M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco. E: And I’m Erica. M: And today with Erica we’re bringing you a great lesson about time. E: We need more of it. M: We need more time, right? E: Yeah. M: So, we’re gonna be teaching you how you can ask for more time. E: If you’re working on a project at work and you can’t finish it on time, you have to ask your boss for more time. M: Right, so, today in our dialogue Casey needs more time to put together a press kit. E: What’s a press kit? M: Good question. A press kit is something the marketing department will put together, basically, pictures, logos, um, all… information about the company. E: Uhu. M: So, when a newspaper or a magazine wants to write an article about them, so, they have something already prepared that they could give the newspaper or magazine. E: Okay. M: Okay, so, let’s listen to our dialogue for the first time and as always it’s gonna be at a normal speed, so, it might be a little bit difficult to understand. E: We’ll come back in one minute and tell you about some of the key language. A: So, Casey, how are things going with the photos for the press kit? B: Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I might need to ask for an extension on that dead- line. A: You’ve had over a month to get this finalized! Why are things delayed? B: Well, the thing is, we ran into a lot of problems. . . A: I’m not looking for excuses here. I just want to get this finished on time! B: I know, and I apologize for the delay. But some things were just beyond my control. I had trouble booking the photographer, and then Michael was sick for three weeks, so I couldn’t include him in the photos, and the design team lost all the files, so I had to re-do the pictures. A: I’m not going to put this off any longer, Casey! I want those photos ASAP! M: Alright, so, Casey is in trouble, I think. E: Yeah, I think her boss is pretty upset. M: Yeah, well, let’s take a look at some of the language that we saw in this dialogue in “language takeaway”. Voice: Language takeaway. M: First word today is deadline. E: Deadline. M: Deadline. E: Deadline. M: So, Erica, what’s a deadline? E: It is the last possible date to do something. M: So, for example, when we were in school… E: Uhu. M: Our teacher would send us homework and say it was for Friday. E: So, the deadline was Friday. M: Was Friday. E: Uhu. M: Right? Or when you’re at work you have projects that you have to finish by a certain date. That’s your deadline. E: Exactly. M: Okay, let’s look at our next word – extension. E: Extension. M: Extension. E: Extension. M: So, extension and deadline go together, right? E: Exactly, if you can’t reach your deadline or you can’t make your deadline, you must ask for an extension. M: An extension. So, you ask for more time. E: Yeah, an extension is moving the deadline in the future. M: Alright, interesting. Let’s look at our next word – ran into. E: Ran into. M: Ran into. E: Ran into some problems. M: So, we ran into some problems in this dialogue. Let’s listen to some more examples of run into, so we can understand the meaning. Voice: Example one. A: We’ve ran into a storm on our way home. Voice: Example two. B: If you’re not careful now, you’re going to run into a lot of problems later. Voice: Example three. C: I ran into some trouble with my computer. M: Okay, good examples, so, it’s clear now, right? E: Right, if you run into problems, you meet some problems. M: Right. Many students say it in that way “I met some problems”. E: Yeah, but that’s wrong. M: Right. So, you would say “I ran into some problems”. E: Right, “I met some problems” is wrong, wrong, wrong. M: Okay, don’t say “met some problems”. E: I ran into some problems. M: I ran into, okay. And our last word for language takeaway – delayed. E: Delayed. M: Delayed. E: Delayed. M: So, when something is delayed, it’s… E: Late. M: Late. E: And the opposite is… M: On time. E: Yeah, so, your flight was delayed. M: Or your flight was on time. E: The project was delayed. M: Or your project was on time. E: Clear. M: Alright. So, now let’s go back to the dialogue. Let’s listen to it again. E: And this time it’ll be a little bit slower, so you can understand some of these phrases we just talked about. A: So, Casey, how are things going with the photos for the press kit? B: Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I might need to ask for an extension on that dead- line. A: You’ve had over a month to get this finalized! Why are things delayed? B: Well, the thing is, we ran into a lot of problems. . . A: I’m not looking for excuses here. I just want to get this finished on time! B: I know, and I apologize for the delay. But some things were just beyond my control. I had trouble booking the photographer, and then Michael was sick for three weeks, so I couldn’t include him in the photos, and the design team lost all the files, so I had to re-do the pictures. A: I’m not going to put this off any longer, Casey! I want those photos ASAP! M: Okay, so, there were some really useful phrases that we