M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco. 
E: And I’m Erica. 
M: And today we’re back in the office, we have a lesson that’s talking about something that 
goes wrong in the office. 
E: Yeah, something that I can really understand well, but we’ll talk about that later. So this 
lesson is about a photocopier. 
M: A photocopier, so let’s take a look at this word in “vocabulary preview”. 
Voice: Vocabulary preview. 
M: Alright, so a photocopier makes copies. 
E: Yeah. It makes copies of documents. We often call it a copier… 
M: Uhu. 
E: Or a copy machine. 
M: Uhu. Yeah, so you can call it a photocopier, copy machine or copier. 
E: Yes, or a Xerox machine as well. 
M: Xerox machine, yeah. 
E: Yeah. 
M: We can talk about that a little bit later, cause that’s an interesting story. 
E: Okay. 
M: Alright, let’s take a look at our next word, tonner. 
E: Tonner. 
M: Tonner. 
E: Tonner. 
M: So, tonner is what the copy machine uses to make copies. 
E: It’s like the… the ink. 
M: Right, ah, it’s a very fine black powder. 
E: Ouh. 
M: Yeah, yeah. 
E: So, it’s not an ink. 
M: No, it’s actually dry. 
E: Okay. 
M: Yeah, yeah, it’s a… it’s dry, it’s… it’s a powder, so you don’t’ wanna get that all over you. 
E: Alright. Well, good advice, Marco, and… 
M: Hehe. 
E: And our last word in vocabulary preview, malfunction. 
M: Malfunction. 
E: Malfunction. 
M: Malfunction. 
E: Let’s break down this word [NOTE: here break down means "analyze" or "take to 
pieces"] 
M: Alright. 
E: Function? 
M: To work. 
E: Aha. 
M: Alright. 
E: Mal? 
M: I guess mal maybe comes from Latin or something… cause in Spanish we say “Mal”, 
which is something evil or not good. 
E: Okay, so I think we can understand malfunction is… 
M: Not good working, right? Hehe. 
E: Hehe. Yeah, um… okay, more or less it’s not working properly. 
M: It’s not working properly… 
E: Yeah. 
M: Right. 
E: Okay, well, why don’t we listen to the dialogue and find out what isn’t working properly. 
A: Hey Carl, can you make a copy of this contract for
me please? When you have it ready, send it out
ASAP to our subbranch.
B: Sure! Um... I think I broke this thing. Maxine, can
you help me out here? I’m not really a tech guy.
C: Yeah, sure. I think it’s just out of toner. You can go
use the other one upstairs. On your way up, can
you fax this while I try and fix this thing?
B: Sure! Dammit! Everything in this office seems
to be breaking down! Never mind. I’ll send this
stupid fax later. Oh great! Is someone playing a
practical joke on me? This is ridiculous!
D: The elevator has some sort of malfunction. Just
take the stairs dude. What floor are you going to?
B: I have to go up fifteen floors! Never mind. Made
it! There is the copier!
 
M: Okay, so this copy machine is definitely not working properly. 
E: Hehe. A serious malfunction. 
M: A serious malfunction, I think the whole building exploded. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Alright, very dramatic here at EnglishPod, but we have fun, right?  
E: Exactly. 
M: Okay, let’s take a look at some of the great language that we saw in “language 
takeaway”. 
Voice: Language takeaway. 
E: Alright, three words for you here in language takeaway and we heard all of these in the 
dialogue. 
M: Uhu. 
E: So, this guy needs to get a copy ASAP. 
M: ASAP. 
E: ASAP. 
M: Or A-S-A-P. 
E: Yes, meaning… 
M: As soon as possible. 
E: So, really really fast. 
M: Rally fast. 
E: Yeah. 
M: This is a very very common phase. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Right? 
E: So, it’s an acronym and you can say it like ASAP or… 
M: A-S-A-P. 
E: Exactly. 
M: Yeah, usually people say like that because it’s too long I guess to say as soon as 
possible, so… 
E: Yeah. 
M: Hey, I need this document ASAP. 
