Dialogue/Story

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Complete Transcript
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number
4: Eating Breakfast

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode

number four. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you
from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful
Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, the third of our 10-part special series on

daily English, I’ll talk about eating breakfast in the morning.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

I walk into my kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker. I always

put the coffee, filter, and water in the night before so it’s
ready to go. Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the
cereal is stored. I would love to have ham and eggs for
breakfast every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles, but
the truth is that I just don’t have the time to cook.
So, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and put in a glass of skim
milk, making sure I take a spoon out of the silverware tray. I
go outside and pick up my newspaper, and sit down at the
kitchen table. I love reading the paper in the morning,
though usually I just have time to read a few of the stories.
When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana and maybe
make a slice of toast with jam. I rinse off my breakfast
dishes in the sink and put them in the dishwasher. By that
time, my coffee is ready so I pour myself a cup and put the
rest in a Thermos for work.

[End of story]

In this episode, we are eating our breakfast. I begin by

walking into my kitchen and turning on the coffeemaker.
Notice these verbs, “to walk into” or “to walk in,” “to turn
on.” Those two-word verbs are very common in English. So, I
don't just walk to my kitchen, “I walk into my kitchen and I
turn on the coffeemaker.”

The “coffeemaker,” (coffeemaker) – all one word – is the

machine that, you can guess, makes the coffee; that's the
coffeemaker. Usually, a coffeemaker has water on the top—
place where you put the water—and then, it has a place for
the actual coffee. Now, you take the coffee and you put it
into a piece of paper or a piece of plastic called a filter. The
“filter” (filter) is something that allows the water to go
through it, but doesn't allow the coffee to go through it.
So, you put the coffee into the filter and the hot water goes
through the coffee, it goes out of the filter and goes into the
“coffee pot” (pot) the coffee pot is on the bottom. So, you
have the coffee, the coffee filter, and the coffee pot. After
the water goes through the coffee, what you have to throw
out—what you have to remove when you are done—are
called the “coffee grounds” (grounds)

Well, “I put in the coffee, the filter, and the water the night
before,” meaning, in this case, last night, “so that it is ready
to go,” meaning when I walk into the kitchen, it is already
ready, I just have to turn it on. Some coffeemakers have
clocks that will automatically turn your coffeemaker on in
the morning.

“Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the cereal is

stored.” The “cupboard” – cupboard – which looks like the
word “cup” and the word “board” put together, but is
pronounced cupboard — a cupboard is like a cabinet. It's a
place where you store things — a place where you keep
things. “To store” (store) – as a verb, means to keep
something in a place — to keep something in a cupboard, or
cabinet, or a box. Well, the cupboard is what we call the
cabinets that are in the kitchen. They're the like wooden
boxes that have doors on them that you can put things in.
Usually, if it's a big cupboard, you have different “shelves”
(shelves) the singular is “shelf” (shelf).
Well, I go into the cupboard and I get the cereal out. The
“cereal” (cereal) is a very popular breakfast in the United
States. It's usually dry and you put milk in a bowl, with the
cereal, and eat the cereal and the milk together. I love
cereal in the morning. I really do; I have cereal every
morning. Since I was, I think, five years old, I've been eating
cereal.

I take the cereal out — where it is stored in the cupboard —

and I prepare my breakfast. I say in the story that “I would
love to have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning.”
“Ham” is a type of meat that comes from a pig; it usually
has a lot of salt in it. Another kind of meat that's popular in
the morning for breakfast is “bacon” (bacon) which is also
meat that comes from a pig. It is long and thin usually; it's
cut to be long and thin. Eggs are the things that come from
chickens — or does the chicken come from the egg? I'm not
sure.

Anyway, we have ham and eggs, which is a very popular

American breakfast. Many people in the United States eat
what we would call a very heavy breakfast, meaning there's
lots of fat and there's lots of food. In some countries, this is
not done, but in the United States it's very common for
people to have eggs and ham for breakfast. My father used
to have eggs every morning for breakfast before he went to
work.
Well, I say, “I would love to have ham and eggs for breakfast
every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles.” A “waffle”
(waffle) is something that is made from batter. “Batter”
(batter) when we talk about cooking is a liquid, made usually
with eggs, and flower, and perhaps milk, and you combine
these things together and you get a thick liquid, which we
call batter, and you take the batter and you put it into a
special cooking machine, which we call a “waffle iron” (iron)
And, a waffle iron has a certain shape, usually it's square,
and when you put the batter in, you close the top of it and
you cook it from both sides. And, when you take it out, it has
little squares in it, and this is called a waffle. It's a kind of
almost like a bread. And, after you make the waffle, you
usually put some special type of liquid sugar, which we call
“syrup” (syrup). Often, this comes from trees; the best syrup
comes from maple leaf trees. It's called maple syrup; it's
very good. And, you put that thick sugar liquid on top of the
waffle. You can also put some sort of fruit on top of the
waffle also; I just like the sugar, myself.

Something similar to a waffle is a “pancake” (pancake) – all

one word – and a pancake is also made from this batter —
this liquid — thick liquid — except it goes into a flat pan on
your stove and you flip it over. So, it's completely flat, there
are no squares in it, usually it's round, and that's called a
pancake.

