Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English.
I'm Neil and joining me today is Dan who is
looking very jolly.
Dan: Of course I'm looking jolly – meaning
happy and smiley; it's my favourite time of
the year.
Neil: Ah yes, all that food, all those presents,
all that fun.
Dan: Forget the food and fun – Christmas
is all about the presents!
Neil: I'm not sure that's quite the spirit
– the real meaning of something.
Dan: Well, Neil, I was actually talking about
giving presents, not getting them.
Neil: Ah sorry, Dan, I misjudged you. As you
enjoy giving presents so much, I'm very pleased
to have you with me in this 6 Minute English
– Our topic… What makes the perfect Santa?
We'll have 6 items of vocabulary for you and,
of course, our quiz question. Ready?
Dan: Hit me.
Neil: OK, here we go. How many Santas
are there in the world?
a) 1,500, b) 15,000
c) 15 million
Dan: Well, I know there are a lot but 15 million
must be wrong; 1,500 seems too few, so I'll
go for 15,000.
Neil: We'll see if you're right at the end
of the programme. Dan, you seem like a strong
candidate for a job as Santa.
Ever considered it?
Dan: I'd love to! A candidate is a person competing
for a job.
Neil: And what do you think is a key part
of being Santa – or Father Christmas as
we also call him in the UK?
Dan: As you said: being jolly…
Neil: That's right. Let's listen to James Lovell,
who runs a Santa school at his company Ministry
of Fun in London. What does he say
is the key?
James Lovell : A perfect 'ho ho ho!'
is a key part of being a Father Christmas.
It's a ho ho ho! And it needs to just reinforce
the fact that you are the jolliest person
on the planet. So I like to reach down into
my tummy, tap it and with a big smile on my
face go ho ho hoooo!
Neil: The perfect ho ho ho! You need that
to reinforce the fact you are the jolliest
person in the world.
Dan: To reinforce means to make something
stronger. Ho ho ho!
Neil: Wow, Dan! You're very convincing. Are
you sure you've never done this before?
Dan: I haven't but I want to. It feels good!
Ho ho ho!
Neil: I could be the ideal career move for
you, Dan. But I bet it's not all fun.
Dan: Hmm, maybe not. I think there would be a
lot of pressure to perform. Pressure is the
feeling of worry you can get when you are
expected to deal with a difficult situation.
Neil: Yes, think of all the children you have
to impress. Pressure indeed. Let's hear from
James Lovell again, who runs a Santa school
in London.
James Lovell : Portraying Father Christmas
is not an easy job because when you're dressed
as Father Christmas, you have a huge responsibility
to recreate the magic of the real Santa in
every way. You need to look good, you need
to have lots to say and you need to be incredibly
jolly and you need to have magical eyes.
Dan: So it seems I was right: portraying Father
Christmas is not an easy job. Portraying meaning
playing the part of – like an actor does.
Neil: He says there's a huge responsibility
to recreate the magic of the real Santa. To
recreate means to make something exist again.
Dan: All those kids expecting that magical
moment – and it's all down to you as Santa!
Hmm I'm beginning to have second thoughts
about this career change…
Neil: Could you handle the pressure?
Dan: I'm not sure I could! Portraying Father
Christmas might be a challenge too far – despite
my ho ho ho!
Neil: Now it's time to find out the answer
to our quiz question. I asked how many Santas
there are in the world?
a) 1,500, b) 15,000
c) 15 million
Dan: I said b) 15,000
Neil: And you were… wrong! I'm afraid it
was a trick question – there is, of course,
only one Santa!
Dan: Ahhh that's not fair!
Neil: Sorry! Shall we have a recap of the
vocabulary?
Dan: Yes please – that would make me
jolly again.
Neil: Jolly, meaning happy and smiley. What
makes you jolly, Dan?
Dan: Christmas of course! Now Neil, I have
to say, cheating me out of that quiz question
was really not in the spirit of 6 Minute English.
We are always nice to each other.
Neil: Ah yes, you're probably right. Spirt
here has the sense of something's real meaning.
The spirit of 6 Minute English is friendly
educational fun – not cheating your colleagues!
Dan: Glad we've got that straight. Our next
word is candidate. Until you made me think
about how hard it is to be a good Santa, I
thought I'd be a strong candidate for the
job.
Neil: A candidate is a person competing for
a job. Next we had reinforce.
Dan: Reinforce means to make something stronger.
Repeating the vocabulary in 6 Minute English
reinforces your ability to remember it!
Neil: That's right – and it puts you under
less pressure when you're speaking English
if you have a good range of vocabulary.
Dan: Pressure is the feeling of worry you
can get when you are expected to deal with
a difficult situation – like pretending
to be Santa! Yes there's a lot of pressure
involved in portraying someone else.
Neil: Portraying, meaning playing the part
of someone – like an actor does. It can
be very difficult to get it right.
Dan: Yep, it's a real skill to be able to
recreate the look and character of another
person. Recreate meaning to make something
exist again.
Neil: Well we'll try our best to recreate
a positive learning experience for you all
next time on 6 Minute English. Until then
don't forget to check out our YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram pages. And a happy New Year to
all of our listeners. Goodbye!
Dan: Goodbye! Ho ho ho!