E: Hello English learners! And welcome to EnglishPod! My name’s Erica and I’m here 
with… Marco? Marco, hurry up! 
M: I’m coming! 
E: Hurry up, Marco, we’ve got a lesson! 
M: Oh, okay, I’m here, I’m here, what did I miss? 
E: Uh, the lesson. 
M: Hehe. Alright, sorry about that. Um, we have a great lesson for you today. We have an 
elementary lesson. 
E: That’s right, an elementary lesson about being in a rush and about giving directions 
when you’re in a car. 
M: Exactly. 
E: We’re going to listen to two friends who are getting in a car and they’re getting ready to 
go somewhere and they’re in a big hurry. So, let’s hurry up and listen to the dialogue. 
A: Hurry up, get in.
B: I’m in, let’s go!
A: OK, make a left here. . . no wait, I meant make a
right. Come on, speed up!
B: Geez! What’s the rush?
A: Don’t worry about it, just drive. Oh, no, the light is
about to change. . . step on it!
B: Are you nuts! I’m not going to run a red light!
A: Whatever. Just turn right here. . . .The freeway will
be packed at this hour. . . .let’s take a side street.
Go on! Get out of our way! Move, move!
B: What’s your problem! Geez. Having a fit is not
going to help!
A: Here, I know a short cut....just go down here, and
we’ll cut though Ashburn Heights. Let’s go, let’s
go! Watch out for that lady!
B: I’m going as fast as I can!
A: Yes! We made it. 5:58, just before the library
closes.
B: You’re such a geek!
 
M: So, they were in a hurry and it was all just to get to the library. 
E: Well, maybe he was late returning a book or something. 
M: Hehe. That’s a bit dramatic just for returning a book. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Alright, why don’t we look at our “language takeaway” for today? 
Voice: Language takeaway. 
M: Okay, on today’s language takeaway we have five words for you today, five really 
important and useful words that we found in our dialogue. So, let’s take a look at the first 
one – step on it. 
E: Step on it. 
M: Step on it. 
E: Step on it. 
M: So, what does it mean when I tell you to step on it? 
E: Drive faster. 
M: Drive faster, right? 
E: Uhu. 
M: Step on it. 
E: Exactly, you might also say “speed up”. 
M: Speed up, yes. 
E: Speed up. 
M: That’s exactly it! Our second word – speed up. 
E: Also means “go faster”. 
M: Go faster. And what about the opposite? 
E: You might say “slow down”. 
M: Slow down. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Okay, so, speed up and slow down. 
E: So, our third word for today is having a fit. 
M: Having a fit. 
E: Having a fit. 
M: Having a fit. 
E: Well, this a funny phrase and I think listening to a few examples of this phrase might 
help us understand its meaning a little bit better. 
Voice: Example one. 
A: Jeez! You don’t need to have a fit. Nothing is going to happen if we’re five minutes late. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: My boss is going to have a fit if I don’t finish this on time. 
Voice: Example three. 
C: Oh, I almost had a fit when my boss told me I had to work this weekend. 
M: Okay, great examples. So, Erica, why don’t you tell me what does it mean when you 
have a fit? 
E: It means you get really angry and you can’t control your emotions. So, maybe you start 
screaming and maybe some steam comes out of your ears. 
M: Hehe. Okay, that’s having a fit. 
E: Exactly. 
M: Excellent. Okay, let’s take a look at our next word now – cut through. 
E: Cut through. 
M: Cut through. 
E: Cut through. 
M: When you cut through something, it means you just… 
E: Go through. 
M: Go through. 
E: Yeah, quite simple. It… it gives you the idea that you go through something quickly. 
M: Quickly, so, I can say “let’s cut through the park”. 
E: Yep, or “let’s cut through the backyard”. 
M: Okay, go through. 
E: Uhu. 
M: And this takes us to our last word for today – shortcut. 
E: Shortcut. 
M: Shortcut. 
E: Shortcut. 
M: This is a really common word and not many people know about it. 
E: Yeah, you’re right, it’s two simple words that when you fit them together, the meaning 
changes. It’s… it’s a great example of this real English we talk about. 
M: And it means to take a shorter way somewhere. 
E: Exactly, so, if I take a shortcut, I go the short way. 
M: Okay, so, going back just a little bit to cut through. If I cut through the park, that’s 
basically a shortcut.  
E: Exactly! 
M: Alright. 
E: Okay. 
M: Now it’s clear. 
E: Okay. 
M: Now it’s time to listen to our dialogue again, but this time it’s gonna be slower, so then 
we can understand all these words that we just talked about. 
A: Hurry up, get in.
B: I’m in, let’s go!
A: OK, make a left here. . . no wait, I meant make a
right. Come on, speed up!
B: Geez! What’s the rush?
A: Don’t worry about it, just drive. Oh, no, the light is
about to change. . . step on it!
B: Are you nuts! I’m not going to run a red light!
A: Whatever. Just turn right here. . . .The freeway will
be packed at this hour. . . .let’s take a side street.
Go on! Get out of our way! Move, move!
B: What’s your problem! Geez. Having a fit is not
going to help!
A: Here, I know a short cut....just go down here, and
we’ll cut though Ashburn Heights. Let’s go, let’s
go! Watch out for that lady!
B: I’m going as fast as I can!
A: Yes! We made it. 5:58, just before the library
closes.
B: You’re such a geek!
 
