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English isn't your native language, and sometimes you struggle to come up with the right word in the right moment. This happens to me all the time when I'm speaking Spanish, even with all the practice time I put in. So, today we'll do some travel. A trip to New York City, a trip to Spain, a trip to Florida, and a trip to Salt Lake City. From these conversations, you'll learn vocabulary and idioms that get used by real Americans in real life. I'm also going to give you some listening comprehension tips because, let's face it, Americans speak quickly and they link words together in a way that can make it pretty hard to understand. I'm Rachel and I've been helping non-native speakers of English with their English
speaking skills for over 20 years. My background is in opera singing and my passion and my specialtity is helping you get the American accent that you've always wanted. Your speaking skills shouldn't be holding you back from your dreams. Scan this QR code or follow the link in the video description to get my cheat sheet for the sounds of American English. It's a great reference guide for the mouth positions of all of the sounds, and it's yours free. Learning new vocabulary this way in real life situations with visuals and a story really helps new words and phrases stick in your mind so you can use them confidently in conversation in the future. Here's our first video. I feel like an adventure and I feel like
teaching English. So, let's take an adventure today. I'm going to hop a train to New York City. Let's see what we see and see what we learn. Okay, so I thought I was leaving all the time in the world, but traffic is pretty much a crawl. And now I'm thinking there is a chance I will miss my train. All the time in the world is just a phrase that means plenty of time. Oh, don't worry about that. We have all the time in the world to get it done. If traffic is just crawling, that means of course it's very slow. You're seeing lots of brake lights, which you don't want to see when you're running late for a train.
Will we make it? It's a nailbiter. If something is a nailbiter, that means it's a situation with a lot of tension causing anxiety. The train is going to leave at its appointed time, whether I'm there or not, and I really want to make it, and I'm not sure if I'm going to. So, it's a nailbiter. All right, we just cut in. We have 8 minutes until the train leaves. Traffic is thick. It is heavy. And we're not too close. It's getting down to the wire. We made it. And look at this station.
Isn't it gorgeous? So, I get on the train and one of the best things about Philly is how quickly and easily you can get to New York City. I hopped on and zipped up there in about 75 minutes. Then, when you arrive, you're right in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. We made it to New York City. It's cold. Before we move forward, I want to make sure you know about Rachel's English Academy. Rachel's English Academy is absolutely hands down the best place to improve your American accent and English
speaking skills. Over 50,000 students from all over the world in every profession you can think of and of nearly every native language out there have fundamentally changed the way they speak English and enjoyed the life that opened up for them. If you're curious about becoming one of my students, scan this QR code or visit rachelenglishacademy.com. I'm accepting new students right now and I would love to have you as a student. We made it to New York City. It's cold, but we made it. And how are we starting the adventure? I know this doesn't sound like how most people start their
adventure, but I'm thinking about exercise. I'm thinking about trying a drop in hot yoga class. Haven't done it in eight years, but my body is just saying that would feel good. So, let's try. It's one of those days where it's so cold that my eyes are watering. Does this ever happen to you? Chilly. When I used to live in New York City, I did hot yoga all the time. But since I moved to Philly, I just have not been able to get into a groove with it. You know, just can't get into a routine. So, I'm excited to do it after so many years.
Okay, we made it to the building. We're looking for the third floor. I decided to take the stairs rather than the elevator. Third is sort of a tricky word, isn't it? D. This hallway looks like it's not actually supposed to be used. I got in there, paid, grabbed my water and matt and did the class. Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, I'll grab that. That's okay. I was taking my time for me. I'll Oh, okay. I will. Thank you. Yeah, I did it.
I'm glad it was 60 instead of 90. My ankle was popping like crazy. But it felt good. If you follow me on social media, then you may have known that back in August, I severed a ligament in my ankle. And I'm still doing physical therapy for that. It really took me out. And I've noticed that as I do things like going up on my toes, things that strain my ankle, that it's making a popping noise quite often. To be honest, I'm actually shocked I made it through the 60-minute class. On such a cold day, the hot yoga felt good, but not being that sweaty. So, I did take a quick shower before I got on with my day.
