Dr. Plumber

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

Erika: And I’m Erika.

Marco: And today we’re going to be looking at a very useful lesson, because, well, sometimes you need to call a plumber.

Erika: Okay, so, first of all, uh, why don’t we start with “vocabulary preview”, cause I think we need to know this word plumber?

Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Marco: Alright, so, on vocabulary preview today we’re gonna look at two words and the first one is the one that we’ve mentioned – plumber.

Erika: A plumber.

Marco: So, it’s a person – a plumber.

Erika: Yeah, and a plumber is the person who fixes, um, everything in your house that is related to water, right?

Marco: Okay, so, he fixes the toilet, the sink…

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: The shower.

Erika: Yeah, that’s the plumber.

Marco: And now, the second word is obviously related to plumber and it’s water pipes.

Erika: Water pipes.

Marco: Water pipes.

Erika: The pipes.

Marco: So, the plumber fixes or looks at the water pipes as well.

Erika: Yeah, and those are, um, a tube that carries water in and out of your house.

Marco: Okay, so, water pipes. You also have different types of pipes like gas pipes.

Erika: Yeah, yeah.

Marco: Okay.

Erika: Okay, so, what are we learning in this lesson?

Marco: So, in this lesson we’re gonna be learning how to describe when you have problems with pluming: when you have problems in your sink or in your toilet.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: And how you can describe it and so I think we should take a look at our dialogue for the first time and see what types of problems this woman is having with her plumbing.

Erika: Alright, well, it sounds like she’s having some big problems with her plumbing, but actually I’m really interested that the plumber makes so much money.

Marco: That is a very interesting thing and we’re gonna talk a little bit about that later on, but I think we should look at those kind of difficult words that we found in the dialogue now in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

Erika: So, we have five words here, um, all to do with a plumber and water pipes. Now, the first word – they talked about that there was water leaking everywhere.

Marco: So, you have water leaking.

Erika: Water leaking.

Marco: So, to leak.

Erika: When something leaks, it lets liquid come out when it shouldn’t.

Marco: Okay, when it shouldn’t.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: So, maybe you have a bottle of water and it’s closed.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: But maybe there’s the hole in the bottle.

Erika: So, it leaks.

Marco: So, it leaks.

Erika: Yeah. Alright, and then, so, there was water everywhere was leaking and maybe the reason was because the toilet is clogged.

Marco: Okay, clogged.

Erika: The toilet’s clogged.

Marco: Clogged, now, what does it mean if the toilet is clogged?

Erika: If… if the toilet is clogged, there’s something that stops the water from going down.

Marco: Okay, so, there’s something blocking it.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Okay, a clogged toilet.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Now, the plumber said that it might be clogged and he tried to fix it with a plunger.

Erika: A plunger.

Marco: A plunger.

Erika: A plunger.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s kind of hard to describe what a plunger is, so, why don’t we listen to the sound a plunger makes in a toilet.

The sound of a plunger.

Erika: Alright, so, the plunger is the tool that you use to unclog a toilet.

Marco: Okay, that’s what you use – a plunger. So, the plunger didn’t work and he wasn’t able to fix the toilet and he said that there’s something in the pipes causing a blockage.

Erika: Alright, so, our next word – a blockage.

Marco: Blockage.

Erika: Well, a blockage is something that stops water from flowing.

Marco: Okay, so, something is blocking it.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: So, you have blockage.

Erika: Yep.

Marco: Very good, and we have one more word on language takeaway and that word is faucet.

Erika: A faucet.

Marco: A faucet.

Erika: Alright, so, the faucet is the part of the sink that lets water come out.

Marco: Okay, so, you have a faucet in your sink.

Erika: Yeah, so, you put your hands under the faucet, so you can wash them.

Marco: Okay, that’s the faucet.

Erika: Yep.

Marco: Very good, so, now that we’ve learned about these different tools and these different ways of describing problems with your plumbing, let’s listen to this dialogue another time, a little bit slower now and then we’ll come back and take a look at some great phrases.

Erika: We’ve got three phrases that you can use when you need to describe, um, something not working with the pipes, so, let’s look at them now in “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

Marco: So, the lady called the plumber and he arrived and, well, she described her house as old and that it’s falling apart.

Erika: It’s falling apart.

Marco: This old house is falling apart.

Erika: So, when something is falling apart, it’s old and it’s breaking slowly.

Marco: Exactly, so, we can say the house is falling apart or maybe this old car is falling apart.

Erika: You can also use it for people: “Oh, I’m getting so old and falling apart”.

Marco: Very good, so, you’re getting sick or you’re…

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Alright.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Very good, now, for our second word.

Erika: Well, the… the woman said that maybe her daughter was flushing things down the toilet.

Marco: Okay, so, to flush something down the toilet.

Erika: To flush something down the toilet.

Marco: So, before we explain this, let’s listen to a toilet being flushed.

The sound of a flushing toilet.

Erika: Okay, so, that’s the sound of flushing. And when you flush something down the toilet, what happens?

Marco: So, basically, you throw something in to the toilet…

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: And then you flush it, so…

Erika: Okay.

Marco: It goes away.

Erika: Alright, so, flushing something down the toilet. Well, she also talked about the faucet, um, and it wasn’t shutting off properly.

Marco: Shutting off.

Erika: To shut off.

Marco: Okay, shut off.

Erika: When you shut something off, you turn it off.

Marco: Okay, so, we can say “to shut something off” or “to shut off something”.

Erika: Right, so, “Hey, Marco, can you shut off the computer?”

Marco: Okay, of I can say “Can you shut the faucet off?”

Erika: Exactly.

Marco: Great, so, we took a look at these three phrases that we’ll help you describe again these situations or problems that may happen in your bathroom or with liquids.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: And, well, let’s listen to the dialogue for the last time and we’ll come back and talk a little bit more.

Erika: Well, we heard in this that this plumber is making about eight hundred (800) dollars! That’s a lot of money.

Marco: That’s a lot of money and actually this in many countries is not far from the truth.

Erika: That’s right, like, uh, for example, in Canada, um… uh, there is a shortage, there’s not enough, um, of these people like plumbers, um, who can do this type of work, so, they can charge a lot of money.

Marco: So, this type of work is called a… a… he’s not really a professional, right?

Erika: Right, so, he… but he is a trades person, because he works in a trade.

Marco: Okay, so, uh, like a plumber and electrician…

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Uh… uh, a person that paints your house.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Those are all trades.

Erika: Yep.

Marco: And, well, it is true, because now many people don’t want to… learn or do these types of… of trade, because, well, it’s not considered to be such a great job, right?

Erika: Yeah, but the funny thing is now if you are a plumber, um, and you… you get your first job as a… as a, you know, young person, um, you can make so much more money than a person with a history degree, for example.

Marco: Exactly, because, there is a shortage of these types of a… of… well, you can call them professionals.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Right, so, well, what about in your countries? Let us know how these types of trades work. Are there many of them? Are there not many of them, be… because, well, of course, in different countries it’s a little bit different, right? In some countries there’re too many tradesmen.

Erika: So… visit us on our website englishpod.com and tell us all about that and remember if you have any questions about the lesson, you can ask them there as well.

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

Erika: Thanks for downloading and… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!