Cultural English 445 - Titanic; The Model T; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 445.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast English Café episode 445. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most popular movies of all time, Titanic. We’re also going to talk about one of the great American businessmen of the twentieth century, Henry Ford, who started the Ford Motor Company and made the famous Model T. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let's get started.

The movie Titanic was released, or first shown in movie theaters, in the U.S. in December of 1997. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater. It is a love story set on the famous ship, the Titanic. The Titanic, you probably know, was a passenger ship, a ship whose main purpose was to carry people from one place to another. The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in April of 1912. When we say it “sank” (sank), we mean it filled with water and fell to the bottom of the ocean, which is not what ships are supposed to do. They’re supposed to stay basically on the top of the water. That, you see, was the big problem with the Titanic.

I said it sank on its “maiden voyage.” A ship's “maiden (maiden) voyage (voyage)” is a ship's very first trip. “Voyage” is another word here for trip. “Maiden” is an old word for a typically young, unmarried woman who was, again, traditionally a virgin – that is, someone who had not yet had sexual relations. So, “maiden voyage” is the ship's first trip. You can see the connection. Don't confuse “maiden” with the word “maid” (maid), which also was used to mean a young, unmarried woman, but now means a woman who cleans houses for a living. Your “maid” may or may not be a “maiden.”

The Titanic was the largest and most advanced passenger ship ever built at the time. Unhappily, as you know, the ship hit an iceberg, a very large piece of ice floating in the ocean. Over 1,500 people died when the ship sank. The Titanic then became the most famous shipwreck or damaged ship of all time, largely because of the size of it and the number of people who died.

It wasn't until many years later, in 1985, that a scientist named Dr. Robert Ballard located the Titanic wreck underwater. It was that rediscovery of the Titanic that, in a way, inspired the 1997 movie, Titanic. The movie is based on the true story of the Titanic, and many of the people and events in the movie are real. The love story in the movie, however, is not. It’s fictional, or not real.

The movie begins with a team of scientists searching the bottom of the ocean where the Titanic had sunk. They are what we would call “treasure hunters.” “Treasure” (treasure) refers to something very valuable, something worth a lot of money, that is hidden somewhere, often for a very long time. These treasure hunters, or seekers, are looking for a diamond called “The Heart of the Ocean.” They know that the diamond was on the ship with one of the rich passengers. A “passenger” on a ship, or a bus, or a train, or a plane is someone who is riding in the vehicle, but is not working on the vehicle or in the vehicle.

The treasure hunters find a “safe,” which is a locked box that protects important and expensive things. Inside the safe, they find a drawing – a picture of a young woman wearing The Heart of the Ocean, this famous diamond on a necklace. Apparently that is all she is wearing in the drawing. She's nude – she has no clothes on – but she does have this diamond. The treasure hunters, however, do not find the diamond. A mystery: What happened to the diamond? Who is the girl in the drawing?

Well, the treasure hunters show the drawing on the news in the United States when talking about their discoveries. A 101-year-old woman sees the drawing and calls the treasure hunters. She says that she is the woman in the drawing, and asks them if they have found the diamond. Well, they say no, but they’re excited to talk to this woman, and so they fly her out to their research ship in the ocean, which is perhaps not the best idea for a woman who is 101 years old, but hey, in the movies you can do anything you want to.

The rest of the movie is what we call a “flashback.” A “flashback” (flashback) is when you have scenes that are supposed to be in someone's memory and not happening in current time, right now. Rose tells the story of her trip on the Titanic. We learn that she was a 17-year-old girl who was sailing to America to be married to a man named Cal Hockley. Cal Hockley was the rich passenger whose safe the treasure hunters had found when they went down looking for the diamond. So, now you see the connection between Rose and the diamond. Cal Hockley was a rich passenger who owned the diamond.

Poor Rose, however, was not very happy on the Titanic. She did not want to get married to Cal. In the movie, we see Rose, her mother, and Cal “getting on,” or boarding, the Titanic. They have a lot of money, so they are traveling in what we would call “first class,” which has the best rooms, the best food, and the best service. In the movie, we also see a young man named Jack Dawson. We see Dawson and his friend playing in a card game, a poker game. Jack, who is played by some ugly actor named Leonardo DiCaprio, and his friend win the card game, and in winning the game they win two tickets to ride on the Titanic. Lucky them.

