Cultural English 216 - Doping in professional sports; The Juilliard School; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 216.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 216. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this Café, we’re going to talk about steroid use and what is called “doping” in professional sports, especially here in the U.S. This is a way that some athletes use chemicals to make themselves stronger and faster. We’re also going to talk about the Juilliard School, which is the most famous school for the performing arts in the United States. The “performing arts” would be dance, drama, and music. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

We begin this Café with a discussion about how some professional and amateur athletes use chemicals (drugs) to make themselves stronger and/or faster. Generally, these chemicals are called “performance-enhancing drugs,” because they “enhance,” or improve an athlete’s performance, how well they play the sport – how fast they run, for example. “Anabolic steroids” are a common type of performance-enhancing drugs. Steroids are “hormones,” or chemicals that cause cells to make what we call in English “protein,” which makes muscles bigger and stronger.

Sometimes steroids are used in medical treatments to improve people’s health. For example, I have problems sometimes with my allergies. My nose get stuffed up, my throat gets sore. You can tell, when I’m recording this podcast today, that my throat has a little lower sound than normal, that’s because I have allergies that are bothering me this week. One of the drugs I take to help with the problem of my allergies is a steroid spray that I literally put up my nose so that it helps relieve the problems caused by the allergies. So, steroids are a common drug for different uses. However, when an athlete uses steroids, usually they’re trying to change their physical health, trying to make themselves stronger or faster. Steroids became very popular among bodybuilders. “Bodybuilders” are people who lift heavy weights to have very large muscles, and then they enter competitions. Here in Los Angeles, there’s a famous beach called Venice Beach, and there’s a part of that beach called Muscle Beach because there are places where you can exercise and many famous bodybuilders used to go there to exercise. Perhaps the most famous bodybuilder is a man by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. He was in a few movies and I think he’s Governor of California – hmm, weird. Anyway, Arnold and I used to go down to Venice Beach and – you know, lift weights, make ourselves stronger. But I got too busy, and, uh, Arnold apparently, uh, has a different job now! I’m not saying, however, that Arnold took steroids – don’t get me wrong! I’m using him as an example of a bodybuilder.

Well, unfortunately, steroids have other effects on the human body and can be very dangerous. Because steroids are related to another hormone called “testosterone,” they make people more manly, they can give people more masculine features (masculine characteristics). People taking steroids often have more hair on their body, and their voice might be lower. This is true not just for men, but also for women who use steroids.

When people use steroids over a long period of time in high “doses,” or high quantities, it can be very bad for their health. It can cause problems with your blood pressure, it can contribute to heart disease, it can also damage or hurt your liver.

Steroid have other bad effects. Steroids can cause “acne” (acne), which is the appearance of small, red dots on your skin, often on your face. We sometimes call these “pimples” (pimples). That’s the little red dots that tend to be more common among teenagers, but adults can also get these pimples. An informal word for them that we used to use back in high school would be “zits” (zits), but that’s a somewhat informal, not particularly nice sounding word; “acne” is the more technical word. Well, steroids can acne much worse. They can also make people more aggressive, more angry, and they can make people want to take the steroids again and again; that is, they can be addictive. Something that is “addictive” means that you need to have more and more of it. Many people are addicted to drugs; they need to have the drug, and they need to take more and more of the drug. You can be addicted to anything, of course. Some people are addicted to coffee. I’m addicted to Earl Grey Tea Lattes from Starbucks. Starbucks, you may know, is a famous coffee shop, where they sell coffee and tea. That’s my addiction; in fact, I have a cup sitting right here on my desk – but not next my laptop, don’t worry. I don’t want to, uh, ruin another laptop by pouring my tea on it. That’s another story!

Getting back to steroids: Many people agree that steroids should not be used by athletes for two basic reasons. First, steroids can have many negative effects on your health, what we would call “adverse” (adverse) health effects. Adverse health effects are bad or negative things that would happen to your health. Athletes might use steroids for a few years, but it can also, if used too often, make them die sooner than they would have otherwise. The other basic problem with steroids is that it gives them an unfair advantage compared to other athletes, which, of course, is the whole reason why athletes take steroids. Many people think that this is “cheating,” meaning they’re trying to do something that’s unfair and against the rules. Because of this, most professional sports ban steroid use; that is, they say it is against the rules to use steroids. That’s true internationally as well, for the Olympics, for the Tour de France, for professional baseball in the United States, professional football in the United States. In all of these cases, it is against the rules for athletes to use certain drugs – certain steroids, especially if they’re using them in order to make themselves stronger. It would be okay to use steroids if you have allergies, because the steroids don’t actually make you much stronger – at least, they don’t make me any stronger. But I don’t need to be any stronger, because I work out at Venice Beach with Arnold!

