How Would You Like Your Eggs?

Hello, English learners! Welcome back! We are here at EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

And I’m Erica.

And today we’re gonna be bringing you a lesson about eggs!

That’s right. Um, and wh… who knew there was so much to talk about when we’re talking eggs.

Right, well, we always have eggs for breakfast and there’re many ways of preparing them, so we’re gonna learn what the different ways are.

Yes, and we’ll learn some of the language that goes along with eggs.

Okay, so we have three words that we wanna take a look at before we listen to a dialogue, so let’s look at these in “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Our preview word for this lesson is picky.

Picky.

Picky.

Picky.

So, picky is an interesting adjective.

Okay, so, if a person is picky, what does that mean?

They’re very hard to please.

Okay. So, if your boss is picky a… and you give him a report and maybe it has… I don’t know… a couple of mistakes or something…

Yeah, he’ll say “do it again”.

Do it up.

Change this… this and this.

Okay.

So, if you are picky, um, you want everything to be perfect.

Okay.

And if there’s one small thing that’s not, you won’t… you won’t be happy.

Okay, so, picky.

Uhu.

Interesting word. Now, our next word, yolk.

Yolk.

Yolk.

Y-O-L-K.

Yolk.

So, this word is actually not in the dialogue.

It’s not in the dialogue, but it’s important that…

Yes.

You know, right.

Okay, so, if you have an egg…

Uhu.

Th… the yellow part is called the yolk.

Okay, and what about the o… other part?

The white.

The white.

The white.

Or also called the egg white, right?

Yes, egg white.

Okay, so, pretty simple. Yolk and egg white.

Uhu.

Let’s listen to our dialogue. Uh, we’re gonna be listening to a couple who are having breakfast.

Whoa, she is definitely very picky and has a very bad temper.

I know. I can’t believe anyone would get so angry over their breakfast.

Hehe. Yeah, yeah.

But I guess it is the most important meal of the day.

Exactly.

Uh.

So, we heard a couple of different ways of describing, uh, how you prepare eggs, so let’s take a look at that in “language takeaway”. Voice: Language takeaway.

Okay, so, our first preparation method…

Uhu.

My favorite.

Alright.

Sunny side up.

Okay, sunny side up.

Sunny side up.

Now, this is interesting. Sunny like the sun, right?

Exactly.

So, when you fry an egg.

Uhu.

Right? And the yolk looks like a little sun, right?

Yeah, exactly.

So, why is it called sunny side up?

I think because… of what you’ve just said. It looks like the sun.

Hehe. But you don’t cook the yolk, right?

Okay, yeah, the yolk is still yellow. It’s still little bit… uh, liquid.

Uhu, uhu.

A… little bit soft.

Okay, because the opposite would be a fried egg.

Yes.

And that’s our second word.

Fried egg.

Fried egg.

So, this you… you put the egg in the pan and you cook it all the way through. [NOTE: all the way through = to the core]

All the way through. So, the yolk is not liquid anymore, becomes hard and…

Yes.

Right?

Exactly.

Okay.

A fried egg.

A fried egg. Alright, so now, let’s take a look at our next set of eggs.

Alright.

Uh, soft boiled egg.

A soft boiled egg.

Soft boiled.

Soft boiled.

Okay, so, to boil… you put the egg…

In water.

In boiling water.

Yes, to… and make it cook.

And make it cook. So, how long would you usually put it in for to be soft boiled?

Hm, three minutes, four minutes.

Three minutes, okay.

Yeah.

So, you only cook part of the egg, right?

Right, the yolk, the yellow part stays a little bit wet, a little bit liquid.

Aha, okay. So, again, the opposite would be…

A hard boiled egg.

Hard boiled egg.

Hard boiled.

So, hard boiled is when you cook the entire egg, again.

Yes, so, then it’s hard like a ball.

The entire egg.

Uhu.

So, with these soft boiled and hard boiled eggs, this takes us to our next form, eggs and soldiers.

Eggs and soldiers.

Eggs and soldiers.

Eggs and soldiers.

Now, this is really interesting. I didn’t really know about this before. It kind of sounds like… you’re having eggs with, uh, group of soldiers with…

Yeah.

From the army.

Well, this is a very British, um, way of eating eggs, so… you have your soft boiled egg…

Uhu.

In a cup. And you have a piece of toast.

Uhu.

But the toast is cut into long pieces.

Okay.

And then you take those pieces and you dip them into the egg yolk.

Uh, Okay.

It’s delicious.

It’s good.

Yeah.

Uh.

Typical English way of eating eggs.

Okay, so, eggs and soldiers.

Uhu.

Interesting. And this takes us to our last form of, uh, egg preparation and probably the most popular.

