English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
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1
GLOSSARY
spot – place; location; site; destination
* This is a perfect spot for a picnic on a warm day.
convenient – easy and comfortable, not creating problems or difficulty
* We live near the library, so it’s more convenient to walk there than to drive and
have to search for a parking spot.
tried and true – tested and proven; something that has been attempted or used
multiple times and has been shown to be successful or to work well
* This diet is a tried and-true method for lowering your blood pressure.
novelty – something that is new and has not been done, seen, heard, or
experienced before
* Eating ice cream would be a novelty for someone who grew up without
refrigeration.
year after year – every year; repeatedly once a year
* Year after year, they talk about traveling overseas, but they never do.
to rank – to put things in order based on some criteria, especially how good
something is
* Where can I find a report that ranks the U.S. educational system against the
educational system in other countries?
rating – an assigned value based on how good or useful something is
* Kari won’t buy from any online sellers until they have a rating of at least four
stars.
review – a written opinion about how good or bad something is
* The reviews say this restaurant has really good seafood, but a poor selection of
wines.
stars – a system of rating something, especially hotels, where one star is the
lowest rating and five stars is the highest rating
* Have you ever stayed in a five-star hotel?
out of – from; a phrase used to show the number of items one received from the
total number possible
* Gracie was really pleased to get 93 out of 100 points on the exam.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
2
pro – advantage; a positive or beneficial characteristic or feature; something that
makes one like something
* The biggest pro for going to a state university is that the tuition is much lower
than at a private university.
con – disadvantage; a negative or undesirable characteristic or feature;
something that makes one dislike something
* Having to work with Sam is a major con against accepting the job.
pricy – expensive; not cheap
* This menu is so pricy! Maybe we should just share an appetizer.
to ding – to lower the value or rating of something, usually as a negative
consequence of something that has happened
* In my annual work review, my supervisor dinged me for arriving to work late
three times.
to keep an open mind – to be willing to consider everything and delay making a
decision or forming an opinion
* William looks a little odd, with pink hair and lots of tattoos, but please keep an
open mind. He’s a really nice guy.
dubious – skeptical; doubting; questioning whether something is real, believable,
or valid; not sure of whether something is true or real
* When Randall said they bought a great home for just $80,000, we were
dubious.
to take everything (one reads/sees/hears) with a grain of salt – to question
everything one is told and never assume something is true just because one has
read, seen, or heard it
* Meghan swears that drinking herbal tea cured her illness, but I know Meghan
and I’m taking everything she says with a grain of salt.
to break the bank – to cost a lot of money; to leave one with no money
remaining because one has spent it all on something
* It might be tempting to buy a cheap car, but remember that all the repairs might
break the bank.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
3
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. Why doesn’t Marisa want to stay in the same hotel they normally stay in?
a) Because she wants to try something new.
b) Because she thinks it’s too expensive.
c) Because it’s too far from the things they want to see and do.
2. What does Oscar mean when he says, “I’ll keep an open mind”?
a) He’ll listen to other people’s opinions before deciding.
b) He’ll do a lot of research on his own.
c) He’ll do whatever Marisa wants him to do.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
spot
The word “spot,” in this podcast, means a place, location, site, or destination:
“This is the spot where Seungyu wants to get married someday.” A “spot” is also
a stain or a dirty, discolored area, especially on fabric: “You have a spot of
mustard on your lip.” Or, “Clean up that spilled wine right away, or it will leave a
spot on the carpet.” “Spot” is also a common name for a dog, especially in books
that teach children to read: “The boy said, ‘Run, Spot, run!’” As a verb, “to spot,”
mean to see something that is difficult to find, or that one has seen only very
briefly: “Did you spot any beautiful birds on your hike?” Or, “Do you know
anyone who claims to have spotted an alien?”
pro
In this podcast, the word “pro” means an advantage or a positive or beneficial
characteristic or feature that makes one like something: “The main pro of working
in a store is that employees get discounts when they buy things.” A “pro” is also
a professional, especially someone who is paid to do things that other people do
for fun: “Gregorio dreams of becoming a golf pro.” The phrase “an old pro” is
used to describe someone who has a lot of experience doing something: “Glenda
is an old pro at cooking quick meals for a large family.” Finally, the phrase “pro
bono” describes the professional work someone does as a volunteer, without
being paid: “Federico is a successful attorney who completes some pro bono
work for nonprofit organizations each month.”
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
4
CULTURE NOTE
Popular Travel Websites
TripAdvisor is “arguably” (can be said to be) the most popular travel website, with
about 27 million “unique visitors” (different people coming to a website at least
once) each month. Like many other travel websites, TripAdvisor can help people
find and “book” (reserve and pay for) flights, hotel rooms, and car rentals. It also
offers “extensive” (many) reviews of hotels, restaurants, and “destinations”
(places to go and things to do while traveling). Yahoo! Travel and Expedia are
websites with similar services and a “comparable” (similar) number of unique
visitors.
Travelocity, Orbitz, and Kayak have “slightly” (a little bit) fewer visitors, but they
offer similar services to the travel websites described above. Hotels.com
specializes in providing reviews and “booking services” (reservation services) for
hotels. Travel websites sometimes offer “steep discounts” (very low prices),
especially for “vacation packages” (combinations of airfare, hotel rooms, and
local transportation paid for with a single price).
