Roller Coaster

Hello everyone and welcome back to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

And my name is Catherine and today we have a great elementary level lesson all about

having fun.

That's right.

Today we are going to have a lot of fun and well before we explain what exactly we're

going to do, why don't we take a look at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

Okay, so the word we're previewing today is a noun.

It's a thing.

It's a roller coaster.

Alright a roller coaster.

So that's what we're going to do today.

We're going to get on a roller coaster.

But what is a roller coaster?

Well a roller coaster is something that we see often times in parks, amusement parks.

And it's like a little train but it can go upside down and it goes very fast and it turns

and it's supposed to make you scared and happy.

Okay.

So it goes very fast and yeah many people have probably seen it.

It goes very fast and as you say up and down and well you just get on it because it's fun.

You go fast and you get scared because you're going so fast and sometimes you're going upside

down.

Exactly and for some reason, I don't know why, but in many romance languages the name

is Russian mountains.

Exactly, yeah.

It's also in Spanish it's also a Russian mountain.

Yeah.

Montaña rusa.

So I think the reason is because back in the day, back you know a hundred years ago when

they were starting, the first roller coasters came from Russia.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

So that's why it's called like that.

Well that's a theory.

I'm not sure but take a listen to today's dialogue.

We'll hear it one time and when we come back we'll be talking about more interesting and

exciting phrases and words about roller coasters.

I'm so excited!

We're finally here!

Six Flags Magic Mountain.

This is the best amusement park in the world.

All right settle down now.

You're going to give yourself a heart attack.

I can't believe they charge us $35 each.

Seems like such a rip-off don't you think?

It's not like I'm going to get on these things.

Whoa Viper!

That's the world's highest and fastest roller coaster!

You go at more than 100 miles per hour.

I want to go on that one.

Can I mom please?

Can I?

Chris I'm not sure you should get on that.

It seems a bit too much for you and we just had breakfast 30 minutes ago.

I don't think it's a good idea.

Oh come on mom.

I can handle it.

I promise I won't ask for anything else.

Besides it's not like I'm going to throw up or anything.

Let him go Carol.

He'll be fine.

All right!

Yeah this is amazing!

See how high up we're going?

All right we're back.

So uh interesting that I think this is very common.

You get on one of these things, you go so fast that you just throw up.

Have you ever thrown up?

On a roller coaster?

No never.

No me neither.

All right well maybe it's not that common but let's take a look at some of the words

that we hear in this conversation between a boy and his parents.

All right so as we mentioned this word throw up, to throw up.

Why don't we take a look at that one first although it's almost at the end of the dialogue.

What is it to throw up?

Okay well to throw is different than to throw up.

So remember that these two words go together to mean to vomit.

That means that the things in your stomach come out your mouth.

So like we heard in the dialogue they came in like bleh.

Yeah it's a very disgusting sound right?

And so sometimes people throw up when they eat too much, sometimes they throw up when

they're sick, and sometimes they throw up after riding a roller coaster.

And so this is an important phrase to know.

Or like when you're on a boat you get seasick and you throw up.

Or in a car sometimes you get carsick.

All right so as we mentioned we're also visiting an amusement park.

So why don't we explain this word a little bit, amusement park.

Okay first of all everyone probably knows the word park.

You know it's a public place.

But in this case an amusement park is a park of fun.

Amusement means fun.

And so it's usually a place that you go to and you pay a price and they give you a ticket

and you can play all day long.

So they have roller coasters and food and shows.

And probably the most famous or well known amusement park is Disneyland.

So that's an amusement park.

Exactly and there's lots of fun things to do for people of all ages.

All right and now the kid was so excited that the mom said all right you're gonna give yourself

a heart attack.

Okay well a heart attack is another serious health issue.

We talked about throwing up before.

Is when your heart stops beating.

So maybe something is stuck or there's some problem with your heart and there's no more

blood going through your heart.

And so it's a very very serious issue.

But in this case she's saying you're so excited you might hurt your heart.

You're gonna have a heart attack.

You might hurt yourself because you're so excited.

Right so she's exaggerating.

That's not really going to happen but she's trying to warn him.

All right and now the father mentioned that they paid $35 for each of their tickets and

he thought it was a ripoff.

Okay ripoff is a great great phrase that we use in spoken English to describe something

that's unfair.

So a price that's unfair.

Okay so you can maybe go to the market right and you ask how much a sweater is and they'll

tell you it's $100.

You think that's a ripoff.

What a ripoff!

I can buy a sweater for $20.

So a hundred is definitely a ripoff.

All right so that's a ripoff.

It was a ripoff.

He's not very happy with how much money he paid.

Not at all.

All right and now the kid was talking about the roller coaster that is the highest and

fastest roller coaster and he said that the speed was at more than a hundred miles per

hour.

So what about this miles per hour?

Okay this is very important if you go to America you'll see that the speeds on the road are

all in miles per hour.

So mile is a distance.

And per hour means how many miles you can travel every hour.

So in one hour you can go a hundred miles.

So we have the equivalent right?

We have like kilometers per hour.

Exactly and so miles per hour, kilometers per hour, these are both called speeds.

And well this is called the imperial system right?

You use miles, you use inches and feet whereas the kilometers or centimeters or meters you

would use the metric system right?

Exactly because the counting is done by meters.

Meters metric.

So in this case we're in America we know that because the speed limit is a hundred miles

or the speed here is a hundred miles an hour.

We know that we're in America because the speed the boy is talking about is miles per

hour.

Very good and I think yeah use it in North America and that's pretty much it right?

I think they use miles in Britain.

Really?