Yes. Scrambled eggs.

Scrambles eggs.

Scrambled eggs.

Take eggs, put [th]em in a pan and then you just move [th]em all over the place.

Mix [th]em all up.

Mix them all up.

So, the yellow… so the yolk and the white are mixed together.

Mixed together.

Uhu.

Alright. So, we’ve looked at a lot of, uh, egg preparation and now we can listen to our dialogue for the second time and then we’ll come back and look at some phrases. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Interesting, that the man in this dialogue is the one doing the baking.

Yeah, well, ah… that’s modern days… I don’t know… men are learning how to cook and, uh… yeah.

A house husband.

House husbands.

Aha.

Yeah, more popular these days…

Alright, well, since this house husband felt like baking, I think we should look at this in our… and one other phrase in “fluency builder”. [Voice: Fluency builder.]

Okay, so, great phrase, he said “I felt like baking”.

I felt like baking.

I felt like baking. So, let’s take a look at this. He feels like… or he felt like… in the past.

Uhu.

What does that mean when you feel like?

You want to do it. You have the desire to do it.

Okay. And then, to bake. And now, this verb is in the gerund form.

That’s right, the –ing form.

And that’s the rule, right? I feel like playing soccer.

Right, I feel like eating lunch.

Uhu. I felt like going to the movies. That’s the way you would say this. You have the desire, you feel like doing something.

Exactly.

Okay, very good. And now let’s take a look at this second phrase. Drives me crazy.

Drives me crazy.

Drives me crazy.

Alright, this is a very, uh… very descriptive phrase and I think if we listen to some examples, it will help us understand the meaning. Voice: Example one.

This music is driving me crazy! Turn it down! Voice: Example two.

Don’t leave garbage in my car. It drives me crazy! Voice: Example three.

Your mom is driving me crazy. She keeps calling me!

Alright, so, if something drives you crazy…

It makes you feel very angry or annoyed or…

Irritated.

Yeah, frustrated.

Okay, but it can also be positive, right? Like that girl drives me crazy.

As in you really really really like her.

Yeah.

I don’t know. It sounds a little bit inappropriate to me.

Really?

Yeah. Hehe.

Hehe. I think is okay. She drives me crazy.

Huuuuuuh, I don…

Is like she’s got me... thinking in… she’s got me in the clouds or some[thing] like that.

Alright, well, maybe there’s something about you that I don’t need to know, so, um, I’ll just let you keep that thought to yourself.

Hehe. Alright, well, I’m just saying we could use this in a positive form as well.

Okay, okay, I… you’re just saying.

Hehe. I’m just saying. Alright, so, drives me crazy. Really great phrase, a… and you can use it in all of these different situations like we heard. So let’s listen to our dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more.

Well, I think there’re some people who really really love eating eggs for breakfast and some people who just can’t stand it.

Yeah, I don’t know who, though, I mean, who doesn’t like eggs in the morning?

I know, I’m a big fan.

Right?

Yeah.

Eggs, bacon, toast.

Yes!

Good stuff.

Uhu, traditional, um… American-type breakfast.

Now, you were telling me, that you have some traditions, when you eat eggs.

I know, I think… I’m not sure this is just in my family, but I think, actually, it might be… might be common, um, in… with other people as well. Um, when you eat a soft boiled or hard boiled egg…

Uhu.

You have to, you know, eat all of the egg outside of the shell, and then you have to break the bottom of the shell after you finished. [NOTE: outside of = except for]

Why?

So that the fairies, who live in your egg cup can come out.

Hehe. So it’s kind of like a superstition.

Yeah, I guess it is. Um…

Hm, interesting.

Yeah, so… I don’t know… you guys, do you have any egg traditions or any other crazy food stories like that?

Well, for example, I was telling you that. Uh, when I prepare scrambled eggs, sometimes I like to take some rice…

Uhu.

Some rice that has already been cooked. Put it in the pan and then take some eggs… Two eggs put it on top of the rice and scramble the rice with the eggs.

Okay, for breakfast?

Yeah, it could be for breakfast.

Really?

Yeah, a little bit, not like a huge plate of rice. Or maybe at night you don’t have anything to eat…

Okay.

Scrambled eggs…

Yeah.

With rice. It’s a poor men’s food.

Ah, alright, well, um… it’s also, uh, a quick men’s food.

Yeah, exactly. So, let us know if you guys have any egg preparations or any special egg recipes or traditions that you practice.

Yes. Visit our website at englishpod.com, where you can leave all of your comments and questions.

Exactly and as always we… are there to answer them and, uh, solve any problems.

Well, we’re out of time for today, but until next time… Good bye!

Bye!