Star Trek The Lost Generation

Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

And I’m Erica.

And today we’re bringing you another sci-fi lesson for all of those fans out there of Star Trek and Star Wars.

That’s right. And today we’re gonna focus on, uh, some phrases. We’re not gonna do any vocabulary today. We just gonna learn some phrases that you’ll find relating to science fiction.

Okay, very good. So, why don’t we listen to our dialogue for the first time? And we’ll come back and look at all these phrases.

Alright, very good. Star Trek fans, apparently they were trying to act out one of the famous episodes, where the Klingon’s attack the Enterprise.

My goodness! Hehe.

Hehe.

I don’t know a lot about, um, Star Trek, but I do know a lot about language. And we’ve got some great stuff here that will help you understand, um, sci-fi movies and TV shows in English a little bit better. So, why don’t we go now to “fluency builder”? Voice: Fluency builder.

Alright, so, the first phrase that we have today on fluency builder – unidentified ship.

An unidentified ship.

Unidentified ship.

Unidentified ship.

If we break it down and look at the first word – unidentified.

You don’t know which one it is.

Okay, you don’t know the identity.

Yep.

And a ship, I guess that’s short for…

A rocket ship.

A rocket ship.

Or a spaceship.

Okay.

So, we’re not talking boats here.

Alright.

Yeah.

We’re not talking about boats. Very good. Now, moving on to our second phrase: the Enterprise lost its warp drive.

Warp drive.

Warp drive.

Warp drive.

So, the warp drive of the Enterprise is actually something like an engine.

Uhu.

That allows it to go faster than the speed of light.

So, superfast.

Superfast.

But why warp?

Alright, well, if we take a look at the word warp that actually means to bend.

Yep, so, like when you warp wood, it… it bends.

Exactly.

Yeah.

You bend wood or you warp metal.

Uhu.

And, well, that’s kind of the theory behind it is that they’re going so fast, that they bend or warp time.

Okay, so, warp drive. I think it… a very sci-fi specific phrase here.

Right. Alright and for our third phrase today – search party.

Search party.

A search party.

A search party.

Okay, so, wh… what is this? Are we having a party? Wh… what’s going on?

Well, when somebody gets lost…

Uhu.

Um, you know, maybe in the woods or something, you send out a search party to find them.

So, a party would be a group of people.

Exactly.

So, that also happens in restaurants, I think, right?

Right, sometimes you might say “how many people in your party?

In your party.

Uhu.

Very good. So, party – group of people.

Alright, so, in the dialogue we saw that actually these were not real Star Trek characters, but they’re just acting. But it didn’t sound quite right, right?

Yeah, he said that his voice is deeper.

So, a deep voice.

Deep voice.

A deep voice.

Alright, we’re gonna hear an example of what a deep voice sounds like. Example of deep voice.

That is a deep voice.

Now, because his voice wasn’t deep enough, he didn’t sound authentic.

Authentic.

Authentic.

Alright, so, authentic, very easy word.

Real, true-to-life.

Real.

Yeah.

True-to-life, right?

Uhu.

Not fake.

Exactly. So, um, Marco, is that an authentic Rolex?

No, it’s not. Hehe.

Hehe.

But thank you for noticing. Alright, so, authentic. And our last word for today.

A wig.

A wig.

A wig.

Wig, W-I-G, wig.

So, a wig is pretend hair, right? [NOTE: pretend might be also used as an adjective]

Right, fake hair.

So, the hair is not authentic.

Ha, very good. Alright, so, a wig.

Alright, we’ve got some great language here. And why don’t we listen to it one more time, slow down a little bit in the dialogue. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Alright, now, it’s time for us to take a look at more phrases today in “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder.

Alright, so, we’ve got some phrases here that you can use together with a number of different words, right?

Exactly.

So, the first one: we heard that Data said “we’re under attack”.

We’re under attack.

Under attack.

Alright, so, if we’re under attack, it means that we are being…

Attacked.

Attacked.

Someone is shooting guns at you or trying to hurt you or something like that.

Okay, so, we are under attack.

Uhu.

Very popular phrase that you would hear in war movies or something.

Definitely. Now, you can change this by changing the last word: we are under fire.

Under fire, which m… basically means the same thing.

Yeah, excepting… when you are under fire, um, there’re guns involved.

Okay, so, they’re shooting at you.

Yep.

Alright, we’re under attack; we’re under fire.

Uhu.

Alright, moving on to our second phrase: we’ve sustained heavy damage.

Sustain heavy damage. So, when you sustain something, you receive it or you undergo this thing.

So, usually, it’s related to injury or to receiving some type of…

Of negative thing.

Okay, so, why don’t we listen to some examples of how we could use sustain in context. Voice: Example one.

John had a car accident and sustained a fatal injury. Voice: Example two.

The boxer sustained a severe neck injury in the Championship fight. Voice: Example three.

Luckily the warship didn’t sustain any serious damage.

Alright, so, you see we… we typically sustain something like an injury, um… uh, or damage, that is negative.

Very good.

Uhu.

And the last phrase for today: what is the nature of this attack?

What is the nature of.

What is the nature of.

Okay, so, basically he’s just asking “why are you doing this?

Right, why… what is the reason?

Yeah.

What is the purpose?

Uhu.

So, again, we have some more examples of how you could use what is the nature of in different situations. Voice: Example one.

What is the nature of your visit to the United States? Voice: Example two.

What is the nature of the threat against our country? Voice: Example three.

The nature of my visit is personal.

Okay, so, a great phrase you can use, um, not only when you’re talking sci-fi, but in everyday life.

Exactly. So, why don’t we listen now to the dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more.

Oh, Marco, I already admitted that I’m not much of a sci-fi fan. I don’t really know anything about Star Trek or Star Wars.

Hehe. Well, it is a very popular show. I think it started around the Sixties of Seventies; the…

Yep.

The first version of Star Trek. And, well, many, many people follow it now. They dress up; they know the secret language that is used on the show; they know the spaceships. It’s a big culture.

That’s true. And, speaking of culture, I think we’ve got, um, a Star Trek movie coming out pretty soon. So, some of this language can help you guys understand it a little bit better.

Very good. Yeah, so, if you have any other questions or comments related to… not only to science fiction, but anything in general, please come to the website englishpod.com and leave your questions or comments.

Well, thanks for downloading you guys and until next time… Good bye!

Bye!