ESL商务英语: ESL Podcast 248 – Business Websites

 

ESL Podcast 248 – Business Websites

GLOSSARY

bookmarked – saved in a list in one’s Internet browser so that one can easily goto a particular website* When Gisela used Harold’s computer, she was surprised to see that he hadbookmarked so many websites about classical music.

homepage – the main page of a website* This website’s homepage has very basic information about the company, but ifyou want to learn more, you can click on “About Us.”

menu bar – a list of options or links on a website that lets the user decide whichother pages to visit* To get our phone number, click on “Contact Us.”  It’s the fourth link on the menubar at the top of the website’s homepage.

to navigate – to move between places on the Internet or a website* This website is almost impossible to navigate because there aren’t any links toreturn to the most important pages.

layout – design; the way things are presented on a page or on a website* Our company wants to hire a designer to create a new layout for its homepage.

hyperlink (or link) – an underlined word or words that, when clicked, moves theuser to another page on a website* Most hyperlinks on the Internet are underlined and in blue.

to click on – to move one’s mouse so that the cursor (flashing line on thescreen) is over an image or text and then press the mouse button* In this computer game, you have to click on the people’s feet to make themwalk.

search function – the ability to type a word or words into a small box on awebsite and have the website respond by showing a list of all items that matchthe word(s)* People used to look for library books by reading small paper cards, but nowthey can use the search functions on the library’s website to find the books they’re looking for.

browser – the software used to look at websites, such as Internet Explorer,Safari, or Firefox* This website doesn’t work with that browser.  You have to look at it with this one.

compatible – able to work together; able to be used together* I’d like to buy this new computer game, but I don’t know whether it’s compatiblewith my old computer.

www – “World Wide Web;” the first three letters of most website addresses * If you haven’t been to our website recently, visit us at www.eslpod.com.

web address – the letters and/or numbers that must be typed into an Internetbrowser to go to a website, usually beginning in “http://www.” and ending indomains such as “.com,” “.edu,” “.org,” “.gov,” and “.net”; URL* If you want people to visit your website, it helps to have a web address that is short and easy to remember.

domain – the last two or three letters of a web address, such as “.com,” “.edu,”

“.gov,” “.net,” “.tv,” “.ru,” “.pe,” and many others* In general, the domain for companies is “.com,” the domain for universities is “.edu,” and the domain for government agencies is “.gov”.

HTML – “HyperText Markup Language;” the computer programming languageused to make most websites* Students studying computer science have to learn HTML and use it to createwebsites during their first year at the university.

to maintain – to make something stay at the same level; to add or deleteinformation on a website over time* The information on this website hasn’t been changed since 2003.  We need tohire someone to maintain our website so that the information is updatedregularly!

content management software – a computer program that helps people easily change information on their websites* Nelly uses content management software to easily change the information onher website.

to install – to put a new program onto one’s computer* Have you installed the new version of iTunes yet?

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1.  What kinds of browsers will customers need to view the website?

a)  Any of the major browsers.

b)  Only the browsers used to build the website.

c)  No browsers are needed.

2.  How will Margaret maintain her website?

a)  She’ll learn how to use HTML.

b)  She’ll use content management software.

c)  She’ll ask Octavio to make changes for her.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to navigateThe verb “to navigate,” in this podcast, means to move between places on theInternet or a website: “Soriah is only five years old, but she’s already better atnavigating the Internet than her parents are.”  The same verb can also mean tofind out where one’s ship, car, or plane is or is traveling: “When the computersstopped working, the airplane pilot had to navigate with paper maps.”  Whenriding in a car, “to navigate” means to use a map to find out where one is and inwhat direction one should go: “When they drove into the city, Daniel had tonavigate while his wife drove.”  “To navigate” can also mean to find the right wayto do something in a difficult situation: “It’s going to be difficult to navigate thenew laws about how companies should report their financial information.”

domainIn this podcast, the word “domain” means the last two or three letters of a webaddress, such as “.com” or “.edu”: “Yuki wasn’t able to find the website becauseshe was typing in the wrong domain.”  The word “domain” also means a specific type of knowledge or activity that one is involved with: “Taking care of childrenused to be the wife’s domain, but now, many husbands have that responsibility.” Or, “We shouldn’t offer to help with that project because the president said itshould be only the finance department’s domain.”  A “domain” can also meanland that was owned by a person or country in the past: “The domain of theRussian Empire was one of the largest in the world.”

CULTURE NOTEIn the United States, copyright protection is a serious problem for individuals andbusinesses.  If a person or company has the “copyright” on text, music, artwork,or something else that he or she has created, then it cannot be used by otherpeople without permission in writing.  “Copyright protection” means the things that individuals and businesses do to try to stop other people from using theircopyrighted materials.

The Internet has created many opportunities for “copyright infringement,” or usingcopyrighted materials without permission.  On websites, it is easy to copy text(this is known as “plagiarism”) and download music or images.  But doing this is “illegal” or against the law.  If you see “?2007” or something similar at the bottomof a website, it means that all of the information on that website is copyrightedand you cannot copy it without the permission of the owners.

