Digital Literacy: Technology Part 1

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: This week’s podcast is connected to something called digital literacy. Over the course of the season, some of our podcasts are going to focus on different areas of digital literacy.

Jack: You may have heard the word literacy before. Literacy is basically the ability to read and write. If you can read and write you are literate.

Rowan: But it has another slightly different meaning. Literacy can also be used to describe skills or knowledge in other areas; not just reading and writing.

Rich: Yes, we might talk about financial literacy which is the ability to manage your money or finances. We might also hear the term computer literacy which is connected to your technical ability and knowledge of computers.

Jack: Computer literacy includes things like your ability to use computer programmes like Microsoft Office or Excel, Google Docs or other computer programmes as well as knowledge of computer hardware and software.

Rowan: Digital literacy is much broader - much wider than computer literacy. As well as technical ability, digital literacy includes your ability to find and evaluate online information and also your ability to collaborate online and create your own online information.

Rich: So this is our first podcast that focuses on digital literacy. There is a separate podcast section on the Premier Skills English website where you’ll be able to find all these podcasts and the transcripts and extra activities that go with them.

Jack: We know that most of you, our listeners, will be very familiar with technology and the online world. The reason for our roleplays is that there is a lot of language which we think is very useful to explore and which may be less familiar to you.

Rowan: We decided that a good starting point for our series of podcasts on digital literacy is functional skills. When we talk about functional skills within digital literacy we are talking about the actual ability to use different technologies.

Rich: We’ve decided to talk about mobile phones in this week’s podcast and some possible problems some people may have when using them.

Jack: You will hear this week’s podcast in three different parts, we will have a task for you to do after each part which will give you a chance to talk about what we have discussed and the language which we will introduce.

Rowan: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Rich: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete with other listeners.

Jack: And don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess!

SOCIAL

Jack: Before we start this week’s roleplay we’d just like to thank everyone for all their comments on the Premier Skills English website. It’s great to know that you’re enjoying the podcasts and all of the free learning materials we have on the site.

Rich: We’d like to give a shout-out to four of our listeners and tell everyone what they’ve been saying.

Rowan: The first person we have to mention is Tiago Delazari from Brazil. Tiago commented on the website for the first time last week. He told us that he had listened to over 400 of our podcasts starting a long, long time ago. He says he’s now going to do all the tasks that we have on each podcast. We look forward to reading all your comments, Tiago!

Jack: I’d like to say hi to Shokufeh from Iran. She was one of many who told us about their most exciting football match that we asked you to tell us about in our football English podcast about new clubs. Shokufeh told us about the first Manchester United match she ever saw.

Rich: Finally I’d like to say thanks to Wsanta from Argentina and Isshin from Japan who both pointed out that I forgot to cover up last week’s football phrase in the transcript. If anyone sees a mistake on one of our pages please let us know in the comments section and we’ll change it straight away.

Rowan: Speaking of the football phrase …

Last Week’s football Phrase

Jack: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rich: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Jack: Thanks for all your answers and guesses last week. The first listener with the correct answer was WSanta from Argentina. Well done Walter!

Rowan: Congratulations also go to: Isshin from Japan, Mehmet Sisan, HSN and MoBeckham from Turkey, Emmanuel from France, Gerardo94 from Cuba, Marynchukdenys1984 from Ukraine, Marco Zapien, Pacedill and Vic from Mexico, Tiago Delazari from Brazil, Idzingirai from Zimbabwe and last but not least Gitaandari from Indonesia.

Rich: Later on, at the end of the podcast, we’ll have this week’s football phrase for you but for now here’s the answer to last week’s challenge.

Jack: Last week’s football phrase was kick-off. This phrase can be a phrasal verb or a noun and it’s what happened last weekend - the Premier League season kicked off - it started. Kick-off was at 8 o’clock last Friday when newly-promoted Brentford beat Arsenal.

Rowan: Did you get it right or are you kicking yourself that you didn’t?

Introduction to roleplay

Rich: As we said earlier, this week’s roleplay is about technology and how good we are with it.

Jack: Rich has a problem with his mobile phone and asks Rowan for some help. Who do you think is the expert here? Yes, you’ve probably guessed that it’s not Rich.

Rowan: After the roleplay, we’ll look at some language we can use when asking someone to help us and also some words and phrases connected to technology.

Rich: But while you listen we want you to answer a question.

Jack: The question is: How does Rowan fix Rich’s mobile phone?

Roleplay

Rich: My phone’s totally broken. I can’t get online at all. I just get this silly dinosaur game.

Rowan: Oh dear. It’s a good game that dinosaur game. I think I’ve got a high score of about a thousand!

Rich: Come on Rowan! I need to check the football scores - Liverpool are playing right now. I know that you’re a bit of a technical whizz with mobile phones. Would you mind taking a look?

Rowan: Give it here then. You’ve probably just got your mobile data turned off or not turned on the WIFI.

Rich: I haven’t touched anything at all. It was fine a few minutes ago but I’m such a technophobe, you know that.

Rowan: You might have run out of data then - were you watching the match live?

Rich: No, I’ve just been updating live text every couple of minutes - it’s still 0-0.

