ESL之日常生活 07 Using an ATM

07 Using an ATM

GLOSSARY 1

bank teller 2 – a bank employee who stands behind a window and greets customers, helping 3 them put money into or get money out of their accounts, or doother things with their accounts* The bank teller asked to see two pieces of identification before she would cashthe check.

ATM – automated 4 teller machine; a cash machine; a machine that lets peopletake money from or put money into their accounts, or see how much money they have in their accounts* This ATM charges a $2.50 fee every time you take money out of your account.

PIN – personal identification number; a secret number that is used to get money from a cash machine or to get information about one’s account over the phone orInternet* If you forget your PIN, you’ll have to ask your bank to mail you a new four-digitcode.

ATM card – a debit 5 card; a small rectangular piece of plastic that one can use tobuy things and to get money out of an ATM (cash machine)* When you get your new ATM card, please sign the back of it.

to jam – to get stuck; to have papers or other objects get caught in a machine sothat the machine can’t work properly and you cannot take the papers or otherobjects out again* If you try to copy more than 20 pages at once, this photocopy 6 machine willprobably jam.

teller window – an area behind glass where a bank employee sits and helps customers on the other side of the glass to take money from or put money intotheir accounts, or ask for information about their accounts* The teller windows are always being filmed by security cameras in case there is a robbery.

transaction – something that one does related to one’s bank account, such as getting money, putting money into the account, or moving money betweenaccounts* At this bank, customers are supposed to make only three transactions at a time. If you have more than three transactions, you need to stand in line again.

deposit – money put into one’s account* This afternoon I need to make a $400 deposit into my account.

to transfer – to move something, especially money, from one place to another* Transferring money between accounts online is much faster and easier thangoing to the bank.

checking account – where one’s money is kept in a bank so that it can be takenout by using ATMs, buying things with one’s debit card, or writing checks* At this bank, my checking account is free if I keep at least $750 in it, but I haveto pay $5 per month if I have less than $750 in the account.

savings 7 account – where one’s money is kept in a bank so that it can earninterest, be saved for use in the future, and can be taken out as cash or by moving money to a checking account* Manu automatically puts 10% of what he earns into his savings account eachmonth, because he’s saving money to buy a home.

withdrawal 8 – money taken out of a bank account* I need to go to the bank and make a withdrawal because I don’t have any cashin my wallet.

deposit envelope – a paper envelope that is used to hold checks and put theminto a cash machine so that the money is put into one’s bank account* The bank tells customers to never put cash into a deposit envelope, because itwould be very easy for someone to steal it.

technician – a person with good technical skills, usually for fixing machines* The computer company is going to send a technician to my house to try to helpme fix the computer.

to retrieve 9 – to get back something that has been lost or stolen* Were the police able to retrieve the stolen necklace?

to act up – to misbehave; to behave poorly or incorrectly; to not work properly* Lately the computer has been acting 10 up, making files disappear withoutwarning.

to take (something) personally – to be offended, believing that somethinghappened for personal reasons* The other day I said that I don’t like the color red and Shauna took it personally because she was wearing a red sweater, but that’s not what I meant!  

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1.  What happened to the ATM machine?

a)  Somebody put jam inside it.

b)  The ATM card got stuck inside it.

c)  The PIN got jammed inside it.

2.  Why does Robin 11 take the check out of the deposit envelope?

a)  Because she’s going to give it to the bank clerk.

b)  Because she has decided 12 not to deposit it.

c)  Because she needs it to make a withdrawal.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to transferThe verb “to transfer,” in this podcast, means to move something, especially money, from one place to another: “Walter had an emergency while he was traveling in Asia, so he asked his parents to transfer money to his account.”  “Totransfer” can also mean to change the university where one is studying: “Mindy decided to transfer from Colorado State University to the University of Colorado.” “To transfer” can also mean to move from one train or bus to another while usingpublic transportation: “To get from the library to the zoo, you’ll need to take bus 13 and then transfer to bus 7 when you reach the city park.”  “To transfer(something)” often means to make a copy of information stored electronically sothat it can be placed on another computer or music player: “The easiest way totransfer information between our computers would be to make a CD.”

to act upIn this podcast, the phrase “to act up” means to not work properly: “The CDplayer is acting up again, stopping every five minutes.”  When we talk aboutchildren, the phrase “to act up” means to misbehave or to behave poorly: “Youngchildren often act up when they want their parents to pay more attention to them.” “To act out” means to perform something in theater: “Gisa is acting out the role ofOphelia in tonight’s performance of Othello.”  “To act on (something)” or “to actupon (something)” means to do something based on information or advice thatone has received: “Acting on her parents’ wishes, Bela went to medical school,but she never really wanted to be a doctor.”

