Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 33. You're listening to English as a Second Language podcast number 33. My name is Dr. Jeff McQuillen coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in Los Angeles, California. Please visit our website for more information on this podcast at www .eslpod .com. Today's topic is special talents, abilities that people have. in music or in sports. Lucy is going to talk about special talents and her ideas about it.
Let's listen in. Would you want to have a special talent in something? Maybe as a musician or an athlete? I'm of two minds about this. Sometimes I watch TV or read about someone who has a special talent. This was true during the Olympics. Some of those athletes I saw were very talented. Whether it was playing soccer running track, ice skating, or doing gymnastic routines, you could see how gifted they were and how well -trained and focused
they were. I get the same feeling when I see musicians who can sing well or play an instrument easily. or listening to them can take your breath away. I sometimes wish I had a special gift like theirs. On the other hand, I also read about stories of children who are singled out as having
talent early in life. Some of these kids begin training or practicing at the exclusion of other things kids do like hanging out with friends or learning things in other subjects Some of these kids don't go to school, but are taught at home with tutors instead. They may be sent away to teachers or trainers in other cities, sometimes even without their parents. And sometimes they spend so much time developing their talent they don't have much time to develop other parts
of their lives. These kids often live under a lot of pressure to perform. I envy these kids' talent, but I don't envy their lives. I guess maybe it's not so bad being mediocre after all. At least, That's what I'll keep telling myself when I practice this week. Lucy talked to us today about people who have special talents. A talent is the ability to do something such
as music or athletics or anything really. that you are very good at Lucy said that she was of two minds about whether having a special talent was a good or thing or a bad thing to say you are of two minds means you're not quite sure which side of the question or which opinion you have if you can think of the good things and the bad things, you might be of two minds. Well, maybe this is what I want to do or maybe that's
what I want to do. So, not being able to decide is sometimes, we sometimes use that expression of two minds. The opposite of that is to make up your mind. I've made up my mind means I've decided. Lucy talked about athletes in the Olympics, and she mentioned some sports. She used the expression playing soccer. We generally, for sports, use the verb to play, and you can use that for almost every sport, but not every sport. You can say play basketball, play football, play soccer.
play tennis. So play is used most of the time, but there are a couple of sports or athletic activities that we use a special verb for. Lucy talked about running track. Track, of course, is when people run a hundred meters or they run a marathon a long whole day. The verb there is run. We run track. We run a marathon. Some sports have their own verb made from the name of the sport. Ice skate. To ice skate is a verb. So we don't say playing ice skating. We say ice
skating. That's the verb. A couple of sports such as gymnastics also don't use the word play we say we do gymnastics or do gymnastic routines or the exercises and activities that you do in gymnastics. Lucy said that many of these young athletes were gifted and well trained. To be gifted at something means to Have a special talent a special ability to do it We sometimes say that someone is gifted in Mathematics or gifted in
music. It's the same as having a very special talent to be well trained is to be well prepared to Practice a lot to know how to do your sport your talent very well, to use your talent very well. Lucy said that these athletes and musicians are focused. To be focused means to pay attention, to have all of your attention on what you are doing. The opposite of focused is distracted. I was distracted and I didn't hear what you said. Well, If you are focused, you are paying attention
and you hear. Lucy said that watching these athletes or special talented people can take your breath away. To take your breath away means to be very impressed, to say to yourself, wow, that is really good. We can say this about someone's performance in music or in athletics. We can also say it about, say, a beautiful picture or a beautiful person, a woman or a man. You can say they took my breath away. They were so beautiful I forgot to breathe and I held my breath. They were so
beautiful or they were so talented. Another expression that Lucy used in talking about children who have special talents is that they are sometimes singled out. To be singled out means to be selected from a group. It can be a good thing or a bad thing. The boss singled me out for failing to finish my assignment or my task or my job. So single doubt means that there is a group and that you select one person. Lucy said this can happen with children and they begin to practice
at the exclusion of other things. To exclude something means to not do it, to not include it. Exclude is the opposite of include. So when we say I'm doing something at the exclusion of other things or of all else, to do something at the exclusion of means that you only do that thing and not the other things. One of the things that kids who are gifted sometimes miss is hanging out with friends. To hang out means to spend
time with. It's an informal expression. Lucy said that these children try to develop their talent. To develop their talent means to make it better, to take your talent or your gift and improve upon it. Nevertheless, Lucy pointed out that children like this sometimes live under a lot of pressure. To live under a lot of pressure or to work under a lot of pressure means that many people are expecting much from you and There
is a lot of stress. There is a lot of worry and anxiety to live under pressure means that You are uncomfortable Lucy said that she envies other people's talents To envy means to want to have It's a little more though than just desire to envy means to want something in a way of Taking it away from the other person so that the other person doesn't have it This is the negative side of envy. We also use this expression though in
a more neutral or even positive way. For example, you can compliment someone by saying, I envy your intelligence. Meaning, I want to have your intelligence because you are so smart. So it can be used in a negative way or in a positive way to envy. Lucy said that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, being mediocre. To be mediocre means to be not very good at something. It's somewhere in between good and bad. I'm good at tennis, I'm bad at basketball, and at golf, I'm mediocre,
somewhere in between. But not very good. Finally, Lucy said that she will keep telling herself that when she practices this week that it's not so bad being mediocre. To tell yourself something or to say I'll keep telling myself means I'll keep reminding myself. Sometimes we say this
when it isn't really true. For example, I'm not very good at chess at playing chess but I keep telling myself it's because my father didn't teach me so we use this as an excuse just keep telling yourself that means you are using an excuse that isn't really true That's going to do it for today's English as a Second Language podcast. As always, we ask you to email us and tell us who you are and where you are. Our email address is eslpod at eslpod .com. I'm Jeff McQuillen
from Los Angeles, California. We'll see you next time on English as a Second Language. ESL Podcast is produced by the Center for Educational Development in Los Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright 2005.