Jack is excited because he is American and is finally able to go back home, back to America. The ship, you'll remember, is leaving from England and making its way to New York. So, ugly Jack and his friend get on the ship, but they don't have very much money. They don't travel in first class. They travel in “third class,” which is the worst part of the ship.

Well, I have to say that I've never actually seen this movie – I'm probably one of the ten people in the world who has not – but I'm pretty sure I can guess what will happen when we have this young man, and this young girl, and the two of them are riding on the same ship.

As the Titanic begins to travel across the Atlantic for New York City, Jack climbs up onto the very front of the ship. He stretches out his arms and yells, “I'm king of the world!” I've seen that scene several times, even though I've never seen the movie. It's one of the most famous lines in one of the most famous scenes, or parts, of the movie.

Later, the movie shows young Rose walking around the ship and meeting people, but she's clearly not having fun. She talks to Bruce Ismay, the architect or designer of the ship. She also talks with Molly Brown, an American woman who is loud and speaks her opinion. Rose likes Molly even though many of the other passengers do not. Molly Brown was, in fact, a real person on the actual Titanic. Well, she wasn't the real person in the movie because she was dead by that time, of course.

Anyway, one night Rose tries to jump off the front of the ship because she wants to practice swimming. No, I’m kidding – because she's very unhappy. She wants to kill herself. Jack is the only other person out that sees her, and he goes and convinces her not to jump because, of course, if he fails to convince her – if he is unsuccessful – then the movie would end right there. And who wants to go see a movie where the beautiful girl kills herself right in the middle of the movie? Nobody.

So, Rose agrees not to jump and the movie continues. But wait – she slips and almost falls. Does she die? No, Jack saves her life instead. Other people see them, and they think that Jack is trying to push Rose, so Jack is arrested, although Rose finally convinces people that Jack wasn't trying to kill her. I actually think he was trying to kill her. But then again, I haven't seen the movie.

The rest of the movie involves the love story between Jack and Rose, and of course the eventual sinking of the ship and the death of 1,500 people. We find out what happens to our young lovers and to Rose’s fiancé, the man she was supposed to be marrying – you remember him, rich Cal with the diamond. Oh, that comes back into the movie too, but I'm not going to tell you any more. I will tell you this, however. Leonardo DiCaprio did not sadly die at the end of the movie. I know that because I saw him on television just last week. So I know that he, at least, lives.

Titanic became one of the highest grossing, or money-making, movies of all time, although it cost more than 200 million dollars to make. As of the year 2012, it had earned over 650 million dollars. So, they made a profit on the movie, if not the actual ship the Titanic. The movie also won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for James Cameron, and Best Song for “My Heart Will Go On,” sung by Celine Dion.

The movie also made this ugly Leonardo person famous, as well as the truly beautiful Kate Winslet, and they became two of the most desired actors in Hollywood. Well, not desired by me, but desired or wanted by movie producers looking to make a lot of money.

Speaking of a lot of money, let's turn to our second topic, which is about one of the most famous and successful businessmen in the twentieth century in the U.S., Mr. Henry Ford. Henry Ford was the founder, or the person who started the Ford Motor Company – makes sense. Ford Motor Company was the maker of one of the most famous cars in early American history, the Model T, which we’ll also talk about a little here.

Henry Ford was born on July 30th, 1863, in Greenfield Township, Michigan, which is about 150 miles southwest of the largest city in Michigan: Detroit. Michigan is located in the central northern part of the United States. From an early age, it was clear that Ford was what we would call an “innovator.” An “innovator” (innovator) is a person who creates new products and new solutions to problems – someone who finds a new way or a better way to do something. It was also clear that young Ford loved machines and was good at working with machines.

When Henry was 16 years old, he left the farm his family owned and went to the big city: Detroit, Michigan. There, he learned to fix steam engines, which used heated water called “steam” and were quite popular in powering trains at this time. Ford also learned a little bit about “bookkeeping” – how to keep track of money that goes in and out of a business. Both of these were skills that would be very useful for him in the future.