Priceline.com allows people to search for flights, hotels, and car rentals, too, but
it also allows people to “name their own price.” Users can indicate where and
when they want to travel. Then Priceline shares that information with airlines,
hotels, and car rental companies to see if any of them are interested in offering
the service at that price.
Other travel websites specialize in providing the type of information that is
normally found in guidebooks. Travel websites normally allow visitors to read
reviews from other travelers, but a site like Lonely Planet pays employees or
“freelancers” (independent contractors) to go to places and write reviews of
places and destinations that are “off the beaten path” (lesser known and not
commonly visited by tourists).
______________
Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – a
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
5
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 801: Reading
Online Reviews.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 801. I’m your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com. Go there, become a member, download a Learning
Guide, buy one of our premium courses, read our blog, follow us on Facebook at
facebook.com/eslpod.
This episode is a dialogue about reading other people’s opinions on a website
about something you may want to buy or may want to try. Let’s get started.
[start of dialogue]
Marisa: When we go to our favorite vacation spot in two months, let’s stay at a
different hotel.
Oscar: I like the hotel we always stay at. It’s in a convenient location and we’re
already familiar with it.
Marisa: That’s just it. It’s tried and true, but there’s no novelty and excitement in
staying in the same place year after year.
Oscar: I don’t need novelty.
Marisa: Let’s just consider some of these other hotels I’ve been reading about.
They are very highly ranked and their ratings are very good.
Oscar: You’re putting strangers’ reviews above our own experience?
Marisa: Of course not, but just look at this hotel. It received three stars out of
four, and it has a lot of pros.
Oscar: Let me see that. It also has some cons, such as being noisy and pricy.
Marisa: Okay, maybe that isn’t the best example. I didn’t notice that they got
dinged on those things, but let’s look at a few others.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
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6
Oscar: I’ll keep an open mind, but I’m dubious about online reviews. I take
everything I read with a grain of salt. The only people who post reviews are
those who love it or hate it.
Marisa: I’ll just find a hotel that everyone loves.
Oscar: And that doesn’t break the bank?
Marisa: Right.
[end of dialogue]
Marisa begins our dialogue by saying to Oscar, “When we go to our favorite
vacation spot in two months, let’s stay at a different hotel.” A “spot” is a place or
a location. Marisa talks about their favorite vacation spot, the place they like to
go. It could be Hawaii, it could be New York City, it could be Disneyland. “Spot”
has a number of different meanings in English, however; take a look at our
Learning Guide for some of those.
Oscar doesn’t want to stay at a different hotel. He says, “I like the hotel we
always stay at,” that is, we always go to and sleep at. He says the hotel is in a
convenient location. “Convenient” means easy to get to, very comfortable,
doesn’t cause any problems. “It’s in a convenient location and we’re already
familiar with it,” we already know it.
Marisa says, “That’s just it.” That expression, “that’s just it,” means that’s exactly
what the problem is. “It’s tried and true,” she says, “but there’s no novelty and
excitement in staying in the same place year after year.” “It’s tried and true” is an
expression meaning it’s something that we’ve used several times and it has
always been or usually is successful. It’s been tested and proven – it’s tried and
true. “But,” Marisa says, “there’s no novelty.” “Novelty” is something that is new,
something that you have not done or seen or experienced before. Marisa says
that there is no novelty and excitement in staying in the same place “year after
year,” meaning every year.
Oscar says, “I don’t need novelty.” I don’t need a new experience. Marisa says,
“Let’s just consider some of these other hotels I’ve been reading about. They are
very highly ranked and their ratings are very good.” “To rank (rank) (something)”
means to put things in order based on, usually, how good they are. So in a
class, for example, a teacher may decide, well, she’s the best student, he’s the
second-best, she’s the third-best, he’s the fourth-best, and so forth. The teacher
is ranking the students: you’re first, you’re second, you’re third, you’re fourth. I
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
7
was usually like 35
th
out of 36 students, that was usually my rank! “Ratings” are
values that you give something based on how good it is. It could be a number 1
to 10, where 10 is the best and 1 is the worst. “I would rate” – notice we can use
it as a verb also – “I would rate this movie a 5 out of 10,” meaning it’s not great,
but it’s not terrible either, it’s somewhere in between. Or, “I would give this
restaurant three stars.” A star usually is used in school by a teacher to indicate
that you did a good job. We use it in rating things like restaurants; the more stars
it gets the better it is. We do this for movies, too. Well, that’s what “ratings” are;
“ratings” are numbers – usually numbers that you give something to indicate how
good it is. “Rankings” is when you take a group of things and you put them in a
certain order: first, second, or third.
Oscar says, “You’re putting strangers’ reviews above our own experience?” A
“review” is a written opinion – usually a written opinion about how good or how
bad something is. And on the websites nowadays, on many of them that sell
things, you can read reviews, what people think about the things that they
bought. Sometimes they like them, sometimes they don’t. And when they give a
review, usually they give a rating; they say how many points they would give it
from 1 to 5, how many stars they would give this particular product. Oscar is
asking Marisa if she’s putting the opinions – the reviews of other people above
their own experience, meaning she’s saying that other people’s experience is
somehow more important in making the decision than their own experience.