Both waffles and pancakes can be in stacks. A “stack”

(stack) is when you have one long, thin thing on top of
another. So, you can have a stack of paper, pieces of paper
one on top of the other. The same is true with a waffle or
with pancakes. You can have a stack of waffles, one waffle
on top of another, or a stack of pancakes. Usually, we talk
about a stack of pancakes. If you go to a restaurant and you
order breakfast and you want pancakes, sometimes they will
ask you if want a “short stack,” meaning just one or two, or
you might have a regular stack, which could be four or five.
Remember, Americans eat a big breakfast, that's why
there's so many big Americans.

Getting back to our story, I am not having ham, eggs or

waffles; I'm having a bowl of cereal. And, to prepare my
cereal, I put it into a bowl and I pour skim milk on top. “Skim
(skim) milk” is milk with no or very little fat in it. Milk comes
in four different types: you have whole milk, which has the
most fat; you have two percent milk, which has somewhat
less fat; you can have one percent, which is even less fat; or
you can have fat free, or skim, milk, which has little or no fat
at all. Well, because I don't want to be a big American, I
have skim milk.

In order to eat my cereal, I have to take a spoon out of the

silverware tray. The
“silverware” (silverware) – all one word – is the name we
give the knife, the fork, and the spoon together. Sometimes
those are called silverware even though they are not made
of silver. Other people in a restaurant may call them
utensils. “Utensils” (utensils). If you go to a restaurant and
you sit down and you don't have a spoon or a fork or a knife,
you would ask the waiter or waitress for some utensils, or
you could just say, “I need some silverware.”

A “silverware tray” (tray) is a place where you put the

silverware — you put the utensils, the forks, the spoons, the
knives — in a drawer. And, usually a tray is like a little box
that has holes in it for specific things. That word, tray, can
also be used to describe a small, flat piece of plastic or wood
that you use to carry things on, like your dishes.

Well, I get my spoon, and I go out and I get my newspaper,

which, of course, is what has the news, the sports, and the
international and national news. Many Americans like to read
a newspaper in the morning, just like people all over the
world do. “I “sit down at the kitchen table and I read the
paper.” Sometimes we call a newspaper just the paper.
Someone says, “I read it in the paper this morning,” they
mean the newspaper.

Usually I just have time to read a couple of stories, a few of

the stories. When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana
and maybe make a slice of toast with jam.” “To grab” (grab)
means to take something, usually with your hand. “To grab
something with your hand” means to pick it up — to take it
with your hand. “I grab a banana,” which I like to eat, and “a
slice of toast with jam.”
“Toast” (toast) is bread that you put in something called a
“toaster” (toaster) and the toaster heats up the bread until
the bread is brown on the outside. “A slice of toast” (slice) is
a piece of toast. We use the words slice when we are talking
about one piece of bread, or one piece of cake. You can have
a slice of cake; you can also have a slice of pie.

This is a slice of toast, which is bread that we put in a

toaster, and we toast the bread. We can use toast as a verb
as well. And, after I toast the bread, I can put butter on it or I
can put “jam” (jam). And, jam is made from fruit — such as
strawberries — and sugar, and they put them together and it
makes a thick liquid that you can put on a piece of toast. We
would say we spread the jam on the toast. We use that verb
“spread” (spread) to talk about putting butter or putting jam
on a piece of toast, usually with a knife.

When I am done with my breakfast, “I rinse off my breakfast

dishes.” “To rinse” means to clean something with water. To
rinse off is the verb. You could just say, “I rinse my breakfast
dishes,” but we like those two-word verbs in English and so
we would probably say, “rinse off my breakfast dishes.”

I rinse them off in the sink, and I put them in the dishwasher.
The “dishwasher” (dishwasher) is a machine that cleans the
dishes. Some families have dishwashers. The joke that we
make sometimes in English is that someone —when
someone says, “Oh, do you have a dishwasher?” and you
say, “Yes, I am the dishwasher,” which means you don't
have a machine that washes your dishes; you wash your
dishes by yourself. We would say you wash them by hand.

But the time I'm finished rinsing off my breakfast dishes, my

coffee is ready and so, I pour myself a cup. Notice the use of
that verb, “pour.” We use that verb when we are removing
liquid from a bottle and putting it into a cup or a glass. We
also used that verb, “pour,” when I said, “I pour myself a
bowl of cereal.” Now, cereal isn't liquid, but it is something
that you can put into another container, in this case, into a
bowl, and it comes out of the bigger container and into the
smaller container. So, it comes out of the cereal box and
goes into the bowl. So, we use that verb usually when we
talk about liquid things like water or milk, but you can also
use it when we talk about cereal.

Well, “I pour myself a cup” of coffee and I “put the rest in a

Thermos for work.” A Thermos, which is “Thermos,” is a
bottle that keeps hot liquid hot and cold liquid cold. So, if
you have hot coffee and you put it into a Thermos, the
Thermos—this bottle—will keep it hot for a long time.

Now let's listen to the story, this time at a regular speed.

