Familiar English

Dr. Dean Edell’s Radio Talk Show:

dr-edell-radio-show

This is a great audio clip to listen to in order to learn natural speech (MP3 format: just click on the link and wait for clip to download)  . Pay attention to the reductions.Dr. Dean Edell, one of the first physician broadcasters in the nation, is the host of America’s second most popular syndicated radio talk show, The Dr. Dean Edell Show, heard in more than 400 radio stations, as well as the anchor of Medical Minutes, a series of ten weekly radio medical reports. He is also the host of the daily 90-second Medical Report seen in 75 television markets. Dr. Edell is known for translating complicated medical information into concise, easy-to-understand reports and for tackling topics that are obscure, unusual and often controversial.

Dr. Edell began his career as one of the first “media doctors” in 1978 on KGO Radio in San Francisco. He has been the host of numerous television series on health, including programs for Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and national syndication, and was the author of the Edell Health Letter, published from 1982 until 1994. Over the past 20 years of broadcasting, he has won numerous media awards for his on-air work, including the C. Everett Koop Media Awards competition, the Edward R. Murrow Award, a national Emmy, the American Cancer Society recognition award, the American Heart Association award, and other prestigious medical and media awards.

A native of New York, Edell studied zoology as an undergraduate student at Cornell University and then earned his M.D. at Cornell University Medical School in 1967. Edell moved to California to do his residency at the University of California at San Diego. An ophthalmologist and surgeon, he set up private practice in San Diego and served as an instructor of Anatomy and a clinical instructor at the Department of Surgery for the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.

Edell gave up his private practice to pursue personal interests and eventually moved to Sacramento where he served as medical director of the County Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1980.

In his personal life, Edell has designed custom jewelry, collected antiques, and been involved in organic farming over the years. He studied Fine Arts at the New School in New York City and has lectured on the subject at U.C. Davis. Edell’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited at art galleries in Manhattan and elsewhere.

  Before you do the listening exercise look at the following words and make sure you understand them (pay particular attention to his familiar contractions):

 Outpatient=a patient who receives treatment during the day without staying overnight in a room; recovery room=a special room for waking up after an operation; co-workers=colleagues; to be concerned=to be worried or anxious; to overreact=to react too strongly(opposite: to underreact); something’s goin’ on (going on)=something’s happeing; you gotta (have got to=must)sit down; to zoom=to look more closely at; it’s very unlikely that…=it’s improbable that; what you gotta (have got to=must)look at; to draw upon (a population)=to take from (for statistical purposes); when you see quote “these clusters”=groups; malignant melanoma or what have you=or other similar diseases; non-Hodgkins lymphoma; put their head in the sand=refuse to see reality; to go into denial=to deny reality or to refuse to face reality or admit the truth; statistically; folks=(fam.) people; instant cures; all the things you treasure=you relish or you value; all the goodies=all the good things; to pop up out of nowhere=to appear unexpectedly; long history of struggle=of challenging circumstances; it’s been around a long time=it has been in existance for a long time; a slick machine=a very useful high tech device; death rates; to inch our way along=to make progress slowly but surely; figure that out…=try to understand that!

 Hey Dr. Dean…hi!=(see pronunciation videos)a familiar way of greeting someone in the States; a carpenter=someone who works with wood; hepatitis B positive=a type of hepatitis; to be sharing a needle at lunchtime=a hyperdermic needle used in medicine; you got the joke…good=you understand the humor here; you’re not sure that everyone else has your sense of humor=your way of looking at things; bodily fluids=blood, saliva, etc.; sexual acts; to spread (a disease)=to catch a virus from someone by coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, etc.; gosh…it may be counting for; some unknowns=some questions;  a razor; a comb or a scissors; to be weird=to be strange; bleeding; blood; wound=injury; to be wary=to be cautious; ADD=Attention Deficit Disorder; to be commonly discussed; lifestyle; you betcha=(familiar) “you bet you”=you’re welcome; to manage to export (our lifestyle); we’ll get him…we’ll get ‘im!; the price we pay; to outproduce everybody; to keep up with someone (or the Jones’s); Gosh…it’s funny that…; leave ’em (them) alone…hey they got lives!;  illnesses and diseases; to spread the gospel to the rest of the world=(gospel=New Testament wisdom)=to teach people what to do and not to do; their kids too; a lack of sleep; to stay focused during the day; prime candidates for the diagnosis; and indeed; sleep cycles; to be wired a little bit differently=to be genetically different; couldn’t figure out why=couldn’t understand why; body clocks=biological rhythm; you’re on to something=you’ve got a point; to lead to “A”…; symptoms; we’re comin’ (coming) right back…!

 INSTRUCTIONS: Listen to an excerpt of Dr. Dean’s talk show broadcast from Los Angeles on KFI a local radio station. Write down the listeners’ questions and see if you can summarize his answers. Lastly decide whether you agree on not with his diagnosis or explanations:

 QUESTIONS:      

 ANSWERS:

The answers will be posted in a few days on the ‘Answers Page’ (logical!)…!