Welcome - English & the UK - Southampton

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

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

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: We recommend that you listen to this podcast on the Premier Skills English website because that is where we have the transcript, language examples, activities, quizzes and a discussion page to help you understand everything we talk about.

Jack: However, if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave answers to our questions in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re continuing our series of podcasts that focus on English and the UK. In these podcasts, you will learn more about cities in the UK and at the same time lots of useful English words and phrases.

Jack: In each podcast, we focus on one Premier League city in the UK. In our last podcast, we spoke about Newcastle which is one of the UK’s best cities for a night out.

Rich: And we looked at words and phrases connected to going to a traditional British pub. Phrases like ‘What are you having?’, and ‘It’s your round’.

Jack: Oh yes, we also had a game of pool in the roleplay and we looked at some phrases that Geordies, the people from Newcastle, use that might confuse English learners.

Rich: Like ‘howay the lads’ and ‘come on the toon’.

Jack: Yes, like those. If you want to go back and do this lesson you can find it on the Premier Skills English website by clicking skills >  listen > podcasts. If you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts you’ll find it in the playlist, it’s called ‘English & the UK: Newcastle’.

Jack: In this episode, we are going to talk about a Premier League city at the other end of the country. The city we’re talking about this week is Southampton.

Rich: First, Jack and I will have a conversation about Southampton. We will talk about some of the things that are special about Southampton.

Jack: After that, you will hear a roleplay. This week we’re going to be on a cruise ship.

Rich: You might not know it but Southampton is known as the cruise capital of Europe.  

Jack: After the roleplay, we will focus on words and phrases connected to travelling by boat.

Rich: Don’t forget that all the cities we focus on in this series are home to Premier League teams so listen out for the football connections in the podcast.

Jack: One of those connections is our football phrase section so don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because that’s when we ask you to guess our weekly football phrase.

Football Phrase 1 

Rich: But, before we look at all that, let’s look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week we’ll give you one more chance to guess and give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Jack: Well done to Liubomyr from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria, Romokisel from Russia and Barry from Indonesia who guessed correctly and wrote their answers on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: We’re not going to tell you the answer yet though. Here’s one more chance to guess. Jack …

Jack: The phrase was a soft decision. The phrase is usually used to describe the referee giving a red card or more often a penalty when we believe it was not a penalty or red card. We say things like that’s never a penalty what a soft decision by the referee!

Rich: I’m sure you know the answer but if you don't, then we’ll tell you at the end of the show. I will also have a new football phrase for you to guess. This week it’s going to be a difficult one.

Jack: And if you can guess Rich’s crazily difficult football phrase and write it in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website, we will announce your name in next week’s show.

Introduction to conversation

Jack: You are now going to listen to us talking about Southampton and interesting things to do and see in the city.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question. The question is:

Jack: Which ship sailed from Southampton?

Conversation

Rich: So, Southampton - what do we know about Southampton?

Jack: Its Premier League team is Southampton Football Club. Their nickname is the Saints and they play at St. Mary’s Stadium.

Rich: The Saints. That’s an interesting nickname.

Jack: I think Southampton was originally a church football team - that’s why they are called the Saints and play at St.Mary’s which is a really common name for a church in the UK.

Rich: What else do we know about the city? Did you know they used to build planes in Southampton? The Spitfire was one of Britain's most famous planes and were built in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jack: I didn’t know you knew so much about planes.

Rich: I don’t but a couple of years ago I visited the aviation museum in Southampton. It’s well worth going if you're into planes.

Jack: But Southampton is probably more famous for boats. It’s one of the biggest ports in the UK and is known as the cruise capital of Europe.

Rich: Yes, Southampton is on the south coast of England - next to the sea but it doesn’t have any beaches like Brighton or Bournemouth.

Jack: It has lots of ships - big ships. The Titanic sailed from Southampton.

Rich: Yes, and there are lots of Titanic related things in Southampton. You can go on the Titanic Trail which is a walking tour in Southampton and there’s the maritime museum called SeaCity Museum.

Jack: Maritime means connected to the sea. So you can have a maritime museum and Southampton has a long maritime history or heritage.

