Australia Network - English Bites - Series 8

Contact Us

Mailing Lists

Episode 5: Skydiving

Episode 5: Skydiving
Discover how thrilling English can be! Preeti is afraid of heights, so for her to go skydiving is a huge challenge.

Transcript

This is a story about skydiving. You'll find out how to do casual introductions, what it means to say 'same here' and what sort of weather 'comes in'.

Today we are going for the skydiving thing. I'm not sure I will jump, you know. I can't jump couple of stairs and now I'll be jumping from 10,000 feet high. Oh My God. With no rope at all and a person tied to me. That is going to be a good experience and I don't know. I don't know.

She says 'I will jump' and 'I'll be jumping'. They mean the same thing – she will jump in the future. Notice that if you use 'be', you must use the 'ing' form – will be jumping. Will jump/will be jumping. Listen again:

I'm not sure I will jump, you know. I can't jump couple of stairs and now I'll be jumping from 10,000 feet high.

When Preeti meets the man who will jump with her, they introduce themselves casually, like this:

Preeti is it. Yes, it is. I'm Adam. How you going? Nice to meet you. I'm good. Same here.

Preeti replies to 'nice to meet you' with 'same here'.

I'm Adam. How you going? Nice to meet you. I'm good. Same here.

You say 'same here' to agree. In this exchange, 'same here' means the same as 'nice to meet you'. Now listen to Adam explaining some things about the dive.

Now, we'll freefall for about 35 seconds. Yes. And then I'll open the parachute. Okay. Now, I can't talk to you in freefall. We'll be doing about 200 kilometres an hour. Alright, so it's a bit noisy. Yes. So the only signals you're going to get in freefall is a tap on the shoulders, bring your arms out.

He uses the word ‘now’ to emphasise that what he is saying is important:

Now, we'll freefall for about 35 seconds. Now, I can't talk to you in freefall. We'll be doing about 200 kilometres an hour. Alright, so it's a bit noisy.

So what can go wrong?

Weather came in on us because there's a front coming through. It's got lightning in it and the cloud has come over and we're not allowed to jump through cloud. So it's not safe so we're bringing them back down.

The weather can 'come in'. Weather that 'comes in' is usually a storm. What do you say when storm clouds go away?

What happens now? Well, we can wait for the weather. We'll probably go on a weather hold now and wait until the weather clears.

Wait until the weather clears. Clouds 'come over' or 'come in' and then they 'clear'. So what happens when they clear?

It's too high, very, very high. Where's he? He's gone. Oh My God.

He's gone. Notice that he uses the past participle of go, gone.

Where's he? He's gone. Oh My God.

You use past participles such as gone with 'he's, which is a contraction of 'he is' or 'he has. We'll finish by finding out if Preeti will jump or will be jumping:

Ready to go? Yes. Alright, a big smile for the camera. Alright. No! It was just fraction of some seconds. He said, 'Put your left leg out,' and I thought, 'I'm not prepared. No way leg out.' And first thought I intend to stop myself and then I pushed myself out so that I can jump. How was that Preeti? That was fantastic! Woo hoo.

English Bites is an informative and entertaining way to improve your knowledge of the English language.