BBC Learning English

Talk about English webcast

Thursday December 6th, 2007

About this script, Callum says …

Sorry, this is not a word for word transcript of the programme as broadcast. This is the script I
used when I went into the studio but it isn’t always exactly what I said during the programme.

Callum: Hello I'm Callum Robertson

Jackie: I’m Jackie Dalton

Callum: And this is Talk about English from BBC Learning English dot com. In today’s
programme we’re talking about history.

Jackie: We’ll be learning some history related vocabulary and also asking some
important questions.

Callum: Yes, what is history and is there any history left to be discovered? We’ll be
talking about these questions and more with our special guest in today’s Talk
about English.

Callum: To kick off, here’s John Escolme with the first of today’s Word Facts.

WORD FACTS 1
Today’s word facts are based on the noun History.

History, H – I – S – T – O – R –Y

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History is a record of things that have happened in the past..
The study of those past events at school, college or university is also called ‘History’.

“I studied 19th Century European History at University”.

A related noun is the word for someone who studies or writes about history: Historian

H – I – S – T – O – R – I – A – N, Historian

Word facts, and that’s a fact

Jackie: There’ll be more word facts from John later in the programme. Callum, are you
a history buff, is it a subject you enjoyed studying and were really interested in.

Callum: A history buff, that’s a good expression, ‘a buff’. I was more of a theatre buff
than a history buff, but I certainly enjoyed history. I studied it at college – I
studied 20th Century history, concentrating mainly on the second half of the
20th Century, looking at the origins and the development of the Cold War.

Jackie: Of course when you were studying it was still in the middle of the Cold War!

Callum: Yes, thanks for that Jackie. I was at college in the early 1980’s, long before the
end of the cold war. We really seem to have forgotten what that was like, living
in that kind of political climate.

Jackie: Thanks for that, Grandad!

Callum: I suppose you’re far too young to remember the Cold War, but were you, are
you a history buff?

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Jackie: (responds)

Callum: Now on to someone who is definitely a history buff. I’m delighted to say that
we have a historian with us in the studio today. Maddy Carey is from the
history department of King’s College London. Welcome to the programme
Maddy.

Maddy: (responds)

Callum: The first thing I’d like to ask you Maddy is that we just heard our very simple
definition of history there, the record of things that have happened in the past
and the study of those things. Is that a reasonable definition of what history is?

Maddy: (responds)

Is it what happened and why it happened?

The interpretation of facts or just the facts themselves?
What do historians do and what skills do you need?
Is history an art or a science?

Jackie: Now, time for some more ‘word facts’ on today’s word, history.

WORD FACTS 2
A history can also be a person’s individual record of something. For example, if you want to
borrow money from a bank they will check your ‘credit history’ – the details of money that
you have borrowed and repaid in the past.

And the details of your health over the years are known as your ‘medical history.’

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If two people are said to ‘have history’, it usually means that in the past something happened
between them which had a lasting effect.

“Why does Jane always get so angry with Peter?”

“Oh, don’t you know, they have history.”
“Oh really, do tell…”

Word facts, and that’s a fact

Callum: So Jackie, how’s your credit history! No you don’t have to answer that! But do
you know what your credit history is?

Jackie: (replies)

Callum: These days it is quite scary the amount of information that is held about all of
us. Recently I had a problem with an application for a new credit card and I
had to check my credit record and there was a mistake in it. I did manage to get
it changed but I’m sure there are many people who have problems because
wrong information has been put into a computer somewhere. Anyway, moving
on, Maddy, I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about your personal history
– how did you get interested in the subject and what particular eras and events
are you interested in?

Maddy: (replies)

Callum: (respond)

Is there any history left to discover?

Why is history important? All these things happened many years ago, how/why is it relevant
today?

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Callum: For now Maddy, thank you very much

You’re listening to Talk about English from BBC Learning English dot com.
Today we’re talking about history.

Jackie: And now here are some more word facts,

WORD FACTS 3
There are a number of different words related to history.

Historic, adjective

H – I – S – T – O – R – I – C, historic.

Something that is described with this adjective is important or probably going to be important
in history.

“There was a series of historic meetings between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet
Leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s.”

Add the letters ‘a – l’ to the end of historic and you get another adjective, historical. Historical
is used for things that are connected with history or the past.

“The pyramids are perhaps the world’s most well known historical monuments.”

Adding ‘ l – y ‘ to historic makes the adverb ‘historically.’

This word is used to describe a state that has existed for a long time.

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“Historically, relations between the two countries have always been good.”

It is also used in connection with people, places and events recorded in history.

“The film Elizabeth, The Golden Age is very enjoyable, but it certainly isn’t historically
accurate!”

Word facts, and that’s a fact

Callum: Maddy, we heard an example there about a film which shows real characters
from history not being historically accurate. This I’m sure is true of many
films. For dramatic reasons or entertainment reasons what we see characters
doing and saying is not actually what they did. As a historian does this bother
you or because you are a historian are you able to see films as entertainment
and not as any kind of historical record.

Maddy: (responds)

Do you think there is a danger than people who see these films believe that is actually what
happened? Or is it the spirit of what happened rather than the letter of what happened that is
important?

SCHOOL BELL

Callum: Well that bell tells us we’re nearly at the end of the programme, just time for
our little vocabulary test. Can you remember the words and expressions we’ve
talked about today?
What’s the noun for someone who studies and writes about history?

(PAUSE)

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Jackie: Historian, historian

Callum: What phrase do we use for someone who is really interested in a subject, for
example, theatre, film or history?

(PAUSE)

Jackie: A buff, a theatre buff, a film buff, a history buff

Callum: What is the adverb that is made from the word ‘history?’

(PAUSE)

Jackie: Historically, historically

Callum: How do you spell historically?

(PAUSE)

Jackie: H–I–S–T–O–R–I–C–A–L–L–Y

Callum: Well that’s all from Talk about English today. We look forward to your
company next week. Thank you very much to our guest, Maddy Carey, it’s
been a pleasure having you on the programme.

Maddy (responds)

Callum: From Jackie and me, goodbye.

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