Rich: And there's even maritime English!

Jack: That’s for people who work on ships. The people or crew that work on ships are often from lots of different countries and have to use a shared language - English.

Rich: It’s really important to keep everybody on the ship - or onboard - safe.

Jack: Let’s look at some maritime English in a bit but first I want you to give us a thirty-second summary of what a visitor to Southampton can do and see.

Rich: OK, so you’ve got to go to Solent Sky which is the aviation museum if you’re into planes and you've got to go to SeaCity which is the maritime museum if you’re into boats and want to learn more about the history of the Titanic. Apart from that, you should also take a boat ride on a 19th-century steamship - it’s the only working steamship in Northern Europe. What else? There’s a massive water sports activity centre in the middle of Southampton. You can do windsurfing, sailing, and powerboating.

Jack: And don’t forget St. Mary’s Stadium for a Premier League match!

Introduction to Roleplay 

Rich: Did you get the answer to the question: Which ship sailed from Southampton?

Jack: The answer, of course, is the Titanic.

Rich: As we said in the conversation, Southampton is a major port in the UK and many cruise ships sail from there.

Jack: Have you ever been on a cruise, Rich?

Rich: No, but I’ve caught ferries from the UK to France and Spain. To Spain, it takes over 24 hours.

Jack: I’ve done ferries but I’d love to go on a cruise. Maybe in the Carribean. Southampton to Barbados to Cuba to Tobago to Dominica to Jamaica and back to Southampton something like that would be good.

Rich: A bit hot for me. I’d like to go on an Antarctic cruise that would be cool - literally.

Jack: And you could see polar bears!

Rich: Not sure about that, Jack. Penguins maybe.

Jack: Right, you’re now going to listen to a roleplay on a cruise ship.

Rich: Jack and the other passengers are being welcomed by the cruise director - that’s me.

Jack: While you listen we want you to answer a question:

Rich: What animals can you see on the cruise?

Roleplay

Rich: Hello everybody - I’m Rich your cruise director and I’d like to have your attention for a few moments. First of all, on behalf of Premier Skills Cruises and all the crew, we’d like to welcome you all aboard HMS Britannia. We hope you have all settled into your cabins. We are currently still docked in Southampton but are due to set sail at six which is in around 30 minutes time. I’m here to answer any questions you may have about the ship, the cruise itinerary and the entertainment we have on board.

Jack: Could you tell us a bit more about when we’ll arrive at our next destination and how long we’ll get at each place?

Rich: Good question. Certainly. Well, as you know, we are off to the Carribean - and our first port of call will be Barbados in two days time. Generally, you get a full day at all destinations and we tend to sail at night.

Jack: It’s going to take two days from Southampton to Barbados?

Rich: Yes, we have two days at sea so you’ll be able to get to know the ship really well. The Britannia is the biggest in our fleet and this morning we are giving all passengers a tour of the ship. You’ll even get a chance to go up to the bridge to see where the captain and crew control the ship.

Jack: What entertainment is there?

Rich: You’ll see on the tour but there is a lot to do. On the top deck, there are swimming pools and areas to sunbathe as well as whale and dolphin watching. On the upper decks, we have all types of entertainment. There is live music every night, a cinema and play areas for the kids and then, of course, we have five different restaurants.

Jack: Sorry, one more question. What if I get seasick?

Rich: The ship is so big that you often hardly notice that we are moving up and down on the waves. The waters in the Carribean are very calm and there is no bad weather forecast. However, the first two days can sometimes be more difficult as the sea in the Atlantic can be a bit rougher. We have a doctor on board who can supply tablets for seasickness if necessary.

Rich: OK, any more questions ? … Right, you can book a ship tour with my colleagues at the desk and I’d once again like to wish you all a very pleasant stay with us on board.

Language Focus

Jack: Did you get the answer to the question? What animals can you see on the cruise?

Rich: The answer is dolphins and whales. You can do whale watching or dolphin watching from the top deck of the cruise ship.

Jack: We’re now going to look at some vocabulary from the roleplay. Let’s start by looking at places on a cruise ship. You just said that you can dolphin watch from the top deck.