E: Okay, well, I think that was a lot more clear this time. You know, there’s some great 
language in that dialogue and I would like to look at how we can “put it together”. 
Voice: Putting it together. 
M: Okay, so, today on putting it together we have three phrases for you. 
E: And we’re gonna show you how you can use these phrases like a native speaker. 
M: Okay, so, all of these phrases we heard in the dialogue. Why don’t we start with the first 
one? Make a… 
E: Make a… 
M: So, in the dialogue they say “make a left here”. 
E: Yeah, and we can extend this phrase to say make a right. 
M: Uhu. That would be the equivalent of saying “turn left”. 
E: Or “turn right”. 
M: Turn right. And there’s one more – make a U-turn. 
E: Exactly, that means turn the car a hundred and eighty degrees, all the way around. 
M: Make a U-turn. 
E: So, make a left, make a right, make a U-turn. 
M: Uhu. If you ever are in a taxi and you’re telling the taxi driver where to go, this is the 
perfect way: make a left here, make a right there. 
E: Okay, so, let’s move to our second phrase and it is are you nuts? 
M: Are you nuts? 
E: Are you nuts? So, this is a great way of saying… 
M: Are you crazy? 
E: Are you insane? 
M: Are you mad? 
E: So, when would we use a phrase like this?  
M: If somebody has a bad idea that you don’t agree with, you would say “are you crazy?” or 
“are you nuts?” 
E: So, Marco, let’s stop this podcast right now! 
M: Are you nuts? 
E: Okay, I think that’s a good example of how we can use this phrase. 
M: Yes. 
E: So, are you nuts? Are you insane? Are you mad? 
M: So, let’s listen to some examples of are you nuts? 
Voice: Example one. 
A: You wanna get married now? Are you nuts? You only met up three weeks ago. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: Are you nuts? I’m not going to cheat on the exam. What if I get caught? 
E: So, I think that’s clear and now we can move to our third phrase which is let’s take a 
side street. 
M: Let’s take a side street. 
E: Let’s take a side street. 
M: Again, so, if you’re in a taxi, this is a great way to suggest a route.  
E: Or suggest a direction. 
M: Right. 
E: So, we can take this phrase and extend it out with a few more words. We might say “let’s 
take Wilson Avenue”. 
M: Right, or “let’s take the highway”. 
E: So, let’s take a side street, let’s take Wilson Avenue, let’s take the freeway. 
M: Okay, so now, let’s take a listen to this dialogue a third time at its normal speed and 
now you can understand everything that’s in this dialogue. 
A: Hurry up, get in.
B: I’m in, let’s go!
A: OK, make a left here. . . no wait, I meant make a
right. Come on, speed up!
B: Geez! What’s the rush?
A: Don’t worry about it, just drive. Oh, no, the light is
about to change. . . step on it!
B: Are you nuts! I’m not going to run a red light!
A: Whatever. Just turn right here. . . .The freeway will
be packed at this hour. . . .let’s take a side street.
Go on! Get out of our way! Move, move!
B: What’s your problem! Geez. Having a fit is not
going to help!
A: Here, I know a short cut....just go down here, and
we’ll cut though Ashburn Heights. Let’s go, let’s
go! Watch out for that lady!
B: I’m going as fast as I can!
A: Yes! We made it. 5:58, just before the library
closes.
B: You’re such a geek!
 
E: Well, this dialogue is all about driving, right? 
M: Yes. 
E: And in North America where both of us are from… 
M: Uhu. 
E: Uh, driving is everything. 
M: Everybody has a car. 
E: When did you get a car? 
M: I… well, my car I got when I was like… maybe… nineteen. 
E: Really? 
M: But I learned how to drive and I was driving already by the age of sixteen. 
E: Yeah, that’s the thing, in many countries you have to wait till I think you’re eighteen to 
drive, but, uh, in North America everyone has a driver’s license by the time they’re 
sixteen years old. 
M: Yeah, yeah, I guess everything is so far away that you need a car. 
E: Yeah, it’s a lot less likely to have, uh, subways or trains to travel by in North America. 
M: Alright, so, now you have all the tools necessary to give directions the next time you’re 
in a car or in a taxi. 
E: Well, everyone, I really hope you enjoyed this lesson. Now, I want to remind you all to 
come to our EnglishPod website at englishpod.com and here you’ll find a lot of tools to 
help you understand our podcasts better. So, with that, until next time… this is good bye! 
M: Bye!