Registering for University

Marco: Hello English learners! Welcome back to another lesson with us here at EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

Erika: And I’m Erica.

Marco: And today we have a lesson for all our university students out there.

Erika: That’s right, uh, we’re talking about registering for university.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s a difficult process sometimes even in your own language, so, we’re gonna try and make it a little bit easier by giving you some of the common words that you would need to register at a university.

Erika: Alright, well, I think it’s time we get started by listening to the dialogue and we’re going to listen to a young female student as she tries to choose her classes.

Marco: Alright, great, a very good student, taking a lot of classes this semester.

Erika: I know, uh… and it sounds like some of them are pretty hard as well.

Marco: Yeah, they are. Well, she used some of those very common phrases that we would need when we are registering at university, so, let’s take a look at them now in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

Erika: Okay, so, the first thing – I think we need to deal with this word to register.

Marco: Uhu, register.

Erika: So, register for university.

Marco: Okay, so, we’ve mentioned this word many times, so, I think it would be a good idea to listen to some examples and then we’ll come back and explain it.

Voice: Example one.

A: I registered to attend the conference on international trade this month.

我报名注册参加了本月举行的国际贸易会议。

Voice: Example two.

B: It is your obligation as a good citizen to register to vote.

作为一名合格的公民，进行选民登记是你的义务。

Voice: Example three.

C: It is necessary to register on our website before joining the conference.

在参加会议之前，必须先在我们的网站上注册账号。

Erika: So, when you register for something, you put your name down on a list, right?

Marco: Uhu.

Erika: So, in this case, when you register for university, you put your n… you officially put your name on the list of students in that course.

Marco: Okay, so, you can register for university. What else can you register for?

Erika: Register for a class, um, you can even register to vote.

Marco: Okay, so, register.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Now, she was registering for her classes and we saw these words that we know already, but… but it’s a good idea to take a look at them. We heard that she’s a business major.

Erika: So, a major.

Marco: Uhu, a major.

Erika: A business business major.

Marco: Uhu, and what is your major?

Erika: Uh, the major is the, um, major area that you study, the most important area that you study.

Marco: The area where you’re specialized.

Erika: Yeah, the area that you focus on.

Marco: Okay, now, we heard another one that’s called a minor.

Erika: So, this is, um, another area that you study, but it is less important than your major.

Marco: Okay, so, major and your minor.

Erika: So, let’s give an example. Imagine you must take one hundred classes…

Marco: Uhu.

Erika: To graduate from university.

Marco: Uhu.

Erika: Maybe you have to take fifty (50) for your major and maybe thirty (30) for your minor.

Marco: Okay, very good. And now, on your degree, on your title, does it say what is your major and minor?

Erika: Um, well I think it depends on the university, but, uh, in my case ‘yes’.

Marco: Okay, very good, so, major and minor.

Erika: Yep.

Marco: Now, uh, related to this and what you’re saying about your classes, it takes us to our next word which is credits.

Erika: Credits.

Marco: Credits.

Erika: Credits.

Marco: Now, this is easily confused with classes sometimes.

Erika: That’s right, um, well, a credit is kind of a point, so, like maybe… so, in university you need a certain number of credits or points to graduate.

Marco: Okay, so, suppose you need one hundred credits to graduate.

Erika: So, that’s not a hundred courses, because each course might be worth four or six or eight credits depending on how important it is.

Marco: Very good, so maybe the classes that are part of your major will have more credits. Alright, very good, so… And now we have our last word in this dialogue and it was tuition.

Erika: Tuition.

Marco: She had to pay her tuition.

Erika: So, tuition is the money that you must pay for education.

Marco: Okay, only for education.

Erika: That’s right, so, university tuition, private school tuition or even language course tuition.

Marco: Okay, so, ah… ah, tuition is the money you must pay for school… only.

Erika: Uhu, yep.

Marco: So, we’ve seen a lot of great words used for registering at university, so, I think it’s time to listen to the dialogue for the second time a little bit slower and then we’ll come back and take a look at some phrases.

Erika: Alright, so, it’s time for “putting it together”.

Voice: Putting it together.