Have a good one. Thank you. Have a good one. This is something you can say when you're leaving somebody. It's like saying, "Have a good day." If someone says this to you, you can say, "You, too." I just realized that it's 2 p.m. and I haven't had lunch yet. I haven't had breakfast yet. And I did hot yoga, but I don't want to ruin my dinner. So, I need something to tide myself over. Naturally, I'm going to go with hot chocolate. My favorite place to get hot chocolate right now in New York City is Italy. If you have a place you like better, let me know in the comments because I love hot chocolate.
Now, I noticed when I ordered my hot chocolate and croissant and they gave it to me, I said, "Thank you. Have a good one." So, apparently that is my phrase I use. Thank you. No, that's all right. Thank you. Have a good one. All right. I always like to try a good plank croissant. It's not as good as the one at my hometown coffee shop. That's good. I don't have to come to New York every day for a croissant. That hot chocolate though is bomb. So good. After my snack, I still had a little bit of time to kill before meeting my friends. So, I decided to go to a camera store to buy a few things I needed for my camera.
Hi. I've lost my little wrist cord that goes in there. Do you guys sell those as an accessory? Wait, I think I found it. You need a little Yeah, that little thing is little. Okay, thank you so much. Just a little tiny guy. Oh, no. This whole thing is perfect. Awesome. Thank you. Where do I check out with this? Thank you. You just go downstairs. Thank you so much. B&H had everything I need.
Absolutely incredible. In and out in 10 minutes. The best part of my day just happened. It's when I got to meet up with my friends. This is Renee. Hi Rene. So great to have you in the city. It's the best. So good to be here. It's cold, but it's clear. It's Christmas time. There are lights everywhere. I love it. Renee, how was your day? It was pretty great. I had a few meetings. I went to lunch. Had a working meeting. We don't have offices, individual offices. So, I sat different places on the couch.
Ooh. Yeah. Room depending on the type of work that I had to do. Nice. Sounds like a good day. And now the best part of my day is seeing my friend this amazing city. Yeah, it's great. Have you ever thought it's awkward to walk with your arms straight out? This is This part is not going in the video. I have thought that it's awkward. I've been trying to make it the least amount of awkward as possible. Wait, I need to take a photo of you taking this. See if you can get us in the viewfinder. Okay. Sawyer said he wanted knit mittens and I found some. They are so cute. How fabulous are those? So, I had to get some for Stony.
All right. Is there tax on top of that? No. 20. There you go. Thank you. Thank you so much. No problem. My kids will be very happy. You stay warm. Thank you, too. if today has been the most fruitful day. All right, Time Square, baby. If you have a fruitful day, you were productive. You got a lot of stuff done. Then we met up with my friend Annie and had a very energetic hug. If something hits just right, that means it's perfect. Yeah, that is hitting just right. Then we met up with two more dear friends and the five of us had an absolutely fantastic dinner. These four
friends and a few others have all been in my videos before, like this one from quite a while ago, 10 years actually, where we talk about places and idioms. There was a situation which was not ideal. It was a bump in the road. It was bump in the road. Now that's also an idiom. Could you explain that? I went to Florida. The other idiom you came up with was hot seat. Yes, it was. Can you make up a sentence with hot seat?
Man, I hate being in the hot seat when topic turns to something I am not quite comfortable answering. Bye everybody. Oh yeah. Bye. Now it's time to go on another trip. Let's study real English conversation on a trip to Spain. As with any trip, not everything went well. I throw up. I felt terrible. But overall, I had a great time traveling with my husband. I feel like I have this energy that I need to get out and I don't know how to do it. And it might be like punching you. during our trip to Valencia.