CULTURE NOTEBanks in the United States try to get more customers by offering “convenient”

(useful and easy) services.  For example, many banks offer services online. “Online banking 13” lets customers view their account “balances” (the amount ofmoney that they have), transfer money to other accounts, and even open newaccounts online.  Banks also offer “online bill pay” so that customers can pay their bills for electricity, phone, TV cable, and other services by using theInternet, without having to write and mail checks.  The bank will send a check forthe customer or transfer the money directly.

Banks also offer “automated services” that happen without the customer havingto do anything.  For example, customers can request that their “paychecks” (themoney they receive from employers) have “automatic deposit,” meaning that themoney appears in their bank accounts every two weeks without having to takethe paycheck to the bank to deposit it.  Customers can also set up “automatic transfers” so that money moves from their checking accounts to their savings accounts on the same date each month.

Many banks try to get new customers by offering free banking.  For example,they might offer “no-fee accounts” where the customer doesn’t have to pay forthe checking account if he or she keeps a minimum amount of money in theaccount.  Other banks offer “no-fee ATMs” so that if customers use that bank’s ATMs, they don’t have to pay anything to take money out of their accounts.

Other banks offer convenient hours, extending the bank’s hours later in theevening or on weekends so that people who work full-time 14 have time to go to thebank.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers:  1 – b; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 271: Using anATM.

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast episode 271.  I'm your host,Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Developmentin beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com.  Take a look at the many newfeatures we now have on our website, including our ESL Podcast Store, whereyou can download additional premium 15 courses that you may be interested in. We have daily English courses, business courses, and others. This podcast is called “Using an ATM.”  An “ATM” is an automatic teller machine. It's a machine where you get money out of by putting a bankcard in.  We'll belistening to a dialogue between Robin and someone who works at the bank aboutusing the ATM card and some problems you sometimes have.  Let's get started.

[start of story]

I went to bank this morning.  Instead of standing 16 in line to talk to a bank teller, Idecided to use an ATM, but it wasn’t working.

Robin:  Excuse me.  Could you help me?  I’m trying to use this ATM machine, butit stopped working after I put in my PIN and it won’t give me back my ATM card.

Bank clerk:  It looks like the machine is jammed.  Step over to this teller windowand I can help you.  What transactions are you trying to make?

Robin:  I want to make a deposit, transfer some money between my checkingand savings accounts, and make a cash withdrawal. Bank clerk:  I can make those transactions for you. Robin:  Okay.  Let me take this check out of the deposit envelope.  And whatabout my card? Bank clerk:  I’ll call the technician and she should be able to retrieve it for you.

Robin:  Thanks a lot.  I guess that the machine just doesn’t like me.  

Bank clerk:  It’s not you.  Those machines just act up sometimes.

Robin:  In that case, I won’t take it personally. [end of story]

Our dialogue begins with Robin saying that she went to a bank this morning, andinstead of standing in line, or waiting in line, to talk to a bank teller, she decidedto use an ATM.  A “bank teller” (teller) is the person who works at the bank whohelps you: gives you money; cashes your check.  The person who helps thecustomers is usually called a “bank teller.”  Well, she does not want to use abank teller, so she's going to use an automatic teller machine, or what we call an“ATM” normally. The problem with the ATM was that it wasn't working.  Robin then goes up to oneof the bank tellers 17, or bank clerks, and says, “Excuse me.  Could you help me? I’m trying to use this ATM machine, but it stopped working after I put my PIN inand it won’t give me back my ATM card.”  A “PIN” (PIN) stands for personalidentification number, and this is your password or pass code that allows you totell the machine that it's really you; it helps identify you.  So, if someone steals your card, they can't get your money unless they know your PIN.  Well, Robinentered her PIN into the machine, and the machine did not give her her cardback.  It also did not give her her money!  The card we call an “ATM card.”

The clerk says that it looks like the machine is jammed.  When we say “amachine is jammed” (jammed), we mean that something has stopped working inthe machine; it doesn't do what it's supposed to do.  Normally we use this verbwhen we are talking about papers getting caught in a machine, so that themachine doesn't work properly.  For example, if you have a fax machine and youhave a piece of paper that isn't perfectly 18 straight, it may jam in the machine, orget jammed in the machine, meaning it will not go through the machine properly and cause the machine to stop working correctly.  Well, this is what happenedwith Robin's ATM card; it got jammed in the machine, according to the teller.