Erika: We’re gonna look at some phrases here that we can use to talk about education and university and we can use them in different ways.

Marco: Alright, and our first phrase is actually very similar to register.

Erika: Uhu, to sign up for something.

Marco: Okay, I want to sign up for.

Erika: I’d like to sign up for my courses.

Marco: I think it would be a good idea if we’d listen to some examples of how we can use this phrase.

Voice: Example one.

A: I signed up for a one year gym membership.

我报了一个一年的健身房会员。

Voice: Example two.

B: If you want to assist our meeting, you need to sign up first.

如果你想协助/参加我们的会议，你需要先报名登记。

Voice: Example three.

C: I hate signing up for things online, because they just send you spam e-mails.

我讨厌在网上报名注册各种服务，因为之后他们就会一直给你发垃圾邮件。

Erika: Okay, so, I can see that to sign up for something is to agree to take part in it.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s a little bit more informal than register.

Erika: Yeah, exactly, less formal.

Marco: Alright, so, moving on to our second phrase – this is very important, because it’s often used improperly, right?

Erika: Yeah, people often make mistakes with this phrase.

Marco: Alright, so, let’s look at this phrase - second year.

Erika: So, she is in her second year.

Marco: Now, it seems very simple, so, why are we explaining this?

Erika: Well, it often gets confused with grade, so, when we talk about university, we talk about first year, second year, third year, fourth year.

Marco: Uhu.

Erika: We cannot say grade one, grade two, graded three, grade four.

Marco: Or year one, year two.

Erika: No, it’s all… it’s always first year, second year, third year, fourth year.

Marco: Okay, very good, or last year.

Erika: Yeah, last year.

Marco: My last year of college.

Erika: Exactly.

Marco: Very good, so… so, now you know how you can explain to someone what year of college or university you’re in.

Erika: Yes, that’s right.

Marco: Very good, and we have one more phrase to you and it was when she was getting her class schedule.

Erika: So, class schedule.

Marco: Class schedule.

Erika: Now, a schedule is the list of things you do at what time.

Marco: Right, so, it’s the timetable…

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Of your day or your week.

Erika: Yep.

Marco: Alright, and your class schedule will say all the classes that you have and what time they’re at.

Erika: So, what are the types of schedules can we have?

Marco: You also have maybe a gym schedule.

Erika: That’s right, or even a work schedule.

Marco: Right, so, we have different types of schedules and you can use it depending on what you’re doing. Those are all the phrases we have for putting it together today and now let’s listen to the dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back.

Marco: Alright, so, we were talking about second year, first year, third year, et cetera.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Now, there’re also other names that we give to each year both for high school and university.

Erika: And I think this is only for, um, America like in… in the United States. We don’t do this in Canada and I always get so confused, so, Marco, what is the name you give to first-year students.

Marco: Okay, so, first-year students are called freshmen.

Erika: Okay, cause they’re fresh.

Marco: Because they’re fresh.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Yeah, they just came from Middle School or just came from High School.

Erika: Alright, and what about the second-year students?

Marco: They’re called sophomores.

Erika: Okay, cause they’re… soft?

Marco: S-soft. No, well, there’s not… it’s not ‘soft’, it’s soPHomore like…

Erika: Uh.

Marco: S-O-P-H.

Erika: Sophomore.

Marco: Sophomore. And then third-year students are called juniors.

Erika: Okay, cause they’re almost the… the… It’s like ‘junior manager’.

Marco: Exactly.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Because then last-year students are called seniors.

Erika: Aha, so, they’re…

Marco: So…

Erika: They’re the oldest guys in the school.

Marco: Exactly, so, you can say “Yeah, I’m a sophomore at Arizona State University”.

Erika: Okay, so, we only use this in… in America though, right?

Marco: Yes, yes, it’s very… and, uh… and not only for university, but also for high school.

Erika: Okay.

Marco: Alright, guys, that’s all the time we have for today. Uh, I hope you enjoyed this lesson and if you have any questions or comments or you wanna share with us your experiences in high school or, uh, university, please come to the website at englishpod.com.

Erika: That’s right, so, Marco and I are there to answer you questions and until next time, thanks for listening and… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!