Mind the gap, on the London Underground. Photo by Marcia Cabral de Moura/flickr In today’s podcast, I am going to talk about the English word “mind”, and about some expressions which contain the word “mind”. Your “mind” means the things which happen inside your head, or inside your brain – your thinking, in other words. We can say, for example, that someone has “a good mind” – that means, they think clearly and logically. Or we can say that someone has a mathematical mind – they are naturally good at maths. Or we can say about someone “she has a mind of her own” – that means, she thinks for herself, she does not just accept what other people say. We also use “mind” as a verb. To mind something means to be aware of something, to be careful about something, to “have it in your mind”. If you have visited London, I am sure you have travelled on the Underground and seen the signs or heard the loudspeaker announcements which tell you to “mind the gap”. There is often a gap between the railway carriage and the station platform. If you “mind the gap”, you think about the gap and take care when you get on or off the train. If you don’t mind the gap, you may trip or fall and hurt yourself. You can mind other things as well – children, for example, or animals. Joanne has a friend called Susan. Susan looks after small children in her own home while their parents are at work. She plays with the children, she feeds them, and she takes them for a walk to the park and to the shops. She is what we call a “childminder”. If we say “mind out” to someone, we mean “be careful”. When Susan takes her group of little children for a walk, they need to cross the road. She holds the children by the hand and says to them, “Mind out, in case a car is coming”. Kevin, you may remember, is into 1980s punk rock. One of his favourite bands is playing at a gig on Saturday. He asks Joanne if she would like to go to hear them. “No way“, says Joanne, who thinks that listening to 1980s punk rock is a form of torture. “Do you mind if I go with George?” asks Kevin. He means, does it cause you any problems if I go to the gig with George? And Joanne says, “No, of course I don’t mind”. And then there is the expression, “to make up your mind”. This means, simply, to decide to do something. If I make up my mind to sell my old car, it means that I have decided to sell my car. Joanne’s friend Susan, the childminder, is always dithering. She cannot decide what to do. Should she wear a red jumper or a blue jumper. Should she read a book or watch television. Should she take a bus or walk. She cannot decide. Joanne sometimes says to her, “For goodness sake, make up your mind!” That means, “Stop wasting time – just decide what to do and do it!” And finally, let’s meet the expression “to change your mind”. If I decide to do something, but then I decide to do something else instead, I “change my mind”. Kevin has saved up some money and has made up his mind to buy an iPod. It is exactly what he needs to listen to his collection of 1980s punk rock music on the train. But on his way to the iPod shop, he passes a shoe shop. In the window there is a pair of green suede shoes. They are, thinks Kevin, the finest, the most beautiful green suede shoes in the whole world. Suddenly, he is in love with the shoes. He decides to buy the shoes and not the iPod. He “changes his mind”. Quiz – how well did you understand the podcast? :: File Download (5:21 min / 3 MB) Less

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I love to see the autumn leaves coming down from the trees. I love to see the autumn leaves falling from the trees. She spoke more softly when she described the accident. Her voice fell when she described the accident. Last week the value of my stocks went down quite a bit. Last week my stocks fell sharply. Has the baby gone to sleep yet? Has the baby fallen asleep yet? As the airplane climbed, I could feel a decrease in the air pressure. As the plane climbed, I could feel the air pressure fall. Over 3,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in that battle. Over 3,000 soldiers fell in that battle. I was attracted to her the moment I saw her. I fell for her the moment I saw her. I’m surprised you were tricked by that e-mail scam. I’m surprised you fell for that e-mail scam. At the last minute, the contract did not get signed. The contract fell through at the last minute. Fewer people went to the movies when television became popular. Movie attendance fell off when television became popular. After his wife died, he could hardly function. After his wife died, he fell apart. When he lost his job, he started using his savings. When he lost his job, he fell back on his savings. Karen had a quarrel with her supervisor. Karen fell out with her supervisor. He was very lucky and found a great job. He fell into a great job. She was not getting her work done on time. She fell behind in her work. Several countries now have better health care than the U.S. The U.S. has fallen behind several countries in health care. Less