Using steroids to make yourself stronger or faster is sometimes called “doping” (doping). Even though it is not allowed, there are many athletes who continue to dope – who continue to use steroids. Many athletes now have to be tested for steroid use. This usually requires that they give a sample either of their blood or of their urine. “Urine” is the liquid waste that comes out of your body – if you understand me. Sometimes when athletes are discovered to be using steroids they’re fined; that is, they have to pay a penalty, or if they won a prize such as an Olympic gold medal, that medal is taken away from them.

Steroids have become a very big problem in U.S. professional sports. One survey (one poll) found that almost 10 percent of the players in the National Football League (that’s the American football) have used steroids while they were playing. Sometimes athletes have been accused of taking steroids because people think that they cannot possibly perform as well as they are performing unless they have taken some sort of drugs. Steroids are a big problem, also, in professional baseball in the U.S. Some of the most famous players have been accused or have admitted to using steroids. That would include one of the famous players here in Los Angeles, Manny Ramirez. He had to be suspended for 50 games during the 2009 season because of his use of steroids, or his suspected use of steroids. “To be suspended” means that you can’t play for that amount of time.

Some people say, “Well, who cares about professional athletes. If they want to use steroids that are dangerous, that’s their right to do so.” However, at least in the United States, there are many younger players (high school students – grade school students) who look at these professional athletes as sort of models; that is to say, people that they want to follow (people that they want to be like). And so, by using steroids, that would encourage high school students, for example, to use steroids, which could be very dangerous to their health. So there are all sorts of reasons why people are against steroids. There are very few people who say that it’s a good idea.

For professional athletes – for Olympic athletes, as we mentioned earlier, it’s also a matter of fairness. That is, you want everyone to have an equal chance, and not necessarily give somebody an advantage because they took a drug.

Now let’s turn to our next topic, which is the Juilliard School. The Juilliard School, which is often just called Juilliard – makes sense – is a very prestigious school for the performing arts in New York City. Something that is “prestigious” (prestigious) is something that is very well known, respected, and admired. So, when I say Juilliard is prestigious, I mean that it is one of the best schools for performing arts. The school teaches people about dance, about drama or acting, and about music. If you say to someone, “Oh, my daughter studied at the Juilliard School,” that’s considered the best school; your daughter must be very talented. It’s a very prestigious school, as I mentioned. Most people in the United States have heard of it, and the very best musicians often study there, as well as actors and dancers.

As at other universities, and Juilliard is a university, students need to apply by presenting their high school diploma and letters of recommendation. These are all common things that you would have to do when you apply to a university in the United States. “Letters of recommendation” are letters from your teachers telling about how wonderful you are as a student and as a person. Students have to write an essay; again, this is very common for university applications. And if English is not your first language, which is not uncommon at Juilliard, you have to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (or the TOEFL). But the most important part of your application is your audition.

An “audition” (audition) is a short performance in front of a small group of people who decide whether or not your performance (your talent) is good enough to be selected for this school. For example, if you’re an actor and you want to be in a play, you have to audition in front of the director. You might have to act out a short scene from another play, or read something that the director gives you to read and pretend like you are that person (that character). If the director and the other people like what they see, they might invite you back to come for a second audition. Eventually, of course, one person is chosen as the best actor, and he or she is invited to act in that play. Well, the Juilliard works the same, except they accept a certain number of students in each one of their programs, and each student needs to be part of this audition (or to have an audition).

Because the school is so prestigious, there are many, many people who want to study at Juilliard. Many “aspiring” performers (that is, people who want to perform) apply, but only very few are accepted. In fact, in 2007, the school admitted or invited only 6.5 percent of the people who applied. That means for every 100 applications, they accepted less than seven. People who aren’t admitted can apply again, but students can audition only twice for the dance and music programs, and only three times for the drama programs. After that, they cannot apply again.

The reason there are so many applications to the Juilliard School is easy; if you say that you graduated from Juilliard you’ll have a much easier time finding a job. It’s sort of like saying you graduated from Harvard. Juilliard is the Harvard of the performing arts world.

Students who are admitted to Juilliard usually study the performing arts, but they also have to take other courses as well in the humanities. The “humanities” would be subjects such as literature, and some people would include history. They can also take courses in four foreign languages. They can study French, German, Italian, and Russian. I’m not sure why other languages such as, for example, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and hundreds of others are not offered. They probably have a limited number of classes.

Students at Juilliard spend many hours working with their teachers and rehearsing. To “rehearse” (rehearse) means to practice something for a public performance. If I’m going to give a speech in front of a bunch of English teachers, I would need to rehearse (I would need to practice). So, we use that verb specifically when you are talking about someone who’s going to give a public performance in a play, in a speech, in a concert, and so forth.