I'm positive I'd have to check with my British friends.

Alright okay so that's all the words we have for language takeaway.

Let's listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back to explain some phrases.

I'm so excited!

We're finally here!

Six Flags Magic Mountain.

This is the best amusement park in the world!

Alright settle down now.

You're gonna give yourself a heart attack.

I can't believe they charge us $35 each.

It seems like such a ripoff don't you think?

It's not like I'm gonna get on these things.

Whoa Viper that's the world's highest and fastest roller coaster!

You go at more than 100 miles per hour.

I want to go on that one.

Can I mom please?

Can I?

Chris I'm not sure you should get on that.

It seems a bit too much for you and we've just had breakfast 30 minutes ago.

I don't think it's a good idea.

Come on mom.

I can handle it.

I promise I won't ask for anything else.

Besides it's not like I'm gonna throw up or anything.

Let him go Carol.

He'll be fine.

Alright!

Yeah!

This is amazing!

See how high up we're going?

Whoa!

Alright we're back so now why don't we start with three phrases that we have prepared for

you today in Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

Okay this first phrase Marco is definitely a parent phrase.

Okay so this is something that you often hear parents saying to their children.

They say settle down now.

Settle down now.

Teachers say this too.

Yeah.

Alright everyone settle down.

That means if I'm really excited and I want to talk and I'm running around the room and

my teacher says settle down now that means quiet down, go slowly, sit down, don't talk.

It means calm down.

Calm down yeah.

So to calm down to relax.

Exactly.

Settle down.

Alright and now the next phrase is a very kids phrase I think right?

That you would use on your parents.

So if they say no you can't go to your friend's house.

Oh come on please.

Oh mom come on.

Alright so what do you mean with that phrase?

Come on come on what?

So in this we have a child who's asking something.

He's saying can you please let me do something.

Please come on.

That means I'm encouraging you to change your mind or to let me do something.

So please let me have my way.

Right right.

Alright so come on and you don't only use it as a child or with your parents right?

You can encourage your friends to like come on come with me to the bar.

Come on.

Come on let's go.

Please.

Come on.

Alright.

Very good.

You know you want to.

And our last phrase I can handle it.

Okay this is next to the phrase oh come on.

So the boy is trying to explain that he's big enough and old enough to go on a roller

coaster but his mother doesn't know.

She says oh I don't know.

You know you're too young.

And so he says I can handle it.

That means I am big enough and old enough to go on a roller coaster.

I won't have a problem.

So you can do it right.

Basically I am good enough to do it.

So for example if I give you a very hard project you can say I can handle it.

I can do it.

You could also say I am very busy right now.

I can't handle it.

Okay.

I can't.

I can't do it.

I'm sorry.

I can't do it.

Alright.

Very good.

Interesting phrases there.

They're very useful and very very common in spoken English in North America and well

a lot of places.

So why don't we listen to the dialogue for the third time and we'll be back.

I'm so excited.

We're finally here.

Six Flags Magic Mountain.

This is the best amusement park in the world.

All right.

Settle down now.

You're going to give yourself a heart attack.

I can't believe I'm here.

I'm so excited.

I'm so excited.

I'm so excited.

I'm so excited.

I'm so excited.

I can't believe they charge us $35 each.

Seems like such a ripoff, don't you think?

It's not like I'm going to get on these things.

Whoa.

Viper.

That's the world's highest and fastest roller coaster.

You go at more than 100 miles per hour.

I want to go on that one.

Can I, mom, please?

Can I?

Chris, I'm not sure you should get on that.

It seems a bit too much for you and we just had breakfast 30 minutes ago.

I don't think it's a good idea.

Come on, mom.

I can handle it.

I promise I won't ask for anything else.

Besides, it's not like I'm going to throw up or anything.

Let him go, Kel.

He'll be fine.

All right.

Yeah, this is amazing.

See how high up we're going?

Whoa.

All right.

So this amusement park, Magic Mountain, it actually is a little bit bigger than I thought.

All right, so this amusement park, Magic Mountain, it actually exists in the United States, right?

It does.

And Six Flags is really a brand, so there are many different amusement parks called

Six Flags and each one has a different name.

I'm not sure where Magic Mountain is, but-

That one's in California.

Yeah.

Then you have Six Flags Greater America or something like that.

Yeah, that's my Chicago Six Flags.

That's the one in Chicago?

Yeah.

So they're basically amusement parks and they're famous because they have really great or intense

roller coasters, right?

Exactly.

So the one that we heard about in today's dialogue is called Viper, like the snake,

and that one is at the amusement park in California you mentioned.

But the famous ride in Chicago is Batman the Ride.

Oh, really?

Because you sit on a seat, but there's no place for your feet, so your feet swing in

the wind.

And it's very fast and you don't actually sit on a train, right?

The track is on top of your head.

Exactly.

And you're hanging like a bat.

So you see everyone downstairs.

Yeah.

Well, not downstairs, down at the bottom.

And I hear they have a very serious problem with people losing their shoes.

I heard about this.

Yeah, so-

People wearing sandals and they just fly off.

Exactly.

So I want to warn everyone, if you go to Chicago or you go to these upside down, these flipped

roller coasters, you should bring real shoes, not sandals.

All right.

Well, as we mentioned, in many languages, in the Romance languages, they're called Russian

Mountains.

I wonder, for our Russian listeners, do you have any intense or great roller coasters

in Russia?

I mean, if they come from Russia, they should have amazing roller coasters there, right?

That's right.

Or do you have any idea why we call them Russian Mountains in other languages?

Please let us know.

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So until next time, everyone.

Bye.

Let's get back to business.