Marisa says, “Of course not, but just look at this hotel. It received three stars out
of four, and it has a lot of pros.” To receive three stars, as I mentioned earlier, for
a hotel or a restaurant is a way of saying how good it is. It could just be three as
a number; we use stars for reasons I explained, because that’s what has
traditionally been used to indicate how good something is. So if the ratings go
from one being the worst to four being the best, then getting three out of four
stars is pretty good. Marisa says the hotel has a lot of pros. “Pros” means
positive things, good things, advantages. “Pro” has a couple of different
meanings in English; take a look at our Learning Guide for some of those. Often
when we’re talking about the good and bad qualities of something we’ll use the
expression “pros and cons” (cons). A “con” in this case means a disadvantage, a
negative or an undesirable thing. So “pros” are good, “cons” are bad.
Oscar says, “Let me see that.” He’s apparently looking at a piece of paper that
has the reviews of the hotel on it. He says the hotel has some cons, such as
being noisy and pricy. “Pricy” (pricy) means expensive, it costs a lot of money,
it’s not cheap. Marisa says, “Okay, maybe that isn’t the best example. I didn’t
notice that they (the hotel) got dinged on those things, but let’s look at a few
others.” “To get dinged” (dinged) – the verb is “to ding” (ding) – means to get a
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
8
lower rating on something, a negative comment or a negative review, a negative
rating about something that you didn’t do very well. So if we look at the reviews
of a hotel, and we see that everyone complains about how noisy it is – how much
noise there is in the hotel – we could say the hotel got dinged by people for all of
the noise it has; it got criticized.
Marisa suggests looking at some other hotels. Oscar says, “I’ll keep an open
mind (meaning I’ll be willing to consider and think about other things – other
hotels), but I’m dubious about online reviews.” “To be dubious” (dubious) means
to be skeptical, to be doubting, to question whether something is really true,
whether you can really believe something. Oscar is dubious about online
reviews, when people put their opinions on a website. He says, “I take
everything I read with a grain of salt.” “To take things with a grain (grain) of salt”
means to question and doubt everything that you are told; don’t believe it just
because somebody told you or just because you read it. Although, you can
believe everything we say here on ESL Podcast, so no – no need to doubt
anything! But for everything else, you might want to take it with a grain of salt.
The expression means to question it, to wonder whether it’s really true. Why do
we say “a grain of salt”? Well, it’s a very old idea, at least as old as the ancient
Romans, that it’s easier to eat food or difficult things to eat with a little bit of salt.
It makes it taste a little better, and so you’re going to be able to eat it a little more
easily. Similarly, you can accept something someone says perhaps a little more
easily if you remember that maybe it’s not all completely true. That’s the grain of
salt that you – you eat, if you will, to accept something that someone tells you.
Oscar says that he’ll take everything he reads with a grain of salt. “The only
people who post reviews,” he says, who put their opinions on these websites,
“are those who love it or hate it.” In other words, you get people who really like
something or really hate something, and so in some ways you don’t get an
average opinion because you only get the extremes: people who love or hate a
certain thing.
Marisa says, “I’ll just find a hotel that everyone loves.” Oscar then says, “And
that doesn’t break the bank?” Marisa says, “Right.” “To break the bank” means
to cost a lot of money, so much money that you don’t have any money left in your
bank; you had to spend it all on this thing that you are buying, in this case the
hotel that you are staying at. Oscar doesn’t want a hotel that’s going to break the
bank, that’s going to be very expensive.
Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
[start of dialogue]
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ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
9
Marisa: When we go to our favorite vacation spot in two months, let’s stay at a
different hotel.
Oscar: I like the hotel we always stay at. It’s in a convenient location and we’re
already familiar with it.
Marisa: That’s just it. It’s tried and true, but there’s no novelty and excitement in
staying in the same place year after year.
Oscar: I don’t need novelty.
Marisa: Let’s just consider some of these other hotels I’ve been reading about.
They are very highly ranked and their ratings are very good.
Oscar: You’re putting strangers’ reviews above our own experience?
Marisa: Of course not, but just look at this hotel. It received three stars out of
four, and it has a lot of pros.
Oscar: Let me see that. It also has some cons, such as being noisy and pricy.
Marisa: Okay, maybe that isn’t the best example. I didn’t notice that they got
dinged on those things, but let’s look at a few others.
Oscar: I’ll keep an open mind, but I’m dubious about online reviews. I take
everything I read with a grain of salt. The only people who post reviews are
those who love it or hate it.
Marisa: I’ll just find a hotel that everyone loves.
Oscar: And that doesn’t break the bank?
Marisa: Right.
[end of dialogue]
Did you know you can rate ESL Podcast on iTunes? Go to iTunes today, look up
ESL Podcast, and give us a high rating. You can especially mention the
wonderful work by our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 801 – Reading Online Reviews
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
10
From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come
back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,
hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2012 by the Center for Educational
Development.
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