Ford returned to the farm and started to tinker with engines. “To tinker” (tinker) means to play around with machines or some small mechanical object. Ford liked to tinker with engines and soon built himself a tractor using a steam engine. A “tractor” (tractor) is like a truck, but is used to pull heavy machines such as farm equipment. In 1888 Ford married Clara Bryant, and a few years later, in November of 1893, Clara gave birth to the Fords’ only child, a son named Edsel. That name “Edsel” would later be associated with one of the least successful cars that the Ford Motor Company made in the 1950s.

But continuing our story, Ford eventually got a job as an engineer, a person who designs and builds machines, at Edison Illuminating Company back in the big city of Detroit. He did well at the company and continued to tinker with engines. He was finally able to develop an engine, or a motor, that used gasoline instead of steam for power.

In 1896, Ford developed what was called at the time a “horseless carriage” – a vehicle for transporting people that had wheels and a place for someone to sit. He built what he called the “Ford Quadricycle” because it used four bicycle wheels as part of the chassis, or main part of the vehicle. And “quad” (quad) is a prefix meaning “four.” This was an early version of what we today know as the car, or automobile. He drove his model for the first time in April of 1896.

But Ford did something that other men who were also developing gasoline engines at that time did not do. He sold his first car and took the money and started making another one, and another one, and another one – each time making the car better and better. The other men who were working on making automobiles kept their inventions. Ford, however, sold his and made ones that were even better. He continued to make cars until he felt he had something that people would be interested in buying.

Today, it's very popular in startup companies, new companies that are often involved in technology and the Internet, to talk about “iterations” of a product – making a product, and then making another one, and then making another one. In software we have versions: version 1.0, 2.0, 3.0. Well, Henry Ford had this idea a hundred years ago or more when he started making his automobiles.

In 1903, Ford founded, or began, the Ford Motor Company, and the company began building cars to sell to the general public, to the average person who wanted to buy a car. In 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduced the car that would really change the world in many ways: the Model T. Ford designed the Model T to be a car for the average American. It was a car that did not cost as much money as other cars that were available at that time. It was easy to drive and to fix, which meant that keeping the car working was also not as expensive as other cars.

Because many people could afford to buy the Model T, it quickly became the most popular car in the country. By 1918, over half of the cars that were sold in the United States were Model Ts. Over the 19 years the Model T was manufactured, or made, by the Ford Motor Company, more than 15 million of them were sold in the U.S. and nearly a million more in Canada.

One of the reasons that Ford was able to make and sell the Model T for much less than other cars at the time was because of how the car was made. The Ford Motor Company used what is called an “assembly (assembly) line (line).” An “assembly line” is an organizational system where you have many people working in a line, and each person has a specific job that they do before the product or the thing being made is passed on to the next person. And the next person does what he needs to do and then passes it on to the next person, so that in the end, you have this one finished product that is made by several different people.

Ford used the assembly line beginning in 1913. The company was able to make the main part of the car in about 93 minutes, which is an amazing achievement of technology and efficiency. Of course, many other companies, especially car companies, began to do the same thing, and they began to have their own assembly lines. And assembly lines, of course, now are part of almost every large manufacturing company.

In 1914, Ford decided that he wanted to pay workers a steady salary. That is, he wanted to pay them enough money that would not go up and down and that they could rely on. He also wanted to let them have a share in the profits of the company. “Profits” (profits) is a word we use to describe the money that a company makes – the difference between what it brings in in sales and what it has to pay in expenses. Ford actually developed a whole system of deciding which employees were going to get the extra money. One of the requirements was that the person had to have worked for the company for six months and could not be someone who drank, smoked, or gambled.

The Ford Motor Company continued to be successful for several more years. On January 1st, 1919, Edsel – Ford's son – was named president of the Ford Motor Company. By 1921, over half of the cars made in the U.S. were made by Ford. Finally, in 1927, Ford built the last Model T, 19 years after the first one was made. The next car the company built was called the Model A. This was also a popular car, but nowhere near as popular as the Model T.

Edsel Ford, Ford's son, died young – at the age of 49, in 1943 – of cancer. Henry Ford died a few years later, in 1947 at the age of 83. The Ford Motor Company continues to be a powerful company in the automobile world and is still identified in some ways as one of the great American companies, although in recent years it has not done as well as some other car manufacturers.

Now let’s answer a few of your questions.