Rich: That’s right. A deck on a ship is the same as a floor in a building. A building might have 10 floors and you climb the stairs or take the lift to go up and down. Cruise ships can have more than 10 decks.

Jack: When we talk or read about ships we might hear the phrases to be ‘on deck’ or ‘below deck’. To be on deck means to be on the top deck - to be outside. To be below deck means to be inside the ship.

Rich: In the roleplay, we spoke about the bridge. On a ship, the bridge is where the ship is controlled. It’s where you will usually find the captain of the ship and the captain’s crew.

Jack: The captain is the person in charge of a ship and the crew are the people who work on a ship.

Rich: On a cruise ship you sleep in a cabin and you will hear phrases like a 2-berth cabin or a 4-berth cabin. Berth here means a place to sleep so a four-berth cabin has four beds.

Jack: Let’s talk more about the journey of a ship. People get on or off a ship when it is docked. Docked means to be in port and not moving.

Rich: And people and vehicles disembark a boat - get off and embark which is get on. But this is formal and official language. You would normally just say get off and get on.

Jack: In the roleplay, we said the ship set sail at six. To set sail means to begin a trip on the sea.

Rich: And everybody needs to be on board or aboard the ship before it sets sail.

Jack: ‘On board’ and ‘aboard’ both mean to be on the ship. In the roleplay, Rich said hello to the passengers by saying ‘welcome aboard’.

Rich: Can I ask you, Jack. Do you ever get seasick?

Jack: I don’t think so but if the sea was very rough I might.

Rich: Yes, if the sea is calm it’s not a problem.

Jack: Here we have the phrase to get seasick which means to feel dizzy and possibly vomit because of the waves going up and down.

Rich: And the seas can be calm which means the waves are small or the sea can be rough, which means the waves are big and you’re more likely to get seasick.

Jack: Let’s look at a couple more phrases that will help you with this week’s task.

Rich: A cruise always has an itinerary. An itinerary is a plan of a journey - the route and the places you will visit.

Jack: In the roleplay, the itinerary was a cruise around the Caribbean and the first port of call was Barbados.

Rich: Port of call means a port where you stop during a journey. It’s more common to use the word destination and destination can be used for itineraries that are on land as well.

Jack: That covers some of the vocabulary we used in the roleplay. If you want to check your understanding and learn more vocabulary connected to the sea, take a look at the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: You’ll find this lesson on the homepage or by clicking skills >  listen > podcasts > Southampton.

Task

Jack: This week we want you to design an itinerary for a cruise.

Rich: Choose a part of the world that you think would be interesting to visit by ship. Where would you set sail from? Where would your first port of call be? How many destinations would you visit? How long would your cruise be?

Jack: Tell us why you would like to visit these places and tell us what you would enjoy or not enjoy about being on a cruise.

Rich: Write your answers on the Premier Skills English website.

This week’s football phrase:

Jack: OK, it’s time for this week’s football phrase. It’s your turn this week Rich. Don’t make it too difficult.

Rich: Remember it’s my job to do the difficult ones and your job to do the easy ones.

Jack: OK, but if Liubomyr from Ukraine doesn’t get the answer first time we know it’s too difficult.

Rich: Here’s my difficult football phrase. The phrase is **** ***** ***** ******. This phrase is a cliche and it makes me really angry because it’s not true. The phrase is used about cup competitions that have two legs - where teams play each other twice. The idea is that after the two matches if the scores are level the team that scored more goals at the other team’s stadium is the winner. That’s OK but the phrase **** ***** ***** ****** is not true. For example, if Liverpool lose to Juventus 2-0 in England and win 4-3 in Italy Liverpool are out 5-4! Liverpool have not won 8-7 because **** ***** ***** ******. It’s very annoying!

Jack: I see this phrase makes you angry Rich. It makes me laugh! Let’s see if anybody can get this phrase right. It’s a difficult one.

Rich: And if you’re still thinking about last week’s football phrase - the answer was a soft decision.

Jack: Write your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. Bye for now and enjoy your football!