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Do It Yourself

Do It Yourself

Date: Sep 21 2007

Themes: Hobbies, Work

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

We often pay people to do things for us that we could do ourselves. In fact, a lot of times people don’t even think of doing certain things themselves.

For instance, bands generally didn’t really go around pressing their own records and booking their own tours until the 1980s when bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat started their own tiny labels.

Their approach to music came to be known as DIY, which stands for do it yourself. Beren still associates the term DIY with the punk aesthetic of those bands, but Amanda, while not very punk, is totally DIY.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amanda

Amanda

Beren

Beren

Amanda:  You know what’s a great acronym?

Beren:  What?

Amanda:  DIY!

Beren:  Do it yourself?

Amanda:  Yup.

Beren:  That is a great acronym. Would you consider yourself DIY?

Amanda:  Totally. My dream shopping spree would be Home Depot, or Lowe’s or any hardware store.

Beren:  Oh, see, like there’s so many different takes on DIY. Whenever I think of DIY, I think of that whole punk aesthetic. I don’t know, ride your bike, and make your own clothes, and go dumpster diving.

Amanda:  That’s true. There are different interpretations of DIY.

Beren:  It’s good, it fits everything. DIY.

Amanda:  Do it yourself. Do it yourself. That’s right. So, what was the last DIY thing you did?

Beren:  My last DIY attempt would have been…Eh, well maybe two weeks ago I jumped into a dumpster outside a pizza place to see if there was pizza. I don’t know if that’s DIY or if it just makes me cheap...

Amanda:  So, what exactly were you doing yourself there?

Beren:  I don’t know, like not paying for something that I could get for free or using something that was going to go to waste.

Amanda:  Alright. I changed a faucet the other day.

Beren:  That’s very do it yourself.

Amanda:  Yup. I saved $200 by not hiring a plumber. So that was worth it to me.

Beren:  That is DIY.

 

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Discussion

Amanda says that she considers herself DIY because her favorite place to have money to spend is the hardware store. This surprises Beren because when she thinks of DIY, she thinks of bike-riding punks who make their own clothes.

Beren says the last DIY thing she did was dumpster dive for pizza. Amanda questions if that’s really DIY. Beren says it is because she’s not paying for something she can get for free and using something that would otherwise go to waste.

But the last DIY thing that Amanda did, while not exactly punk, definitely fits the definition of “do it yourself.” She fixed a faucet in her house rather than paying a plumber $200 to do it.

Are you DIY? What’s something you’re proud of doing for yourself? Can you think of something that you pay someone to do that you could be doing yourself?

 

Comments

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AlwaysHapppy

Russian Federation

I think sometimes its better to pay to the specialist than be DIY

07:43 PM Sep 26 2007 |

I_sweety

Romania

hello

05:24 PM Sep 26 2007 |

zhuyun

China

i think so .

02:02 PM Sep 26 2007 |

zhuyun

China

i understanded that “DIY”.

01:58 PM Sep 26 2007 |

shaakira.hannah

Viet Nam

LOL, i only got some basic english in highschool and alittle computer english in university.

But now i am an english teacher for London Cambrigde LOL. I study myself with Books.

So is that called DIY? And am i DIY person?

Thanks for nice lesson!

09:39 AM Sep 26 2007 |

jop8088

China

i want to do something by myself,but there is some difficult,i have no time to finish it.

08:36 AM Sep 26 2007 |

sanku

Ghana

I LIKE DOING THINGS MYSELF EVEN IF ITS A TECHNICAL PROBLEM I ALWASYS WANT TO DO IT MYSELF THAN TO CALL IN THE IT TECHNICIAN TO DO IT. INCREDIBLY I END UP FIXING THE PROBLEM ALL BY MYSELF. IT ALWAYS GOOD TO DIY OR EVEN TRY.

 

03:37 PM Sep 25 2007 |

yassinabushaar

Yemen

that's great. it's the thing that we have waiting for. well I will concider myself DIY.

TANKUUUUUUUUUUU

07:36 AM Sep 25 2007 |

hotstock2323

Thailand

Yess

06:15 PM Sep 24 2007 |

tottiahmed

tottiahmed

Qatar

I'm kinda lazy…......... so I don't consider my self DIY….......... I usually pay for another people to do things that do my self such as laundry and such staff.

11:56 AM Sep 24 2007 |

tottiahmed

tottiahmed

Qatar

I'm kinda lazy…......... so I don't consider my self DIY….......... I usually pay for another people to do things that do my self such as laundry and such staff.

11:56 AM Sep 24 2007 |

askim

askim

Germany

Sometimes people are too lazy. I think, when we are lazy we’ll achieve nothing. So do it yourself and you’ll have success & you’ll be content.

09:30 AM Sep 24 2007 |

askim

askim

Germany

sometimes i'm DIY but sometimes I'm not…it changes and it depends on the situation.

09:17 AM Sep 24 2007 |

nishad

Sri Lanka

dont be lazy to study

be

lazy

07:03 AM Sep 24 2007 |

nishad

Sri Lanka

dont be lazy to study

be

07:03 AM Sep 24 2007 |

syaidah

Indonesia

DIY prevails to almost all of my activities. a couple reasons rise up for the opinion. First, I love to be independent. Having somebody do job for me put me off seriously. felt like i have done something concerne with slavery. Sounds FUNNY but that happened to me. Second, I am indeed perfectionist person. I mostly feel unsatisfaid about anything that others did for me. I know… that is irrational manner so I try to held my need as many as possible to keep my self away from blaming people for errors occurred.  

i am DIY admirer.     

05:38 AM Sep 24 2007 |

syaidah

Indonesia

DIY prevails to almost all of my activities. a couple reasons rise up for the opinion. First, I love to be independent. Having somebody do job for me put me off seriously. felt like i have done something concerne with slavery. Sounds FUNNY but that happened to me. Second, I am indeed perfectionist person. I mostly feel unsatisfaid about anything that others did for me. I know… that is irrational manner so I try to held my need as many as possible to keep my self away from blaming people for errors occurred.  

i am DIY admirer.     

05:37 AM Sep 24 2007 |

jorgemoura2

Brazil

i to listen but  i don't undestood.

11:16 PM Sep 23 2007 |

Noah Lee

South Korea

It is interesting conversation. And the DIY is a very good idea. I think it is really expencive for us to ask other people, professionals, for help especially in America. The DIY will be very useful for us that we learn some easy skills such as fixing car, cleaning house and laying pipes. If we spend our spare time well, we can save a lot of money. But if you have enough money, you may ask other people, professionals. You can help the recover of the domestic economy. ^^

10:52 PM Sep 23 2007 |

lol80

lol80

Peru

i can it myself i don't depend to another people, you can try it, it's good for you !! i recomend to everybidy you can do it!! come on let's go! buddies.

06:47 PM Sep 23 2007 |

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