Just going to go walk up the tower. Is that what to? Yes. This trip is a good opportunity for me to practice some Spanish. Got them. Them and him sound the same when they're reduced. Got them could mean got him or got them. Notice how the words link together with the flap t. Got them. That's very smooth. Very American. Got them. And don't worry, I'm not the only one who does this. Rainy day for this launch and just it was kind of random that we got them there, but yep, that's how yall got we first met. But and I learned that you could actually negotiate with people. This one person offered me 3 cents and I got him
up to three and a half. I even knew at a seven-year-old age that I could actually get a fractional percent of a cent. climbed into this little tire like on like a cattle guard grate and was like hiding from the wind and he was like and he was still nursing when I got him and so when I first got him I was like trying to like I was like I just didn't know what to do and we didn't obviously have dog food with us or anything. Okay, let's test your listening comprehension. I'm speaking pretty quickly here. What kind of a building is it? So the one with the flags is a government building.
Yes, I think that's a residence of the governor of Valencia. Government said quickly, the first syllable is stressed. Government. Notice that the NT at the end. The T isn't released. Government. Government building. Didn't know Spain still had a king. All right. Should we keep going? Wow. Steve, can you point to where you guys are? Mosenos. David said more or less in English. Steve answered roughly. Roughly in this case means approximately roughly an hour for example or that's roughly the idea. Or you could describe something to someone
and then say this should give you a rough idea. Roughly an hour roughly the idea. Maybe not exactly the same idea that I had but close to it. The surface is pretty rough. Also Steve said it's roughly $10 a day to rent a bike. Rough is the opposite of smooth. We already saw how roughly means approximately. It can also mean to do something with harshness. He roughly threw the dog in his crate. Rough. Roughly. O U G H making uh as in butter plus F. Rough. It rhymes with the word stuff. The trip started out promising and then I spent the last 24 hours in this bed.
It all started yesterday morning. I woke up with a stomach ache. I had told my friend I would go to the gym with her and I wanted to go. So, we went. We did a 30-inut abs class where I learned things like plank in Spanish is pla. The whole time I had a stomach ache, but I didn't feel terrible. Then after the workout, I felt terrible. So my friend at this point was on a machine doing some cardio. Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise like running, biking, and so on. Anything that gets your heart rate up and isn't about strength training specifically. And I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't tell what direction this was heading. So I just sat down on the gym floor. And then it became pretty clear that it was
heading not in a good direction. So the guy who works there was about 20 ft away from me and I said poor vavon. I just yelled at him. Here I'm reducing him and linking into at with a flap t. This is just like got him from the beginning of the video. Adam. Yelled at him becomes yelled at him or yell at him. And uh he came over to me and I said in Spanish, I was very proud of myself. Could you please go get my friend Christa? I think I need to leave. So he went and got Christa. And Christa said, she came up to me. I'm sitting on the floor and she said I was white as a sheet. White as a sheet is what we say
when someone looks very pale, like from being sick or from being shocked or scared about something. She was like, "Oh, wow. Okay, we're we're here." So they help me up. They get me out of the gym. I sit down on the sidewalk and within about 5 seconds I puke. I throw up. I vomit. Puke, throw up, vomit. All mean the same thing. Barf would be another way to say this or upchuck. Um, yeah, that was embarrassing. The guy from the gym goes and gets me a Coke because he says I need some sugar. After I'm done throwing up, I move to a bench and you know, you know how after you throw up you start to feel great? I was so relieved that nausea had passed.