Some websites give everyone permission to use and copy their work, eventhough it normally would be copyrighted.  For example, there are some websites of “clipart” (small drawings that can be placed on websites or in text documents)that contain text stating that anyone can use their clipart.  Some people do this because they want to have many people visit their websites.  However, it is morecommon for clipart websites to have a “license for use” or an agreement abouthow visitors can use the clipart designs.

The U.S. Copyright Office has a website where you can learn more aboutcopyright and how to register copyrights on your own websites.  Its web address is http://www.copyright.gov/.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers:  1 – a; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 248: Business Websites.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number 248.  I'm yourhost, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for EducationalDevelopment in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this episode, we're going to talk about vocabulary related to websites andsetting up a business website.  As usual, first we'll listen to the dialogue at a slowspeed, then the explanations, and finally, listen to the dialogue again at a normalrate of speech.  Let's get started.

[start of story]

I was hired to set up a website for a small bookstore and the owner knew very little about the Internet.  I tried to find out what she wanted for her business website.

Octavio:  Let me show you some websites I’ve designed.  I have them allbookmarked.  Okay, this is a website for a restaurant.  As you can see, thehomepage is fairly simple.  The menu bar on the left-hand side allows visitors tonavigate around the site.

Margaret:  I like this layout a lot.  Why are these words in a different color?

Octavio:  Those are hyperlinks to other pages on the website.  If you click on thetext or the image, you’ll be taken to a different page. Margaret:  Oh, I see, so for my site, I can list the books I have for sale, and wecan hyperlink each book title to a description of that book.

Octavio:  Yes, that’s right.  You’ll probably also want a search function so thatpeople can type in the name of a book or the author to find out if you carry aspecific book. Margaret:  Yes, definitely.  Does it matter which browser customers use to look atmy website?

Octavio:  No, I’ll make sure that it’s compatible with all of the major browsers outthere.

Margaret:  Will people need to type in “www” before the web address? Octavio:  No, they should be able to just type in the name of the store and thedomain, which in your case would be “.com.”

Margaret:  Since I know so little about the Internet, do I have to learn HTML orsome other type of computer language to maintain the site?

Octavio:  No, not at all.  Your website will have content management softwareinstalled that allows you to make basic changes.  Once it’s done, I’ll show youhow to use it.  Should we look at a few more websites to get some other ideas foryour site?

Margaret:  That’s a great idea.  Let’s do that.

[end of story]

This episode is about business websites.  It's a conversation between Octavioand Margaret; Octavio is the web designer.  He says he “was hired,” oremployed, “to set up a website for a small bookstore.”  To set up means to puttogether - to get working properly.

He began by showing Margaret some of the websites he's designed.  He says hehas all of the sites “bookmarked.”  When we talk about a website beingbookmarked, “bookmarked,” we mean that on the web browser, which is thesoftware you use to look at web pages, you have a place where you can go toand simply click on a name and it will take you to that website. To bookmark, as a verb, can also be used in its original context, which was whenyou would mark or put a small piece of paper in a book, which is also called abookmark, in order to know where you stopped reading, so the next time you pick up your book, you know which page to start on.  That little piece of paper is called a bookmark.  Now we use it in the sort of the same way in talking aboutthe Internet.

Octavio goes on to explain that “the homepage” for one of his websites “is fairly simple,” or very simple.  A homepage, “homepage,” is what we called the mainpage of the website.  So, if you go to www.eslpod.com, you will be on thehomepage of our website.

Octavio says, “The menu bar on the left-hand side allows visitors to navigatearound the site.”  A menu, “menu,” bar, “bar,” is a list of options or links on thewebsite, usually to other pages on your website.  So, if you go to the ESL Podwebsite, you'll see links to other parts of our website: information about thepodcast, how to subscribe using iTunes and so forth.  That list is called a menubar, sometimes just simply a menu.

To navigate, “navigate,” is the verb we use to mean to go to different places onthe Internet or on a website.  You might say, “This website is very easy tonavigate,” meaning it's easy to find different parts of the website - to know whereto go in the different parts of the website.  The verb to navigate has othermeanings as well; take a look at the Learning Guide for additional definitions.

Margaret says to Octavio that she likes the layout of the website he's showingher.  Layout, “layout,” is the same here as design.  It's the way you put things ona page or on a website page.  We also use that word, layout, in talking about, forexample, a magazine - where the pictures are, where the words are on the page,that's all part of the layout.

Margaret asks why certain words on the web page have a different color. Octavio explains that these “are hyperlinks to other pages on the website.”  Ahyperlink, “hyperlink,” are words that are usually underlined or have a differentcolor on a web page, and when you click on them they take you to another pageon the Internet or on that website.  Sometimes we just call these links instead ofhyperlinks.

Octavio says that “If you click on the text or the image” of the hyperlink, “you’ll betaken to a different page.”  To click on is the verb we use meaning to move yourmouse so that you can press the button down and that will do something, usually take you to a different web page.  We use that a lot in talking about websites - toclick on something.