The teller says, “Step over to this teller window and I can help you.”  The “tellerwindow” is the place where the individual bank teller works.  Usually they arestanding on the other side of a counter that separates you from the bank teller. In many banks in the United States, you will also be separated by a thick piece ofglass for security reasons.

The teller asks Robin, “What transactions are you trying to make?” “Transactions” (transactions) are any time you take money out of your bank or put money into your bank, or do anything with your bank involving your money;that would be a transaction.  It's a more general term to talk about anything thatgoes on between two people that involves money.  When you buy a new car, wecould call that a “transaction.”  You give someone money and they give you acar.  Hopefully, the car will work!

Robin says that she wants to make a deposit, transfer some money between herchecking and savings accounts, and make a cash withdrawal.  So, three things here: first, Robin wants to “make a deposit” (deposit), meaning she wants to putsome money into her account – give the bank some of her money.  “To transfer”

(transfer) means to move money from one account that you have at the bank, toanother.  An “account” is simply the name we give the agreement that you havewith the bank for them to keep your money. Moving money from one account to another account, then, is a transfer; that's thesecond thing Robin is doing.  She's transferring between her checking and hersavings accounts.  A “savings account” is when you put money into your bank,and you can only take it out if you go to the bank, normally, or you go online andtransfer it.  A “checking account” is an account that you can take money out of by writing a check, usually a piece of paper that you sign, and you put the amountthat you want to take out of your account and the name of the person to whomyou are giving the money.  That would be a checking account.

The third thing Robin wants to do is make a cash withdrawal.  The verb “towithdraw” (withdraw) means to take out of; to remove something.  So, a“withdrawal,” as a noun, is when you take your money out.  In this case, shewants to take some cash out of her account.

The bank teller says that he can help Robin.  Robin says, “Okay.  Let me takethis check out of the deposit envelope.”  The “deposit envelope” is the placewhere you put your check or money that you are going to put into the ATMmachine.  But since the ATM machine isn't working, she is going to take it out ofthe deposit envelope and give it to the teller.  Notice here that we sometimes say “ATM machine,” even though ATM means automatic teller machine.  So it's likesaying, “automatic teller machine machine,” but we often say it like that.

The bank clerk says that he is going to call a technician in order to get the cardout of the ATM machine – Robin's card, that is.  A “technician” (technician) is aperson and fixes things.  Usually a person who fixes certain kinds of machines is called a “technician.”  The technician is going to retrieve Robin's card.  “Toretrieve” (retrieve) means to take out of something, usually something that has been lost or something that is difficult to get.  You can retrieve something from your closet, for example.  In this case, the technician will retrieve Robin's cardfrom the ATM machine so she can get it back.

Robin thanks the bank clerk, and says, “I guess that the machine just doesn’t likeme.”  She's making a joke – the machine doesn't like her.  And the bank clerk says, “It’s not you.  Those machines just act up sometimes.”  The verb “to act up”

(two words) means to cause problems.  When something doesn't work correctly,we would say it's “acting up.”  For additional definitions of this expression, “to actup,” take a look at the Learning Guide for this episode.

Finally Robin says, “In that case,” meaning if that is true that the machines sometimes act up, then “I won’t take it personally.”  When you “take somethingpersonally,” you are offended; you believe that something happened to you,usually a negative thing, for a personal reason.  In this case, Robin should nottake it personally; she should not think that the machine was trying to get her inparticular.

Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

I went to bank this morning.  Instead of standing in line to talk to a bank teller, Idecided to use an ATM, but it wasn’t working.

Robin:  Excuse me.  Could you help me?  I’m trying to use this ATM machine, butit stopped working after I put in my PIN and it won’t give me back my ATM card.

Bank clerk:  It looks like the machine is jammed.  Step over to this teller windowand I can help you.  What transactions are you trying to make?

Robin:  I want to make a deposit, transfer some money between my checkingand savings accounts, and make a cash withdrawal. Bank clerk:  I can make those transactions for you. Robin:  Okay.  Let me take this check out of the deposit envelope.  And whatabout my card? Bank clerk:  I’ll call the technician and she should be able to retrieve it for you.

Robin:  Thanks a lot.  I guess that the machine just doesn’t like me.

Bank clerk:  It’s not you.  Those machines just act up sometimes.

Robin:  In that case, I won’t take it personally. [end of story]

The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse. From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.  Thanks for listening.  We'll seeyou next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright 2007.