Rowan: You’re watching live text! Here - put your PIN in.

Rich: There you go.

Rowan: It’s fine now.

Rich: Ah brilliant! You’re amazing! What did you do? You know that I’m useless with gadgets.

Rowan: Haha! I just turned it off and on again, Rich ... Oh and Liverpool are losing 1-0! There you go.

Language Focus

Jack: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: How does Rowan fix Rich’s mobile phone?

Rich: The answer was the oldest trick in the book - something that you should always try before anything else.

Rowan: I turned Rich’s mobile phone off and then I turned it back on again. I’m a genius. Haha!

Jack: Yeah, well Rich is the opposite, isn’t he?

Rich: Thanks guys. I’m not that good with technology. I needed to ask Rowan for some help. If you don’t know how to do something, it’s always a good idea to ask an expert.

Rowan: I agree but it can be difficult to ask for help sometimes.

Jack: How did Rich ask Rowan for help in the roleplay? Let’s listen to that part again:

Rich: My phone’s totally broken. I can’t get online at all. I just get this silly dinosaur game.

Rowan: Oh dear. It’s a good game that dinosaur game. I think I’ve got a high score of about a thousand!

Rich: Come on Rowan! I need to check the football scores - Liverpool are playing right now. I know that you’re a bit of a technical whizz with mobile phones. Would you mind taking a look?

Rowan: Rich wanted some help so he was very nice to me before he asked for help. He gave me a compliment.

Jack: A compliment is a positive comment about the person you are speaking to. You might compliment someone on their work or on the way they dress. Rich complimented Rowan on her tech skills. He said she was a technical whizz.

Rich: If you are a whizz, you are very good at something.

Rowan: When we want some help it’s common to compliment someone before we ask as then they are probably more likely to say yes.

Jack: It’s also important how you ask for help. It’s important to be polite. Rich said ‘Would you mind taking a look?’

Rich: I could have said things like ‘Can you take a look?’ or ‘Could you take a look?’ or ‘Would you take a look?’ These phrases are also polite but I wanted to be really polite because I wanted some help.

Rowan: When we use can, could and would for a polite request we follow these words with the infinitive but when we use the phrase ‘Would you mind’ it is followed by the gerund - the-ing form.

Jack: Would you mind opening the window? Would you mind helping me with my homework? Would you mind taking a look at this?

Rich: Let’s move onto some of the vocabulary we used in the roleplay connected to technology. We’ve already described Rowan as a technical whizz - someone who is very good with technology. How was I described in the roleplay?

Rowan: The opposite Rich. You said that you were a bit of a technophobe and that you were useless with gadgets.

Rich: Ah yes, that’s right! A technophobe.

Jack: The suffix -phobe is used to describe people that don’t like a specific thing. An acrophobe is someone who is afraid of heights and an arachnophobe is someone who is afraid of spiders.

Rowan: So, a technophobe is someone who doesn’t like using technology very much or is often used to describe someone who is not very good with technology.

Rich: I said I was useless with gadgets.

Jack: Gadgets are little tools or devices that do something useful.

Rowan: When we talk about gadgets we are often talking about electronic devices but not always.

Jack: I’ve got this little gadget in the kitchen that can cut something up in about twenty different ways. I’m not sure what it’s called.

Rowan: Gadget can be a useful general word when you don’t know the name of something.

Rich: So, I said I was useless with gadgets. If you are useless at something you are not very good at doing it. I’m useless at playing as goalkeeper - especially when it rains - I don’t like diving. What are you useless at, Jack?

Jack: I’m useless at remembering people’s names. I’m very good at remembering people’s faces but useless at names - it can be very embarrassing. What about you Rachel? What are you useless at?

Rowan: Rachel? Who’s Rachel? I’m useless at not showing that I’m cross when someone forgets my name!

Rich: OK, I think that is enough language for now. You can look at this vocabulary and more in more detail on the Premier Skills English website. You’ll also find free activities, the transcript and a quiz to help you understand.

TASK

Jack: In the podcast, we have looked at how you can ask for help in a polite way.

Rowan: We often give a compliment and then ask for help using a polite request.

Rich: Your task is to ask for some help. Here are two problems and we would like you to ask us for help in the comments section.

Jack: Problem one: Your computer has a problem. Describe the problem and ask one of us to fix it.

Rowan: Problem two: You want to buy some Premier League tickets. You need to call the club ticket office. Ask one of us for some help.

Rich: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Football Phrase

Rich: OK, it’s time for our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rowan: You will hear this football phrase in every podcast we release this week.

Jack: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website or the review section on Apple Podcasts and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: So what is this week’s football phrase, Rowan?

Rowan: This week’s football phrase is ****** *******. This phrase is used when a club pays more money for a player transfer than they ever have before. Jack Grealish is Manchester City’s ****** ******* and Romelu Lukaku is Chelsea’s ****** *******.

Jack: Maybe Lukaku won’t play against Arsenal this weekend. I’d be quite happy about that!

Rich: If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.

Rowan: Right, that’s all we have time for but we will be back soon with the next part of this Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: Before we finish we just wanted to say that we hope you found this lesson useful and we hope all of you stay fit and healthy.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.