I'm Sorry I Love You VIII

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

And I’m Erica.

And today we’re bringing you the eighth part of our dramatic romantic love story I’m Sorry I Love You.

That’s right. We’re coming close to the end of the story, aren’t we?

Yeah, we’re coming close to the end and we still have a lot of, uh, interesting things going on. So, I wonder what’s gonna happen?

Well, um, I can tell you that today’s lesson involves this word, witch we’ll hear in “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.

So, today we’re just gonna look at this one word – spy.

A spy.

A spy.

Spy.

Alright, so, we probably know famous spies like James Bond.

Or Austin Powers.

Right, so, basically, it’s a person, who is secretly trying to get information.

About a government or maybe a business.

Right, so, that’s a spy.

Now, the verb - to spy.

Same thing, right?

Uhu.

To spy on someone…

Yep.

To spy on a company.

Yep. So, why are we talking spies and spying here in EnglishPod? Why don’t we find out by listening to our dialogue?

Alright, so, Steven is not even American, he’s an Indian spy.

He’s not even a firefighter.

Hehe. Well, there we go. See?

Oh my god!

Many surprises on this love story.

It gets deeper and deeper.

Well, why don’t we take a look at some of the vocabulary that was used in this great story in “language takeaway”? Voice: Language takeaway.

Well, here we’ve got a lot of language, uh, that you can use when you need to be honest about something. We’re gonna look at six phrases here. Another first one – Steven says he needs to come clean.

Come clean.

Come clean.

Right, so, basically, he needs to tell the truth.

He needs to confess.

Confess, right.

Uhu. About something that he maybe wasn’t truthful about in the past.

Yeah, maybe he had a secret or maybe he lied about something.

Yep.

So, now he’s coming clean.

Uhu.

Very good.

So, he comes clean and he tells this story about his childhood and he says his father was a renowned chemist.

Renowned.

Renowned.

Okay, so, if you are a renowned chemist.

You’re very famous and well-respected.

So, you can use that with people, w… with places.

A renowned restaurant.

Okay, so, very popular, very well-known.

Yeah, we also hear it’s commonly like this - a world-renowned chemist.

Okay.

A world-renowned restaurant.

So, it… not only popular locally, but the whole world knows about it.

Uhu.

Very good.

Alright, and so, he continues with the story and he says he was approached by members of the CIA.

Approached.

To be approached by.

Okay, so, if I am approached by somebody from the CIA, what does that mean?

Well, they… they come to talk to you about something, uh, really important.

Okay, so, the verb to approach someone can mean get close to.

Right, to walk up to them or something like that.

Right, but it also carries this… this meaning of coming to talk to you about something.

Something important.

Something very important.

Yep.

So, for example, I can say “my boss approached me this morning to talk about an important pay raise”.

Whoo, lucky you.

Hehe.

Or maybe, um, Jim approached me to ask if I know if his wife is cheating on him or not.

Wow, alright, so, that’s how you would use this verb approach someone. Now, let’s move on to the next word. So, he was approached by members of the CIA and they were claiming something about his father.

That’s right, so, to claim.

Claim something.

To claim something.

Alright, so, basically, when you’re claiming something, you are saying that it’s true.

Right, it might not be true.

But we don’t know.

Yeah. So, f… for example, he claims he makes four million dollars a year.

Okay, or Bob claims that he saw UFO.

Uhu.

We can’t prove it if it’s true or not, but that’s what they’re saying is true.

Yep.

So, Steven’s father disappeared and, well, he vowed to discover where he was.

So, Steven vowed to find his father.

Vow.

To vow.

So, this verb to vow means to make a strong promise, right?

Yes.

And we use it also in marriage, right?

Wedding vows.

Wedding vows, which are basically promises.

Uhu.

So, if you vow something, you make a very strong promise.

Yes, it’s very, very bad if you break a vow.

Oh, really?

Uhu.

What happens?

I don’t know. Probably, thunder strikes you and you die.

Hehe. Alright, so, don’t break your vows.

Yeah.

And the last word on language takeaway today – the whereabouts.

The whereabouts.

The whereabouts of his father.

Uhu. So, the whereabouts is the location.

The location.

Kind of unknown location, right?

