Podcast: Safe place for your mail

Podcast Inglês Online

How’s it going? No podcast Inglês Online de hoje eu falo sobre vocabulário relacionado a entrega de correio (especialmente encomendas) aqui na Inglaterra.

Transcrição

Hi, guys, how are you doing? This is Ana with another episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Last week I talked about ‘dad jokes’ and bugs, and stuff. So, this week we are talking about a more interesting topic: mail delivery.

So, here’s what I got for you. I placed an order online for some food and this stuff is coming from far away… a bit far from where I live. The company posted the parcel and gave me a tracking number. And you know when you have the tracking number and you go online, and you go to the website of the delivery company. And you type in the tracking code and then you can follow the journey of the parcel and have a… Actually, sometimes, a pretty good idea… They give you a one-hour window of when you are going to get the delivery. Sometimes they tell you, “you are going to get it today between 3 and 4PM”. So it depends – it depends on the company, but when they do that, it’s pretty cool.

I had actually forgotten that I put this order for this food product, because… I actually ordered it, like, three or four weeks ago and they still haven’t delivered it. I’m looking now at their web page that is supposed to have that tracking information and this is what is says. The status is – ‘We have collected your parcel’ and under “Estimated delivery day” it says: Unavailable at this time. So it’s not looking good, you guys, it’s not looking good. They collected the parcel like, over a week ago and they don’t have any information. I’m not very cheerful about this right now.

But ok, let’s talk about other vocabulary related to mail delivery, I mean… why not? So, one thing that’s pretty cool when you place an order online and I think it’s more and more common… At least here in the UK when I place an order on Amazon… is that you can sort of give them information about ‘safe places’ for the delivery person to leave your parcel in case you are not home. So for example, on Amazon… I think Amazon it’s probably the website I order from the most. They just have so much stuff and their price is usually OK. So, I’m looking here at my account page on Amazon and I was actually going to update the information on the safe place for my next delivery… And they have this little pop-up that asks me: Where is it safe to leave packages when you are not available?

So, let me give you a few options that I’m seeing here. One of them is the ‘front porch’. so what is a porch? If you have watched lots of American movies, I’m sure you have seen houses with porches before… And we have them in Brazil as well, obviously. So a porch is this little area, usually at the front of the house. It’s attached to the house and it’s covered, but it’s usually open. You could call it a ‘veranda’ as well. So usually people put nice, comfy chairs in the porch and when it’s sunny they just go and sit in the chairs and, you know… They read a book or they have a chat. So, that’s the porch. The front porch is one of the places that you can usually choose as a safe place for the delivery man, or woman, the delivery person… to leave your parcel in case you are not home.

So here’s another option: the ‘rear porch’. Same thing but instead of being in the front it’s at the back of the house.

Another option is ‘garage’, and then you have “behind the wheelie bin’. So, a wheelie bin is a huge trash can, but here in the UK people don’t really say trash can, not even garbage bin or garbage can. They say ‘bin’ and they call garbage ‘rubbish’, so usually you say rubbish bin. A wheelie bin [see image] is this big bin for rubbish, but it has wheels underneath. So that’s why it’s called a wheelie bin… Why does it have wheels? Because every week, or every two weeks, you put the bin outside so that the bin men can collect your rubbish. So it has wheels. The wheels obviously make it easier, right? So, you put them out and then after the bin men have collected the rubbish, you bring them back in. So “behind the wheelie bin” is another option for a safe place for the delivery person to leave your parcel.

Another option is ‘garden’; there’s another option here – ‘the receptionist’, in case your delivery address is for a company… And then the last option is with a ‘neighbour’. You know, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it works out depending on where you live. If you know the neighbours and you know they are reliable and you can trust them… Usually it’s a good option.

So, tell me something: what is your favorite place – do you know your mailman or your mailwoman… Your mailperson? Do you have a relationship with them? Have you actually asked your mailperson to leave your parcels in a safe place when you are not home? I’m curious. Let me know and talk to you soon.

Key expressions

• Mail delivery
• Safe place

Vocabulary

parcel = encomenda, pacote (que o carteiro entrega)

type in = digitar

tracking code = código de rastreio ou rastreamento

one-hour window = intervalo de uma hora

front porch = varanda

comfy chairs = cadeiras confortáveis

trash ou garbage (American English) / rubbish (British English) = lixo

wheelie bin = lixeira/coletor de lixo com rodinhas

you put them out = você as/os coloca do lado de fora (na calçada)

you bring them back in = você os traz de volta para dentro

bin men = lixeiros ou pessoas que fazem a coleta de lixo

mailman/mailwoman/mailperson = carteiro/a

neighbour = vizinho