E: Yes, a… 
M: Or A-S-A-P. 
E: Exactly. 
M: Okay, let’s look at our next word, a practical joke. 
E: Practical joke. 
M: Practical joke. 
E: Practical joke. 
M: Okay, so, a practical joke. I’m sure we have all played a practical joke on some of our 
friends, right? 
E: Yes. 
M: Basically what you do is you do something funny on purpose to someone. 
E: Yeah, um, but something crazy. 
M: Crazy, right? 
E: Yeah, for example, um, when I was in university, ah, there was this guy in our… in our 
building. 
M: Uhu. 
E: And we took all of his bedroom furnitures, of his bed his desk, everything, and put it 
down on the football field. 
M: Nice. 
E: Yeah, that was a practical joke. 
M: Hehe. It is a very good and elaborate practical joke. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Okay, so practical joke… do something crazy or funny to your friends. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Okay, and now let’s look at our last word, never mind. 
E: Never mind. 
M: Never mind. 
E: Never mind. 
M: Okay, so if you say never mind it means… 
E: Don’t worry about it. 
M: Don’t worry about it. 
E: Forget it. 
M: Forget it. 
E: Yep. 
M: Never mind. 
E: Yeah. Yeah, this is a… you know, this is so common and I think it would be helpful to 
understand how it’s used, so let’s hear some examples. 
Voice: Example one. 
A: Someone stole my wallet! Oh, wait, never mind. Here it is. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: Can you get some milk on your way home? Oh, never mind, we still have some. 
Voice: Example three. 
C: The printer’s broken? Never mind I’ll do this later. 
M: Okay, great examples and I think… our language takeaway is clear. So, why don’t we 
listen to our dialogue for the second time and then we’ll come back and talk about putting it 
together. 
A: Hey Carl, can you make a copy of this contract for
me please? When you have it ready, send it out
ASAP to our subbranch.
B: Sure! Um... I think I broke this thing. Maxine, can
you help me out here? I’m not really a tech guy.
C: Yeah, sure. I think it’s just out of toner. You can go
use the other one upstairs. On your way up, can
you fax this while I try and fix this thing?
B: Sure! Dammit! Everything in this office seems
to be breaking down! Never mind. I’ll send this
stupid fax later. Oh great! Is someone playing a
practical joke on me? This is ridiculous!
D: The elevator has some sort of malfunction. Just
take the stairs dude. What floor are you going to?
B: I have to go up fifteen floors! Never mind. Made
it! There is the copier!
 
E: In this dialogue there’s some great language that can be used in many different patterns 
or many different ways, so… 
M: Uhu. 
E: In today’s “putting it together” we’re gonna show you how to use three of these 
patterns. 
Voice: Putting it together. 
M: Okay, the first pattern that we can look at is out of tonner. 
E: Out of tonner. 
M: Right, so, we’ve already talked about tonner. 
E: Yep. 
M: Let’s talk about “out of”. 
E: Okay, so when you’re out of, you… you have none. 
M: Right, so let’s change a little bit, so I can say, I’m out of milk. 
E: Aha, um, I’m out of time. 
M: Out of time, right? 
E: Yep. 
M: Ah, if you’re driving, I’m out of gas. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Or gasoline. 
E: Yep. So, Out of + noun. 
M: Uhu, perfect. It means you don’t have none… you don’t have none… 
E: Hehe. englishpod.com. 
M: EnglishPod.com… you ain't got none. 
E: Eubonics.com 
M: Hehe. Alright, out of time. Let’s take a look at our second one, on your way up. 
E: Yeah, on your way up. 
M: On your way, right? 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, this is a great way when you’re talking to someone and you’re going to somewhere. 
E: Yes. 
M: Right? So, on your way up… 
E: Can you bring this to HR. [NOTE: HR = Human Resources] 
M: Okay, on your way to the store… 
E: Can you mail this letter. 
M: Uhu, or maybe on your way home… 
E: Can you buy me some flowers. 
M: Hehe. Nice, alright, so on your way, it means… 
E: It means while you re going there. 