Right. I think this is a great word for us to listen to some more examples. Voice: Example one.

The police don’t have any information on the whereabouts of the murderer. Voice: Example two.

Currently the whereabouts of the president are unknown. Voice: Example three.

You live in Toronto too? Whereabouts do you live?

Alright, so, whereabouts, perfect. You can use it for location, unknown location.

Uhu. Alright, so, some great words. Now, I wanna move on to some phrases that we heard in the dialogue. Um, and let’s look at those now in “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder.

Alright, on fluency builder today we have four great phrases and let’s start with the first one – what’s going on?

So, Veronica asks “what’s going on?

Steven, what’s going on?

Basically what’s happening, right?

What’s happening; wha… wha… what’s… what’s the situation?

Yeah.

Now, another interesting thing is that among friends you could use this phrase to say…

Hey, how are you?

How are you?

Yeah.

How’s it going? Right?

Yeah.

So, you can say “hey Erica, what’s going on?

And it all depends on your… your tone of voice. So, um, when you wanna know how that person is: “hey Marco, what’s going on?”

Right, but if you’re angry or maybe something strange is happening, you’re like: “hey, what’s going on here?”

Yes, so, your… your voice falls.

Right. Now, let’s take a look at our next phrase and this one is very, very useful.

Uhu.

Especially if you’ve lied.

Yes, so, Steven says I haven’t been completely honest with you.

I haven’t been completely honest with you.

I haven’t been completely honest with you.

So, that means he hasn’t been telling the whole truth.

Right, pretty easy to understand, but I think its use is interesting here.

Right, you might use it to kind of soften up the person to confess something.

Right, so, when you’re ready to come clean about a secret you have or a lie you told, this is a great way to prepare your listener.

Right. “Know what, I haven’t been completely honest with you”.

Yeah.

Moving on to our third phrase. So, the CIA claimed that Steven’s father had made the discovery of the millennium.

The discovery of the millennium.

Discovery of the millennium.

Okay, let’s break this down. Millennium.

Millennium is a thousand years.

Right.

So, the discovery of the millennium is…

The best, most important discovery in the past thousand years.

Right. So, now we can change it a little bit and say the invention of the millennium.

Or even the party of the millennium.

Exactly. So, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the most important of the last one thousand years.

But it means it was pretty good.

It was pretty good.

Yeah.

Or very important.

Yeah. And you can also say the… the discovery of the decade, right?

Of the decade, of the century.

Yep.

Of the year.

Yep.

And now let’s take a look at our last phrase. So, Steven confessed he can’t claim he told her everything, but he said he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her.

I wasn’t supposed to.

I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.

Alright, so, let’s look at this phrase I wasn’t supposed to. It’s an interesting one, it’s sort of like a cross between I didn’t need to and I shouldn’t have done.

Right, now, let’s look at some examples. I wasn’t supposed to come to work today.

Alright, so, you didn’t need to.

It wasn’t necessary.

Alright, so, maybe it was your annual vacation day, but you came into work anyway.

Or maybe it was a holyday.

Yeah.

And I came to work anyways.

So… so, the plan was not for you to come to work.

Right. So, in this case we’re saying “it wasn’t necessary”.

Or it wasn’t planned.

Or planned.

Yeah.

Now, let’s look at the other way when you shouldn’t.

Okay. Marco, I wasn’t supposed to tell you this, but…

Okay, so now, in this case you shouldn’t te… be telling me this. You shouldn’t tell me the secret.

Yeah.

But you’re going to anyways.

Yes.

Hehe.

???

Hehe. So, I wasn’t supposed to. In this case it means I shouldn’t.

Uhu. Alright, some really great language here. Now, I think it will help us to hear it one more time in the dialogue.

Okay, great, so now we’re getting close to the end of this series. So, what’s gonna happen? Maybe Veronica’s also a spy.

Oh my god. I don’t think I can handle that.

Hehe. Alright, so, we really need your suggestions. We need your ideas. We want to know how you think the series ends or how you would want it to end. Do you want it to be a happy ending?

Or a tragedy?

Or maybe action-filled ending?

Alright, well, we got two lessons left in this series. So visit our website at englishpod.com and leave your suggestions.

Alright, guys, we’ll see you guys there and until next time…

Good bye!

Bye!