【2009-07-03，五】ESL Podcast 491 – Having a Temper Tantrum

Don’t get mad about this episode, but instead learn how to talk about temper tantrums in English. Tags: Relationships Audio Index: Slow dialogue: 1:20 Explanations: 3:22 Fast dialogue: 14:03 Alberto: What was that ear-splitting scream?! Melissa: That little girl over there is having a temper tantrum. Alberto: Oh, great! The movie hasn’t even started and that kid is already acting up. Melissa: I hope she’s okay. She looks miserable. Maybe her parents can distract her somehow. Alberto: She’s fine. She’s just looking for attention or frustrated she didn’t get what she wanted. If parents didn’t give in every time their child wanted something, kids wouldn’t throw tantrums. Melissa: I don’t know. When my son was little, he used to throw tantrums when he didn’t know how to tell us what he needed. He got frustrated and sometimes, he would start kicking and screaming. Alberto: Well, I don’t think that’s the case here. Look at those parents. They’re going to buy the girl some candy to quiet her down. That’s just rewarding her for her misbehavior. Melissa: What would you do instead? Alberto: I would set limits so that things like this never happened. In this case, I would give that girl a spanking. It’s all about having consequences for bad behavior. Melissa: Oh, yeah? Did that work with your children? Alberto: Uh, I don’t have any kids. Melissa: That’s what I thought! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse