, Marco, you’ve been shopping a lot lately.

I have and this dialogue or this lesson today is one of my favorite, uh, pieces of furniture or maybe appliances that I’ve bought recently, and it’s a TV.

Alright, so I’d even go for, uh, electronics with that one.

Right, electronics.

Electronics department is somewhere you like to hang out.

Aha. Well, I mean I think every guy loves, you know, like a big screen TV and the home theater system, so you just like go deafafter watching…

Why is it? Is bigger really better when it comes to like a seventy inches TV?

Hehe. Well, I don’t know, I think, yeah, the whole experience of just seeing this movie on this huge TV and like having all the sound… I don’t know, it’s juts something about that. Or watching a football game with your buddies and you can actually…

Uh, fun.

Watch, yeah.

Okay, that I can appreciate. But, uh, we’ve got a couple of great words for you we wanna preview in today’s “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Okay, so on vocabulary preview today we’re gonna be looking at two words. Uh, the first one is to appreciate.

Alright, so this basically means “to like”.

Uhu, yeah, you appreciate someone, but, uh, in this context “to enjoy or take advantage of something”, so…

Maybe you hear this with, uh, a couple – two people who are fighting. And the girl says to the guy: “You don’t appreciate me!”

Uhu.

So, he doesn’t really care about her in the way that she wants him to. Or you could this about a TV, for example: “I can’t appreciate my PS3, my great awesome console, my gaming system, because my TV is not good enough”.

Ex… or big enough.

Or big enough.

Uhu.

Or big enough. So this means that it could be a lot better if I just bought a better TV.

Right, and if you buy a better TV, then you basically areupgrading or to upgrade.

Okay, so this verb – to upgrade means to go from something that’s okay to something that’s better.

Uhu, exactly, so in previous lessons we’ve seen to get acomplimentary upgrade, for example, on a flight or in a hotel.

I like that, well, you can also get an upgrade on a computer you s… you say: “Well, my computer is from 1984, I really need to get an upgrade”.

Yeah, for sure. So to upgrade. Now, we’re gonna be listening to this dialogue for the first time. We’re gonna be buying a TV, so let’s listen.

Alright, so I’m going to have to defer to you, Marco, on some of these words in today’s “language takeaway”, because they’re all about TV specifics. Voice: Language takeaway.

Alright, the first word that we’re gonna be looking at is graphics; the graphics level.

Alright, so you might have heard this before with the phrase “graphic designer” – someone who designs images.

Uhu.

But in this case we’re talking about graphics, so the way things appear on your TV.

Uhu, so like basically the pictures, right? So he wanted to appreciate the graphics of his PlayStation 3 better and that’s why he wanted a new TV.

Alright, we could say: “My computer has amazing graphics”.

Uhu.

It means games a really fun, because they… they look good.

Uhu, or this game has amazing graphics, so the game has, you know, places or scenery that looks l… really, really real.

Right, so graphics, but, uh, some kinds of TVs are made to provide those wonderful graphics and those are called HDTV.

Right, an HDTV or that’s an acronym for High DefinitionTeleVision.

Alright, and I heard some actors and actresses were complaining about HDTV, because this the… the picture quality is so good…

Hehe.

That you can see all of the little problems on their faces, the littlewrinkles…

The wrinkles.

And the pimples and the scars, so be careful, because one day we’re gonna be able to see way too much.

Hehe. Exactly, so on high definition television that’s basically what you… you get is better definition, better level of graphics.

So more pixels per inch.

Uhu.

You can see a lot more clarity.

Right, so an HDTV.

The next thing we’re talking about is actually kind of related to the back part of your TV, where you plug things in. Sometimes it’s on the side, sometimes on the back, well, there are different names for different kinds of plugs, so today we’re gonna talk about two of those. One of them is USB.

Right, and this TV has a USB port, which basically stands forUniversal Serial Bus.

Alright, so a port is a place where you plug something in; your computer has a lot of ports as well.

Uhu.

Uh, but USB is maybe more common for people who have iPods or computers.

Right.

Because this is how we normally connect things to our computers.

Uhu, so in this case, this television, you could connect maybe your iPod and reproduce videos or pictures on to the TV.

Awesome, or in the second case we have a DVI port, so DVI… you’re gonna just talk about this one, Marco, because I’m not so sure.

Uh, well, a DVI is basically a Digital Video Input, so basically you can connect your computer to the TV and see what’s on your screen.

Nice, and so, if you have a bunch of movies stored on your computer, you can just plug it into the TV and watch.

Uhu, or you can even navigate the Internet on a big screen TV.

Huh, cool.

Yeah.

Alright, so what are these three HDMI connectors?

Alright, well, this is a new technology, basically, you know, how before you used to get your DVD-player, you VHS and you had three cables.

Uhu.

Two for sound and one for video.

Yeah, the red, yellow and white cables.

Exactly. So with this new type of cable or technology, with one cable it takes all the information to the TV, so just one cable for everything.

Oh, nice, cause my problem is I always used to put the wrong cable on the wrong port…

Hehe.

So I’d had the red cable on the yellow port and then I’d say: “Where’s the video? I can’t see!” All I can… all I can do is listen. Hehe.

Yeah, it happens.

Alright.

So with this now it’s easy and, well, it even… it’s a little bit more organized, because I remember I used to have a TV and… have… and I had a lot of different things connected to it. It was just as big spider web in the back with all these cables.

Oh, man.