First question comes from Willy (Willy) in Italy. Willy wants to know the meaning of three words: “holiday,” “feast,” and “celebration.” A “holiday” (holiday) is a day where people typically do not work because the government says that it is a day of rest, usually in memory of some important event or some important person in the country. A holiday also refers to certain usually religious days in certain religions that people celebrate or don't work on. So, Easter, for example, is a holiday in the Christian religion, and Passover would be a holiday in the Jewish religion.

There are national holidays – holidays that are celebrated throughout the country and, by law, are celebrated in such a way that usually the government workers don't have to work that day. Sometimes both governments and private companies don't work on national holidays, but it's not always the case. It's always the case that the government workers never work, but not always that the private companies take the holiday.

A “feast” (feast) is a celebration usually related either to a religious event, such as the feast of Saint Michael, or a feast for a certain saint. “Feast” can also be used more generally to describe a large meal that is typically attended by many people and has lots of food. “Celebration” (celebration) is the most general of these three words. It just means a time to get together and to have a party or to do something that somehow remembers some important event. You might have a celebration for someone's birthday or someone's wedding.

So, to review, a “holiday” is an official day where most people don't work, or at least the government workers don't work, and those are usually days that are somehow important in the history and culture of a given country. There are also religious holidays that are associated with celebrations by different religious traditions. A “feast,” when used like “holiday,” is something that refers typically to a saint’s day in the Roman Catholic Christian tradition. A “celebration” is a general term used for almost any sort of party or gathering where people are remembering some happy event.

Elsamani (Elsamani) – originally from Sudan, now living in the United States – wants to know the meaning of three different words: “impunity,” “retaliation,” and “notoriety.” “Impunity” (impunity) means without punishment – when you are not going to be punished for something even though you did something bad, even though you did something wrong. You’ll most commonly hear this word with the preposition “with.” We talk about people doing things “with impunity,” meaning they should be punished but they are not.

“Retaliation” (retaliation) is when you attack someone who has attacked you first. It's sort of like getting revenge on someone. You hit me, so I'm going to hit you back. Retaliation usually involves countries retaliating against other countries who have attacked them, but you could also use it in talking about, say, somebody at work who did something wrong to you and you are going to, the verb would be, “retaliate.”

“Notoriety” (notoriety) is being famous, but being famous for something that is bad. Nowadays, people often use “notoriety” when they really mean famous. Being famous is usually a good thing, in the sense that you are well known for something that you did that people like. Being “notorious” – and that's a word that comes from “notoriety” – is being famous for something that you did bad. So, “notorious” and “notoriety” are definitely bad things that someone is famous for, even though sometimes now people are starting to use it to mean the same thing as famous, or being famous for something good.

Finally, Masoud (Masoud) in Iran wants to know the difference between “to think of something” and “to think about something.” “To think of” means to keep in your mind while you are considering something, but it also can mean “to remember.” I can't think of the name of the person who was with me at dinner last night. What was her name? I can't think of it; I can't remember it. Oh, I remember – it was my wife.

We also sometimes use “to think of” when we’re asking someone to imagine a certain situation that might come true in the future, especially if something else happens. For example, think of the money you will make if you win the lottery. Think of the work that will be required if you get married. Think of it. Imagine it. It hasn't happened yet, but if something else happens then it could, in fact, become a reality.

Another use of “think of” is when something is true – something has happened or is happening – but you're trying to express your surprise or shock or even anger over the situation. For example, I might say, “Think of the money that they spend here in Los Angeles to make movies – billions and billions of dollars. Maybe we could spend that money on something else.” I used “think of” to describe a situation which is true, which is real, but is not one that I like, and so I’m kind of giving my opinion when I say “think of.”

“To think about” means simply to have in your mind, to think actively about a topic. You could come up to someone and say, “What are you thinking about?” And the person might say, “I was thinking about my brother and how he was doing,” or “I was thinking about whether the Dodgers will win the World Series this year.” “Think about” is used very commonly to mean simply to be thinking actively regarding a certain topic.

“Think of” is a little less common and has a little bit more of a specialized use. We use it when we are asking someone to imagine something, when we are perhaps expressing a negative opinion about a certain situation, or when we can't remember something.

From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Cafe.