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Mind the gap, on the London Underground. Photo by Marcia Cabral de Moura/flickr In today’s podcast, I am going to talk about the English word “mind”, and about some expressions which contain the word “mind”. Your “mind” means the things which happen inside your head, or inside your brain – your thinking, in other words. We can say, for example, that someone has “a good mind” – that means, they think clearly and logically. Or we can say that someone has a mathematical mind – they are naturally good at maths. Or we can say about someone “she has a mind of her own” – that means, she thinks for herself, she does not just accept what other people say. We also use “mind” as a verb. To mind something means to be aware of something, to be careful about something, to “have it in your mind”. If you have visited London, I am sure you have travelled on the Underground and seen the signs or heard the loudspeaker announcements which tell you to “mind the gap”. There is often a gap between the railway carriage and the station platform. If you “mind the gap”, you think about the gap and take care when you get on or off the train. If you don’t mind the gap, you may trip or fall and hurt yourself. You can mind other things as well – children, for example, or animals. Joanne has a friend called Susan. Susan looks after small children in her own home while their parents are at work. She plays with the children, she feeds them, and she takes them for a walk to the park and to the shops. She is what we call a “childminder”. If we say “mind out” to someone, we mean “be careful”. When Susan takes her group of little children for a walk, they need to cross the road. She holds the children by the hand and says to them, “Mind out, in case a car is coming”. Kevin, you may remember, is into 1980s punk rock. One of his favourite bands is playing at a gig on Saturday. He asks Joanne if she would like to go to hear them. “No way“, says Joanne, who thinks that listening to 1980s punk rock is a form of torture. “Do you mind if I go with George?” asks Kevin. He means, does it cause you any problems if I go to the gig with George? And Joanne says, “No, of course I don’t mind”. And then there is the expression, “to make up your mind”. This means, simply, to decide to do something. If I make up my mind to sell my old car, it means that I have decided to sell my car. Joanne’s friend Susan, the childminder, is always dithering. She cannot decide what to do. Should she wear a red jumper or a blue jumper. Should she read a book or watch television. Should she take a bus or walk. She cannot decide. Joanne sometimes says to her, “For goodness sake, make up your mind!” That means, “Stop wasting time – just decide what to do and do it!” And finally, let’s meet the expression “to change your mind”. If I decide to do something, but then I decide to do something else instead, I “change my mind”. Kevin has saved up some money and has made up his mind to buy an iPod. It is exactly what he needs to listen to his collection of 1980s punk rock music on the train. But on his way to the iPod shop, he passes a shoe shop. In the window there is a pair of green suede shoes. They are, thinks Kevin, the finest, the most beautiful green suede shoes in the whole world. Suddenly, he is in love with the shoes. He decides to buy the shoes and not the iPod. He “changes his mind”. Quiz – how well did you understand the podcast? :: File Download (5:21 min / 3 MB) Less

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Today’s sentence Hi. How are you today? This is the last in the current series on structuring a formal speech. I’d like to finish by thanking you all for coming today. Notes OK, this is the last line of your speech. You want to be polite and make a good impression, right? So, thank your audience for listening. You might then want to ask: “would anyone like to ask any questions about anything?” OK, I hope you found that series useful. We’ll look at a new theme tomorrow. Don’t forget: if you don’t understand something, tell me! You can contact me on our forum (Let’s Chew!) and I’ll get back to you. See you tomorrow! Search Linguagum for more English tips, check out our very useful links and our shop! And please, tell us what you think of us! Text and audio © linguagum.com 2006-2008 Less

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ESL Podcast – Previous Episodes

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I dropped in on my friend Gregory. He was feeling pretty down. I asked him,” What is it that’s bothering you?” He said, “It’s hard to describe. I can’t seem to get anything done.” I said, “Do you think you should see someone about this?” He answered, “I’ll give it some thought.” I dropped in on my friend Gregory. I paid a visit to my friend Gregory. I went over to my friend Gregory’s. He was feeling pretty down. He was quite downcast. He was pretty depressed. What is it that’s bothering you? What’s bothering you? What’s troubling you? What’s going on with you? It’s hard to describe. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s difficult to put it into words. I can’t seem to get anything done. I can’t get my act together. I can’t get myself organized. Do you think you should see someone about this? Do you think you should seek professional help? Do you think you could use some counseling? I’ll give it some thought. I’ll have to think about that. I’ll consider that idea. I paid a visit to my friend Gregory. He was pretty depressed. I asked him, “What’s troubling you?” He said, “It’s difficult to put into words. I can’t get my act together.” I said, “Do you think you could use some counseling?” He answered, “I’ll have to think about that.” Less

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