So an HDMI - a High Definition Multimedia Interface connector. And, uh, what else do we have?

Last thing we’re talking about is actually the place to put your TV, so a lot of people now are putting their TVs on walls like paintings.

Uhu.

Because these TVs are so thin.

Uhu.

So we call this a wall mount.

Uhu, so a mount. To mount something is also a verb, right?

Yeah, it means “to put something up” or “to hang something up”, so many people like to mount their trophies to show off.

Uhu, very good. So this is what we’re doing with the TV, we’re gonna mount it on the wall like a painting.

Cool. So those all are words for take… language takeaway. Let’s take another listen to today’s dialogue. We’re gonna slow it down this time and really figure out what’s going on. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Alright, so now we’re gonna be taking a look at three different phrases that we saw in this dialogue in “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder.

Alright, this first phrase is definitely one that I use a lot. We can talk about food; we can talk about electronics; we can talk about most different things. But, uh, the phrase here is the works.

Uhu, he’s getting the works.

Alright, that means any option he could get, any possibility; he wants it all.

Hehe. Right, so if you’re getting a new car, for example, right? You’re getting, uh, the high-definition sound system, you getting nice tires, leather seats – you’re getting the works.

Alright, or if you’re getting a hamburger and you want the works, you’re getting it with cheese and lettuce and tomatoes and pepper.

Bacon.

Bacon and…

Hehe.

You know, it means every option you’re getting it all.

Uhu, the works. So I think this word is so versatile that we should maybe listen to some more examples. Voice: Example one.

The bridegroom was wearing a morning suit, top hat, gloves, the works. Voice: Example two.

He spent over ten thousand dollars on his home theater system; he got all the works. Voice: Example three.

I bough a new car with all the works – magnesium rims, custom paint and leather seats.

So now that we’ve seen the works on the home theater system, he needs to hook it up.

Alright, so this is an important part and a very exciting part of a new purchase. So when you buy something, you have to hook it up, that means you have to plug things together.

Uhu.

Okay, so we plug things into the wall for electricity, but also hook up, uh, maybe those… those cords you were talking about earlier that HDMI connector, that’s called hooking up or connecting.

Uhu, so you would hook up your DVD-player to your television.

Alright, or I could ask you: “Did you hook up those new speakers to your big TV yesterday?”

Very good, right?

Alright.

So to connect.

Uhu.

It’s another way of say… to connect.

And finally the… the big event when you’re buying something is the end when you have to actually pay and this guy is a little bit worried that the things he wants cost a lot of money, so he asks a really great question.

Yeah, he said: “How much will this set me back?

Okay, this sounds a little weird at first, cause you could just say: “How much will this cost?” But he’s speaking in a very colloquial way, very familiar.

Uhu.

And he says: “How much will this set me back?

Right.

So how much will this cost me?

Uhu, so how much am I actually going to spend? So it’s a… just a different way of saying “how much does it cost?” But, um, it’s, like you say, more colloquial. It’s a lot more native like.

Exactly, and so if you’re writing your… your paper you don’t wanna write this, uh, “this will set you back five hundred dollars”…

Hehe.

In economics, but we’d say this in, uh, spoken language, in our normal daily lives with friends.

Uhu, so why don’t we listen to a couple more examples of set me back? Voice: Example one.

This unexpected expense’s gonna set us back a couple thousand dollars. Voice: Example two.

That fancy dinner at the restaurant last night really set us back. Voice: Example three.

I feel guilty about buying this coat; it set me back over thee hundred dollars.

Alright, great, so now that we’ve taken a look at those great phrases and with some good examples, why don’t we listen to this dialogue one last time?

Okay, so a big TV. I think, I don’t know… I think it’s just a great thing to have at home. Not to, you know, spend too much time in front of the TV, but it… it’s good to sit down and watch a movie.

It’s nice, because, you know, now there’re so many different things you can… you can do with it… you can hook up your computer, you can buy projector, you can play your PS3 or your Wii.

Yeah. Hehe.

Uh, so I think there’s a lot to do and… and it’s just wonderful how great graphics have come in… in just like the last five years.

Uhu. What do you think about having a television set, for example, in the bathroom?

U-u-uh…

Hehe.

I would say it’s a really bad idea, but I think I w… well, if I have a bathtub I think it’ll be very cool.

What about… do you know some people don’t like having a television set in their bedroom?

I agree with this.

Why?

I agree. Uh, because I think it’s really important that you havepeace and quiet in your bedroom.

Uhu.

Cause it’s kind of like for me it’s an important space where I can just relax and be quiet and, uh, I like reading a lot…

Uhu.

So if I have a TV maybe I’ll watch more TV, but I r… much rater read a book before bad.

Mm, true, yeah, I definitely agree, but, you know, I’ve seen people, well, had… that have TVs in their living rooms, in their dining rooms, even in their kitchens, so they’re watching something while they’re cooking and even in the bathroom like you say in the bathtub, well, it’s nice, but some of them I’ve seen in front of the toilet or something.

Ouh, no.

Hehe.

I would say that the one in the kitchen is nice, because if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you can watch the news while you’re cooking or you can actually watch cooking shows and try and practice, so…

Or soap operas.

Ouh, soap operas. So I guess it depends on a person, it depends on how much you watch TV, but I’m curious to know what our listeners have to say about TVs and big electronics purchases.

Right, so come to our website englishpod.com, if you have any questions or any doubts regarding the lesson or any suggestions you can let us know.

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Alright, bye everyone!

Bye! ***