Glossary

maiden voyage – the first trip of a new boat, ship, airplane, or similar vehicle

* People paid a lot of money to travel on the maiden voyage of the new airplane, which was the largest airplane ever built.

iceberg – a large block of ice in the middle of the ocean

* Icebergs are very large and most of the iceberg is underwater where we cannot see it.

to sink – to fill with water and go down to the bottom of a container or a body of water

* The bucket had a hole in it, so when Giovanni put it in the bathtub, it sank.

fictional – created in someone’s mind; not real

* The television show was a fictional story based on real people.

flashback – scenes in a movie or television that show events that happened in the past, usually from a character’s memories

* Sometimes when movies have a lot of flashbacks, viewers can get confused about when the actions occurred.

architect – a person who designs and creates a building, bridge, vehicle, or other large structures

* Frank Lloyd Wright was a famous architect who designed and built many homes in the Chicago area.

to gross – to earn money through sales, without having subtracting the expenses (money spent to make or to sell)

* Every Monday, the newspaper reports which movies grossed the most at the box office the previous weekend.

founder – the person who starts a company or organization

* Walt Disney founded the Disney Company.

innovator – a person who creates new products and solutions

* Thomas Edison was a true innovator who invented the light bulb.

carriage – a vehicle for transportation that has wheels and a place for one or more person to sit and to travel around

* Before cars, many people traveled in carriages that were pulled by horses.

assembly line – an organizational system where many people work in a line and each person has one specific job to do, resulting is one complete product

* Danny’s job on the assembly line was to attach the handles to the doors.

profit – the amount of money a company earns from selling a product that is greater than the cost of making the product

* It took a couple years, but Sadia’s company finally started seeing profits from selling the new umbrella she created.

holiday – a day on which work is not done because of a law or because of tradition

* The only school holiday in September is Labor Day, which is the first Monday of the month.

feast – a time of celebration, often at the same time each year and usually related religion, remember an important person or past event

* On the farm, we have a feast at the end of harvest each year.

celebration – a special gathering to remember or publicly show one’s happiness on an important day

* Jun invited family and friends to a celebration of his college graduation.

impunity – being excluded or excused from punishment for doing something against the law or a rule

* Bo’s parents spoil him so much that he has impunity to break their house rules.

retaliation – an attack in return for a similar attack; the act of getting revenge against someone

* In retaliation for stealing his girlfriend, Emil smashed his brother’s bicycle.

notoriety – being famous for something bad or something others dislike

* Do you think Mike’s notoriety for always being late is fair? He’s only late sometimes.

to think of – to keep in mind while one considers, thinks about, or does something else; to remember

* We have to think of the children before deciding on a divorce.

to think about – to have on one's mind; to consider

* When you think about the future, do you think you’ll still be in the same job in 10 years?

What Insiders Know

The Sinking of the Steam Ship Andrea Doria

The Steam Ship Andrea Doria was an “ocean liner” (a large luxurious passenger ship) for the Italian “Line” (shipping company), Società di navigazione Italia. At the time, it was Italy’s largest, fastest, and “supposedly” (believed to be) safest ship. The Andrea Doria was a symbol or sign of Italian national pride.

The Andrea Doria sailed from her “home port” (place where it remains when not sailing) in Genoa, Italy, “bound for” (going to) New York City on July 25, 1956. While the Andrea Doria was approaching the “coast” (where the land meets an ocean) of Nantucket, Massachusetts, a ship from the Swedish American Line heading east, called MS Stockholm, “collided with” (hit or struck with force) it. The Andrea Doria was badly damaged. This damage resulted in half of Andrea Doria’s “lifeboats” (small boats on a ship used in case of emergency) to become unusable. A total of 52 people died, 51 of which died from “immediate impact” (at the moment the accident occurred). Over 1,660 passengers and “crew” (those working on the ship) were rescued and survived. The Andrea Doria “capsized” (flip over) and sank the following morning.

Ever since it “sank” (went under water), the Andrea Doria has “attracted” (got the attention of) “treasure divers” (people who go underwater to try and find valuable things). Some of the treasures that have been “recovered” (brought back) include a valuable “statue” (a piece of art in the figure of a person or thing) and three of the “bells” (device that makes a ringing sound when moved).

The diving conditions at the “wreck” (destroyed thing, such as a car or ship) site are considered very “treacherous” (dangerous). More than 15 “scuba divers” (people who swim underwater for long periods of time using special equipment to breath) have died while looking for treasures.