M: Right. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Taking advantage of the fact that you’re going somewhere. 
E: Yes. 
M: Okay, now let’s take a look at our last one and this is a really great phrase. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Break down. 
E: Break down. 
M: In our dialogue we heard breaking down. 
E: Yes. 
M: Right? 
E: The every thing in the office seems to be breaking down. 
M: Right, so when something breaks down… 
E: It stops working 
M: It stops working… 
E: Yeah. 
M: Exactly. So we can change it a little bit. What happens if we say break up? 
E: Ooh, boyfriend and girlfriend. 
M: Right. 
E: They end their relationship. 
M: Okay, so there… we can maybe think about it as their relationship stops working. 
E: Oh, nice one. 
M: Right? 
E: Yeah. 
M: Okay. What about break in? 
E: Hum, enter a place using force. 
M: Right, you… you enter a house that’s not yours. 
E: Yeah, so if you break in to a house maybe you break the window and climb in. 
M: Okay. 
E: Uhu. 
M: What about brake out? 
E: The opposite. 
M: Right. 
E: So, for example, you might break out of jail. 
M: Break out of prison, uhu? 
E: Yep. 
M: So, this is a great phrase you can change the… you can change the last word from break 
down, break up, break in… 
E: Yeah. 
M: And it means different things. 
E: Yeah, so use different prepositions for different meanings. 
M: Perfect. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Okay, so now let’s listen to our dialogue for the last time and then Erica and I will be 
back and talk a little bit more about malfunctioning office supplies. 
A: Hey Carl, can you make a copy of this contract for
me please? When you have it ready, send it out
ASAP to our subbranch.
B: Sure! Um... I think I broke this thing. Maxine, can
you help me out here? I’m not really a tech guy.
C: Yeah, sure. I think it’s just out of toner. You can go
use the other one upstairs. On your way up, can
you fax this while I try and fix this thing?
B: Sure! Dammit! Everything in this office seems
to be breaking down! Never mind. I’ll send this
stupid fax later. Oh great! Is someone playing a
practical joke on me? This is ridiculous!
D: The elevator has some sort of malfunction. Just
take the stairs dude. What floor are you going to?
B: I have to go up fifteen floors! Never mind. Made
it! There is the copier!
 
M: Alright, so, Erica, everything that you touch that’s electronic seems to malfunction, 
right? 
E: This is absolutely true. 
M: Hehe. 
E: I don’t know what it is, but you know what, if… if I turn on a computer it will suddenly 
get a virus. 
M: Hehe. 
E: And then… even if I’m very careful it still breaks. 
M: Right. Yeah, it happens sometimes I can relate to that, um… 
E: But you are much, um, better at computers and technology than I am. 
M: Hehe. Well, I really really like them and, well, I guess even I know a little bit about copy 
machines or copiers. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Because my uncles are…  like copy technicians. 
E: Really? 
M: Yeah, so, um, you know, they fix copiers that broke down. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Or they replace tonner and, ah, you know, they… they do all that stuff, so that’s why I 
know a little bit about it. But actually the original term is the Xerox machine. 
E: Yes, why is that? 
M: From the brand, right? 
E: Ah, right. 
M: There’s a brand called Xerox. 
E: Uhu. 
M: And a Xerox invented and patented this technology of making copies. 
E: Alright, well, the next time my photocopier explodes I’ll call you. 
M: You call… call my uncles, right? 
E: Okay. Hehe. 
M: Hehe. Alright, and, well, let us know how things in your office break down or if you have 
any stories of like Erica that breaks everything she touches. 
E: Yeah, it's true. 
M: Alright, so, come to our website, come to our comments section and leave your opinions 
wnd we'll be there to also answer any doubts or questions you might have. 
E: You can find us at englishpod.com and Marco and I are always around. 
M: Alright, so, we'll see you guys there. 
E: Yep, we will! 
M: Hehe. 
E: Okay, guys, thanks for listening and untill next time... 
M: Bye! 
E: Good bye!