saw in this dialogue. E: Yeah, some wonderful phrases that you can use when you want to ask for more time. M: Okay, so, let’s look at these phrases in “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder. M: Alright, what’s our first phrase? E: I’ve been meaning to talk to you. M: I’ve been meaning to. E: I’ve been meaning to. M: Okay, we have some really great examples of how you can combine I’ve been meaning to with different verbs. E: Yeah, let’s listen. Voice: Example one. A: I’m sorry I haven’t called you yet; I’ve been meaning to, but I’ve been busy. Voice: Example two. B: I’ve been meaning to tell you, but John quit yesterday. Voice: Example three. C: I’ve been meaning to see that film for a while. M: I’ve been meaning to go to that restaurant, but I haven’t had time. E: So, you’ve been wanting to for a long time. M: Right. I’ve been thinking about it. E: Yeah. M: I’ve been planning to do it. E: But you just haven’t done it. M: I haven’t done it. E: Yeah. M: Maybe because I haven’t had time or money. E: Uhu. M: Okay. Good phrase. E: Our next phrase is… beyond my control. M: Beyond my control. E: It’s beyond my control. M: So, it means that I can’t control it. E: You can’t do anything about it. M: Can’t do anything about it. The weather is beyond my control. E: Right. Or relate with this project: because Jane was sick for one month, it was beyond my control. M: Okay. E: Uhu. M: It wasn’t you fault. E: No. M: Okay. And our last phrase for fluency builder – put this off. E: Put this off. M: Put this off. E: Put this off. M: So, let’s listen to some more examples of put this off before we explain the meaning. Voice: Example one. A: I’ve been putting off this project for a week and it’s due tomorrow! Voice: Example two. B: Can we put off our meeting to next week; I’m too busy right now. Voice: Example three. C: I’ve been putting off my e-mail all day and now I have fifty messages to respond to! E: So, Marco, when you put something off, you… M: Leave it for later. E: Okay. M: Right? So, maybe I have to write a report today… E: Uhu. M: But I’m gonna put it off till tomorrow. E: So, you’re gonna do it tomorrow. M: I’ll do it tomorrow. Okay, so we’ve seen some great words and some really good phrases, so, now let’s listen to our dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk some more. E: Uhu. A: So, Casey, how are things going with the photos for the press kit? B: Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I might need to ask for an extension on that dead- line. A: You’ve had over a month to get this finalized! Why are things delayed? B: Well, the thing is, we ran into a lot of problems. . . A: I’m not looking for excuses here. I just want to get this finished on time! B: I know, and I apologize for the delay. But some things were just beyond my control. I had trouble booking the photographer, and then Michael was sick for three weeks, so I couldn’t include him in the photos, and the design team lost all the files, so I had to re-do the pictures. A: I’m not going to put this off any longer, Casey! I want those photos ASAP! E: Well, Marco, do you think that Casey’s reasons for being late are good? M: I think so, because it wasn’t really her fault, the whole situation with, uh, photographer and then one of her coworkers was sick for three weeks. E: Yeah. M: It’s not really her fault, right? E: Right, but maybe the boss thinks that she’s making excuses. M: Yeah, maybe she’s making excuses. That’s really common like, for example, when we were kids, you would say “oh, you know, my dog ate my homework”. E: Right, but… that… really happened to me once. M: Hehe. Your dog ate your homework? E: My cat ate my homework. M: Your cat ate your homework. E: Yeah. M: And what did your teacher say? E: Well, actually I was a really good student, so, my teacher believed me. M: Hehe. Well, my teacher wouldn’t have believed me. E: Really? M: No, no, she would’ve… she would’ve called my parents most likely. E: Yeah, well, my… my cat really did eat my homework. And… I just left it on the table and it chewed it at all. M: That’s weird. Why would your cat do that? E: I don’t know. M: A lot weir excuses out there. E: Yeah. M: I was abducted by aliens. E: Aha. M: My mom accidentally mailed my homework to Africa. E: Really? M: Yeah, that was… E: Was it happen to you? M: Creative… E: Aha. M: Writing. E: Oh, Okay. M: Creative excuses. E: Well, I wanna hear from our listeners. I wanna know what excuses they’ve used for being late with something. M: So, send us your excuses, send us your comments and questions. Go to our website at englishpod.com, where Erica and I are always there to answer you questions. E: That’s right, Marco, and this is an elementary lesson, right? M: Exactly. E: But we also have intermediate and upper-intermediate and advanced lessons for you more fluent English speakers. M: Exactly, so, if you’re listening to us on iTunes, be sure to visit our website and come see what else we have to offer. E: Well, I think we’re out of time, but until next time… it's… Good bye! M: Bye!