ESL Podcast 166 – A Marriage Proposal I

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 166, “A Marriage
Proposal (Part I).”
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 166. I'm your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
A Podcast Learning Guide for today's podcast, with a complete transcript,
vocabulary definitions, cultural information, tips on learning English, and much
more is available at our website. Go to eslpod.com and click on “Learning
Guides” for more information.
Today's podcast is called “A Marriage Proposal (Part I).” We're going to hear
about a man who wants to marry a woman and how he is going to ask her. Let's
get started!
I've been trying to get up the nerve to ask my girlfriend to marry me. We have
been dating for almost a year, and I think she's the one. I went shopping for
engagement rings and really hated the experience. I wasn't sure what kind of ring
she'd like and it took me a long time to decide. Finally, with the help of the
saleswoman, I picked one.
So, I've got the ring, now I've just got to find the right time to pop the question. I
needed to think for a romantic way to propose. I've watched enough romantic
movies with my girlfriend to know that the proposal has to be something special.
I thought about taking her on a trip to Paris and asking her in the “city of love,”
but I spent all of my money on the ring, so that's out of the question. I thought
about writing her a love poem and proposing in the poem, but I'm a terrible writer.
I thought about serenading her outside the window, but with my voice, I'm sure
the neighbors would call the police.
I don't know what to do. How do I ask her to marry me?
Today's podcast is about a man who wants to propose to his girlfriend. The verb
to “propose” here means to ask someone to marry you. And the noun is a
“proposal.” We can also us the verb “propose” for other things, of course. To
“propose” something is to recommend or put something forward, or to give
someone an idea and ask if they will accept it or not. But here, it is to ask
someone to marry you. And, of course, traditionally, a man would ask the
woman if she would marry him.
Well, the man in this story says that he's been trying “to get up the nerve” to ask
my girlfriend – his girlfriend…not my girlfriend! Better be careful…to ask his
girlfriend to marry him. The expression, “to get up the nerve” means to get the
confidence, to be confident. If you are scared about something or you don't want
to do something, you may need to get up your nerve; that means you need to say
to yourself, “Okay, I'm ready” and not be afraid, not be scared, to have
confidence. Well, he's trying to get up the nerve to ask the girlfriend to marry
him, to be his wife.
He says that, “We've been dating for almost a year” - we have been dating, we
have been romantically involved with each other. Of course, to “date” means to
be romantically interested and involved in someone else. They've been dating
for a year and “I think,” he says, “she's the one.” When we say “she's the one” or
“he's the one” (like the number 1), we mean this is the one for me, this is my
perfect person, this is the person I should marry.
So, the man goes shopping for “engagement rings.” An “engagement” is a noun