This word can be pronounced a couple of different ways like nausea. But I prefer two syllables. Nausea. Na. Nausea. So we walk home. I take a shower. I lay down. I'm thinking maybe I'm past it. Maybe I'm through the worst of it. But no. I didn't leave this bed until noon today. I was not done being sick. I had cold sweats, hot flashes, I had goosebumps, and then like dripping sweat. At one point, I felt like every muscle and bone in my body was aching. I felt like I'd been put through a ringer. A ringer is an old tool used in doing laundry to dry clothes. Very old-fashioned, not used anymore, but this is what my body felt
like, like it had been crushed. Put through the ringer. We now use the phrase to put someone through the ringer as an idiom to mean to put someone through difficult challenges or experiences. I took Tums. I took Advil. I took Tylenol. I took everything I brought and I woke up today feeling like a million bucks. The phrase to feel like a million bucks means to feel absolutely great. For some reason, we always use bucks with this phrase and not dollars. I feel like a million dollars. What you'll hear is I feel like a million bucks. You can also compliment someone by saying they look like a million bucks. You look like a million bucks today. Okay, not quite a million, but I
feel much better. So, I've lost a day of vacation. No big deal. It's sunny here in Valencia. I have no idea what we're going to do today, but I'm ready for it. Let me show you the view from the window. Perfect temperature, 70°, full sun. It's going to be a great day. Well, it was an okay day, but that night wasn't great. The next day, I went on a walk with David to try to improve my mood. How are you enjoying your vacation? It's terrific. What day is this? Four.
Yeah. It's been amazing. And why is that? I was sick for 36 hours. And then last night, okay, I should say because I was sick, I was sleeping a lot. And yesterday, I slept in until 11:45 in the morning. I slept late. Didn't sleep. went to bed about 10, took a sleeping pill. 12:30, still wasn't asleep. I was like, I'll take another one and then I'll definitely be asleep in like a half hour. Never. I never slept. I honestly don't know if there have been any nights in my life like that where I've slept zero minutes. And I'm going to be honest, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with everything. So anyway, I'm just annoyed at everything right now.
It's true. She's annoyed. Okay. What's a good way to get unanoed? Think about things that are exciting and that I should be lucky for. There's a lot of that. I just don't feel excited or lucky for any of it right now. Even though there's a lot, I feel like my mood is getting worse by the minute. And I'm not hungry. Like, I just feel not good. cuz your stomach. Yeah, you were sick in the stomach. Yeah, I feel like I have this energy that I need to get out and I don't know how to do it and it might be like punching you.
David and I split up and read for a while and usually being alone does help my mood and this did some, but really the rest of the day was kind of a bust for me. If something's a bust that means it didn't go well, didn't turn out as planned. Luckily, I did get a normal night of sleep that night. The next day, we went to Central Market to get some groceries for dinner. In English, it's more common to say make dinner than cook dinner. David is making dinner. He's making paella. A vegetarian version and a meaty version. What meat is going into your meat version? chicken, kiso, shrimp. That's it. Okay. And here's the red pepper going to go in the paella.
Here's the asparagus. David went to the market this morning and bought everything. All the produce is super fresh. Okay, David finished. It looks exceptional. David, should I put lemon on either of these things? Both of these things. Or is it just for the paella? Okay, looks fantastic. I went for the vegetarian one. I said I went for the vegetarian paella. I went for is just another way to say I chose. I chose the vegetarian paella. David, you did an excellent job with this meal. At the very end of the trip, we did maybe my favorite thing, which was a bike ride along the Mediterranean. That was fun, but I'm feeling a trip to another location.
I'm hopping a plane to Florida and you're invited. Let's study real English as it happens in real life. Made it. I recently hopped on a plane, headed south, and met up with some dear friends from childhood. Come with me on this trip while we study real American English conversation to learn phrases in real life. These girls you'll meet are so much fun and I'm so lucky to have them in my life. But actually, before we get to meet my friends, I had to work a few days. I checked myself into a bed and breakfast for two nights. I brought my raincoat because unfortunately it's supposed to rain most of the time I'm here.
Confession. I was so busy getting my car, getting directions, groceries that I forgot to get out my camera, but I'm here now. And yes, I bought flowers for my room. The first thing I like to do when I get somewhere is I like to get all settled in and unpacked. Are you this way or do you like to get right to the fun stuff? To me, I'm going to enjoy myself more when I have sort of settled in. The phrasal verb settle in means to become familiar with somewhere new and to make yourself feel happy and comfortable there. So, for example, at a hotel, settling in might be unpacking. But you could also settle into a new community when you move, and that might take months to get to know people and to become comfortable and familiar. Settle
in. Settle down. Another phrasal verb with settle is to settle down. And this is what you have to tell your kids when they have way too much energy and maybe they're acting out. You have to say, "Settle down. We're at a restaurant now. We have to be more calm. Now, I don't usually buy myself flowers, but I was at the grocery store getting some food for dinner because I don't want to have to leave the house once I'm here. I just want to chill. And I saw these and I was like, well, I can't resist that. That's going to make my room a lot nicer. That one's too long, isn't it? I'm not going to bother with making it shorter. So, I got them. They're going in a coffee mug, so I have to trim them significantly.