Students at Juilliard are like students at other universities; they have social activities, they spend time with other students, they drink beer – well, they’re not supposed to drink beer until their 21 years old legally. They can also join many student organizations, and because they are in New York City, there are many cultural events they can attend. New York City has some of the best cultural events in the United States: plays, musical performances, dance, and so forth. As at many other universities, students in their first year at Juilliard live on campus in what we call a “dorm,” or “dormitory,” which are special rooms or apartments that are owned by the university.

There have been many famous actors, dancers, and musicians who have studied at Juilliard. Some of the famous Juilliard actors would include the late Christopher Reeve, who played Superman. When I say the way “the late,” I mean the dead Christopher Reeve. “The late” means someone has died. Kevin Spacey is another Juilliard graduate; he’s been in many movies, including The Usual Suspects, one of my favorite movies, and American Beauty. Another Juilliard graduate is Robin Williams, a comedian who has been in many famous movies, such as Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting.

Some of the famous Juilliard musicians include one of the most famous musicians in the United States, Yo-Yo Ma, who plays the cello. Yo-Yo Ma played at the inauguration of President Obama. The “inauguration” is when he was officially made the president, back in January of 2009. Once again, it’s a name that almost every American recognizes as being a great musician. Other musicians include the jazz musicians Wynton Marsalis and Miles Davis, both of whom play – or played the trumpet. Juilliard has also produced many famous “composers,” people who write music. John Williams, for example, is a Juilliard graduate. He wrote the music for Star Wars [Jeff hums the tune]. That reminds me, there was a comedy show back in the 1970s called (and it’s still a comedy show today) Saturday Night Live, and one of the actors played in a scene where he gave words to the Star Wars song: [Jeff sings]

Star Wars,

Nothing but Star Wars…

I think that was Bill Murray, the comedian who did that. Anyway, what were we saying, uh, John Williams, yes. John Williams also composed the music for Jurassic Park, but I’ve never seen Jurassic Park, so I don’t know what that music is, and for the first three Harry Potter films. I’ve seen all three of the first Harry Potter films and I have no idea what the music is, so obviously it wasn’t very memorable.

Sometimes after people hear me sing, as you just heard, they ask me if I graduated from Juilliard, and I have to tell them that no, I didn’t!

Now let’s answer a few of your questions.

Our first question comes from Myung-Joong (Myung-Joong) in South Korea. The question has to do with the word “shell-shocked” (shell-shocked).

Someone who is “shell-shocked” is, in the general sense of the word, very tired, usually because of some continuous stress, some continuous upsetting experience. The word originally comes from the first World War, were soldiers spend weeks or even months in these holes dug in the ground called “trenches.” The stress of being shot at or hearing explosions nearby would often have a psychological effect on these men. A shell-shocked soldier often gave up trying to help himself and had to be sent to a hospital to recover. The word “shell” is another word for a bomb. So to be “shocked” means to be traumatized (to be deeply affected psychologically by something). So, “shell-shocked” is someone who has been affected in a war by the constant violence that is part of war.

This condition is now more commonly called “combat fatigue,” or “battle fatigue.” “Combat” means to fight, especially in a war. “Fatigue” is a general term meaning you’re tired. “Shell-shocked,” now, is usually used to describe very tired or confused people, who have gone through a stressful situation. It doesn’t mean that they have an actual medical problem. It’s certainly doesn’t mean that they’ve been in a war, necessarily.

Igor (Igor), which would more commonly be pronounced in English “Igor,” (I’m trying for the Russian pronunciation, probably not doing a very good job – my apologies, Russian speakers) has a question about the expression “way to go.” When somebody says, “Hey, way to go!” what do they mean?

“Way to go” is used to express praise or encouragement for someone: “I just heard that the Dodgers won the World Series. Way to go!” Or, “You did a great job on that presentation Jorge. Way to go!” This is actually a short form of the longer expression “that’s the way to go,” or “that’s the way to get it done.” You may, for example, hear the short version of this if you are at a sporting event – a football game, a basketball game, somebody may say “Way to go Rodriguez!” meaning that was a great job, you did very well. It is, however, an informal expression; it’s not something that your boss would say to you typically. The more formal version would be “well done,” or “good job.”

Sometimes the phrase is used as a joke, sarcastically, almost as an insult to mean the opposite of what is normally meant. So if you are at a restaurant and your friend accidentally drops their glass of wine on the floor you might say, “Hey, way to go!” You don’t mean that, of course; you’re making fun of them.