[Start of story]

I walk into my kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker. I always

put the coffee, filter, and water in the night before so it’s
ready to go. Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the
cereal is stored. I would love to have ham and eggs for
breakfast every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles, but
the truth is that I just don’t have the time to cook.

So, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and put in a glass of skim

milk, making sure I take a spoon out of the silverware tray. I
go outside and pick up my newspaper, and sit down at the
kitchen table. I love reading the paper in the morning,
though usually I just have time to read a few of the stories.
When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana and maybe
make a slice of toast with jam. I rinse off my breakfast
dishes in the sink and put them in the dishwasher. By that
time, my coffee is ready so I pour myself a cup and put the
rest in a Thermos for work.

[End of story]

You’ll want to grab a copy of anything written by our

scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. It is sure to help you with your
English.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan, thank you

for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on
ESL Podcast.

Glossary
coffeemaker – a machine that makes coffee by passing hot
water through ground coffee beans
* Scott has a very small coffeemaker that makes only two
cups of coffee each time.

filter – a thin piece of paper that allows liquid to pass

though, but prevents the ground coffee beans from getting
through

* This morning, his cup of coffee had a lot of small pieces of

coffee beans in it because he forgot to put the filter in his
coffeemaker.

the night before – the previous night; yesterday night

* I always choose my clothes the night before, so that I can

get dressed more quickly the next morning.

cupboard – a wooden box with shelves and a door that

hangs on a kitchen wall and is used to store plates, glasses,
and other things

* Please dry the plates and put them back in the kitchen
cupboard above the stove.

cereal – a food made from grains (wheat, oats, barley) that

is eaten with cold milk for breakfast

* I’ve never known anyone who liked to eat cereal as much

as he does. He eats it for breakfast and dinner!

to store – to keep; to put something in a place to use later

* Where should we store these bicycles? Do you have room
in the garage?

ham and eggs – a traditional American breakfast of fried,

salted pork and eggs

* I’m like to order some toast to go with my ham and eggs.

stack – a pile of objects resting on each other that goes up

* When her boyfriend saw that she was carrying a huge

stack of books to her class, he offered to help her.

waffle – a square piece of thick, sweet bread with small

square shapes on each side, usually eaten for breakfast with
syrup, honey, or jam

* To make waffles, you will need flour, sugar, salt, eggs, and
milk.

skim milk – milk that has no fat

* She asked her assistant to get her a cup of coffee with a

little skim milk and no sugar.

silverware tray – a container that holds forks, knives, and

spoons

* Once the forks are dry, please put them in the silverware
tray.
newspaper – large pieces of paper printed with news and
advertisements, usually produced daily or weekly

* We get the Sunday newspaper delivered to our house so

we don’t need to go to the store to buy it.

to grab – to quickly take something with one’s hand

* He grabbed the child’s hand and pulled her away from the
busy street.

slice of toast with jam – a crispy, heated piece of bread

covered with sweet, mashed fruit

* I usually have a slice of toast with jam for breakfast, but

today I didn’t have time.

to rinse off – to use water to remove dirt or small pieces of

food from an object

* She didn’t have time to wash the dishes this morning, but
she rinsed them off so that it wouldn’t be too difficult to
wash later.

dishwasher – a machine that washes dishes

* The dishwasher broke right before the party and we had to

wash all of the dishes by hand.

thermos – a container that has a tight lid that keeps liquids

warm or cold
* He always carries two thermoses to work, one for his
coffee and the other one for his soup.

Culture Note
Dentists

Dentists “diagnose” (identify the source of a problem or

illness) and treat problems with a patient’s teeth, “gums”
(the soft, pink material that helps to hold teeth in place), and
related parts of the mouth. They provide advice and
instruction on taking care of teeth and gums and on “diet”
(what one eats and drinks) choices that affect “oral” (mouth)
health.

Dentists use a variety of materials and equipment. They

wear “masks” (covering over the mouth or face), “gloves”
(covering over the hands), and “safety glasses” (covering
the eyes) to protect themselves and their patients from
“infectious” (able to be transmitted or transferred from one
person to another) diseases.

Dentists also use different types of equipment, including “x-

ray machines,” which take pictures of the body under the
skin, and “drills,” tools that turn very quickly to make holes
in hard surfaces.

Most dental students need at least a bachelor's degree

before entering dental school. All dental schools require
applicants to have completed certain required science
courses, such as “biology” (the study of living things) and
“chemistry” (the study of the substances that matter or
things are composed of). “Majoring in” (selecting as one’s
main focus of university study) a science, such as biology,
might increase the chances of being accepted, but no
specific major is required to enter most dental programs.

College undergraduates who plan on applying to dental

school must usually take the Dental Acceptance Test (DAT)
during their “junior year” (third year) of college. Admission
to dental school can be “competitive” (difficult to achieve or
get). Dental schools use these tests, along with other factors
such as “grade point average” (the average of one’s grades
from individual courses) and recommendations, to admit
students into their programs.

Dentists must be licensed in all states; requirements vary by

state. In most states, a license requires a degree from an
“accredited” (official, having met state or federal
requirements) dental school and passing a written and
“practical” (using one’s hands to complete tasks) exam.