Margaret says, “Oh, I see,” - I understand - “for my site,” she says, “I can list thebooks I have for sale, and each book title” can be hyperlinked - notice we usethat as a verb - each book can be hyperlinked, or linked to another page that has a description of the book.

Octavio says, “Yes, that’s right” - that's correct.  He says, “You’ll probably alsowant a search function so that people can type in the name of the book or theauthor to find” it on your website more easily.  A search function is the ability totype in a word into a small box on a website and have the website show you a listof all the places where that word is found - the different pages.  So, for an individual website we would say the search function, or it has a search function. If you are talking about websites such as Google or Yahoo, those are calledsearch engines, “engines.”  So, a search engine would be Google or Yahoo; asearch function would be the ability to search on a particular websiteMargaret then asks it matters - if it is important - “which browser customers useto look at” her website.  We mentioned the word browser before, “browser.”  Abrowser, as you probably know, is the software you use to look at websites. Internet Explorer, Firefox - on the Mac, Safari - these are browsers or webbrowsers.

Octavio says that he will “make sure that” the website is “compatible with all ofthe major browsers out there.”  To be compatible, “compatible,” means to be ableto work together - to be able to be used together.  “This website is compatiblewith all the big browsers” - all the major browsers.  Major here just means themost important ones.  We also use that word compatible in talking about people -people who you may be romantically interested in.  You may say, for example, “Iwent on a date with a girl, but I found out that we were not compatible” - weweren't a good match for each other.

Margaret then asks if people will “need to type in the 'www' before the webaddress.”  Internet web addresses begin with the three letters “www” usually.  Aweb address is the letters and numbers you type in in order to go to website.  So,for our website, the web address is http-colon-forward slash-forward slash-wwwdot-eslpod-dot-com (http://www.eslpod.com).  Notice how I read the name of thatweb address; we say, “http-colon,” (http:) then “forward slash-forward slash” (//)because there are two of those characters in the web address.

Octavio says that it is not necessary - or will not be necessary - for people to typein the “www,” he says all they need to type in is “the name of the store and thedomain.”  The domain, “domain,” are the letters that come at the end of thewebsite.  For our website, the domain is dot-com (.com).  Although actually, ifyou type in dot-org (.org), “org,” or dot-net (.net), “net,” you will be redirected toour main page - you will be taken to our page for all of those web addresses.

Other domains are government domains: dot-g-o-v (.gov) or dot-gov.  Foreducation institutions such as colleges and universities, we use dot-e-d-u (.edu). Most countries have their own domain, so for Japan, it's dot-j-p (.jp); for UnitedKingdom, it's dot-u-k (.uk) and so forth and so on.

Margaret says that she doesn't know very much about the Internet.  Then sheasks if she has “to learn HTML or some other type of computer language to maintain the site.”  HTML stands for hypertext markup language; it's theprogramming language that most websites use.  To maintain, “maintain,” whenwe are talking about a website, means to make something stay at the same level- to keep it so that it is at a high quality, for example - to do the things necessary so that the website will function properly in the future.

Octavio says, “No,” she will not need to learn HTML.  The “website will have acontent management software” - or a content management system - “installed”

so she can “make basic changes” to the website.  Content management software- or more commonly, content management systems - are types of software thatallow someone who doesn't know very much about websites to still do somethings on the website to change the website - to maintain the website.  Wesometimes call these CMS - content management systems.

To be installed, “installed,” means to have a program put on your computer or puton your website.  This is the verb we use when you have new software, you haveto install it - you have to put it on your computer.

Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

I was hired to set up a website for a small bookstore and the owner knew very little about the Internet.  I tried to find out what she wanted for her business website.

Octavio:  Let me show you some websites I’ve designed.  I have them allbookmarked.  Okay, this is a website for a restaurant.  As you can see, thehomepage is fairly simple.  The menu bar on the left-hand side allows visitors tonavigate around the site.

Margaret:  I like this layout a lot.  Why are these words in a different color?

Octavio:  Those are hyperlinks to other pages on the website.  If you click on thetext or the image, you’ll be taken to a different page. Margaret:  Oh, I see, so for my site, I can list the books I have for sale, and wecan hyperlink each book title to a description of that book.

Octavio:  Yes, that’s right.  You’ll probably also want a search function so thatpeople can type in the name of a book or the author to find out if you carry aspecific book.

Margaret:  Yes, definitely.  Does it matter which browser customers use to look atmy website?

Octavio:  No, I’ll make sure that it’s compatible with all of the major browsers outthere.

Margaret:  Will people need to type in “www” before the web address? Octavio:  No, they should be able to just type in the name of the store and thedomain, which in your case would be “.com.”

Margaret:  Since I know so little about the Internet, do I have to learn HTML orsome other type of computer language to maintain the site?

Octavio:  No, not at all.  Your website will have content management softwareinstalled that allows you to make basic changes.  Once it’s done, I’ll show youhow to use it.  Should we look at a few more websites to get some other ideas foryour site?

Margaret:  That’s a great idea.  Let’s do that.

[end of story]

The script for today's podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

If you have a question or comment about our podcast, you can email us.  Ouremail address is [email protected].

From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.  Thanks for listening.  We'll seeyou next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright 2007.