A final way of using this expression is to just use the word “way” and add it to another infinitive verb. For example: “Way to kick that ball!” You’re saying that was a great job kicking that ball. It means the same as “way to go,” but you – you just use the word “way” and you add whatever it is that the person did that you are praising (that you are saying was good). Once again, this can also be used sarcastically, as a joke. You might say to your friend, “Way to drink that wine,” meaning, of course, that they should not have dropped it.

Finally, Chanmon (Chanmon) from Myanmar wants to know the meaning of the expression “be good,” when someone says to you, as you’re leaving perhaps, “Okay, well. See you later and be good.”

“Be good” is an expression meaning don’t misbehave, but usually it’s used between adults as a sort of a joking way of saying goodbye. Literally it means do good things, don’t do bad things. The idea is that you might go and do something bad, so it’s kind of a joke. “Well, be good” means don’t do anything bad, but really it’s just a friendly, somewhat funny – not very funny, but somewhat funny way of saying goodbye to someone.

“Be good” can also be a warning if it’s between a parent and a child, for example, meaning remember the rules, do what I told you to do. But that’s not as common. Parents would probably use some other expressions with their children if they wanted to make sure that they were going to behave (that they were going to act appropriately and correctly).

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us next time on the English Café. Be good!

Glossary

performance-enhancing drug – a substance that an athlete takes to improve how well he or she competes or plays a sport; a drug that athletes take to improve performance

Each athlete is tested before the race to be sure that she is not using performance-enhancing drugs.

steroid – a type of drug that makes muscles bigger and stronger; a common type of drug taken by athletes to improve their performance

* If a player on this team is suspected of using steroids, he will be tested.

bodybuilder – a person who lifts heavy weights to build very large muscles

Aaron became a bodybuilder after the boys at school picked on him and gave him a black eye.

dose – an amount of medicine; an amount of medicine that is recommended to be taken at one time

* The doctor said to take three doses a day, one dose after each meal.

acne – the appearance of small, red, infected dots on one’s skin, especially one’s face; pimples; zits

* Sahira tried to hide her acne with make-up, but it only made it look worse.

to cheat – to do something that is unfair and against the rules

The teacher watched the students closely during the test, making sure that no one cheated.

to dope – to use steroids or other drugs to improve one’s performance as an athlete

* Do you think the winner of the bicycle race won by doping?

prestigious – very well-known, admired, and respected

Cecil won a prestigious scholarship for college and was congratulated by the school principal.

audition – a short performance in front of a small group of people who decide whether or not the performer is good enough to be selected

Bing wants to be in the play, but he doesn’t know what to perform as his audition.

humanities – learning or literature about human culture; subjects related to human culture, such as literature, history, art, music, and philosophy

All students at this university are required to take classes in the humanities, as well as the sciences.

to rehearse – to practice something in order to prepare for a public performance; to practice something that will be performed later

We’ll be performing in front of an audience of 500 people on Friday. We need to rehearse as much as possible!

composer – a person who writes music; a writer of music * Which composer do you like better, Bach or Mozart?

shell-shocked – very tired from experiencing on-going stress or upsetting experiences

Erma felt shell-shocked after hearing story after story of how the storm had destroyed homes and small businesses in the area.

way to go – an expression used to give someone else praise or encouragement * You were accepted to all five universities you applied to? Way to go!

be good – an expression used as a warning, meaning “don’t misbehave,” but which is sometimes used jokingly among adults as a parting expression * I won’t see you again until after the summer. Be good!

What Insiders Know

Types of Schools

When most people think of schools in the United States, they think of day schools lasting from early morning to the mid-afternoon for students in kindergarten to 12th grade. While most of the schools in the U.S. are of this kind, there are other types as well.

Juilliard School, discussed in this episode of the English Cafe, is a type of magnate school, with special courses and studies for students interested in the performing arts. Other types of magnate schools focus on mathematics, sciences, “vocational” (related to a specific job) education, “agricultural” (related farming and raising animals) education, and more.

Most schools in the U.S. are public schools, which are “funded” (paid for) by the government. There are, however, a large number of private schools as well. Some of these schools are “parochial” schools, run by a church or other religious organization. While religion is often one of the subjects taught in parochial schools, students “need not be” (don’t necessarily need to be) of the same religion or “denomination” (branch of a religion) to enroll. Many parochial schools are open to students of all religions, with the understanding that religion is part of the school’s “curriculum” (course of study).

Another type of school, the university-preparatory school, can be either public or private. These schools, often called “prep schools,” prepare students for entering a university and often have a curriculum that is more challenging or advanced than regular schools. Prep schools may also offer “advance placement” courses that allow students to study university-level subjects and take a national test to get college “credit” (points toward university graduation). While studies in prep schools can give students “a leg up” (an advantage) in getting into the best universities, they can also be very “competitive” (with people wanting very much to succeed and to perform better than others) and stressful for students.