Trim. This is when you remove the excess of something. It can also mean to make neat or tidy by clipping. So, there are lots of things we might trim. Here, I'm trimming the stems. You might trim your bangs or you might trim your beard. Also, when you're cooking, you might trim the fat off of a piece of chicken before cooking it. trim. Anyway, this is just going to brighten my day every time I look at it. Let's finish unpacking. You know what's better than unpacking? Unpacking while snacking. Do you like salt and vinegar? It's one of my favorites.
The adjective tangy means having a sour taste. In this case, it's the vinegar that makes it tangy. So adding the n ss turns this adjective into a noun. Tanginess. The tanginess of the chips is because of the vinegar. Notice in both of these words tangy and tanginess, the ng is making one sound, the ng sound. So there's not a g. Also, we don't say tangy or tangy, but it's tangy. Tanginess. Not a bad view. I got settled in. I got unpacked. I worked through the evening, went to bed, and in the morning, it's time for coffee. I decided to get really indulgent.
Wouldn't it be interesting to put chocolate in the coffee mug? Yes. Let's try it. Okay. I kind of hate these machines. I make it very differently at home. 8 o. If something's indulgent and you do it, that means you're treating yourself. For example, putting chocolate in your coffee to put chocolate in the coffee mug. Or maybe you take a day off of work, go to a spa, get a massage, get a manicure, a pedicure. That is indulgent. You're pampering yourself. You are treating yourself. You allow yourself to do something special. As much as I don't like these machines, that is a nice sight to see in the morning.
Cheers. All right, I've got a little bit more script writing to do. Quite a bit of room cleaning to do before I hit the road. This is an idiom that means to leave, especially in a car. We're going to hit the road. You could also say head out, a phrasal verb that means to leave. We're going to head out. We're going to hit the road. I got my work done, got dressed, and packed up to meet my friends at the beach house we rented. These girls and I all grew up in the beautiful town of Gainesville, Florida. We get together every year, and this time we rented a house on the coast of Florida for the weekend. So, I drove my rental up the coast.
Most of them are already here, and they're loud, so I'm definitely hearing them through the door. Hey, these girls and I have been friends since elementary school. Jenny and I once stuffed ourselves into the same pair of pants. We also dissected a fetal pig together in the fifth grade. We grew up having pool parties in each other's backyards. When we get together, it's still the same. This is Aaron who gave me her Barbie car in kindergarten. We just laugh and laugh. So, this is what we did. We sat on the beach talking. We hung out on the deck talking. We played games, but we're mostly just talking and laughing. And every year, this is what it is.
Three days of nonstop talking about life, about the year, about growing up, and laughing. During all of our conversations, a few phrases came up that I wanted to teach you. So, Jenny and Grace are going to each teach you something. My friend Grace just used an amazing idiom. Grace, you're talking about your sons and how they're saving up for a Nintendo Switch. And I told them if they want to be able to afford a Nintendo Switch, they're going to have to tighten their belts. Tighten their belts. Save up is a phrasal verb and it means to accumulate slowly over time. So, for example, these boys are going to have to save up a little bit of their allowance every week in order to buy this big thing that they
want. And the best way to save up is to spend less. Well, to spend less, you need to tighten your belt. Tighten your belt is an idiom that means to spend less money, to figure out ways where you can save. Let's say that you're used to going to get a coffee at a coffee shop a couple times a week. If you need to save money and tighten your belt, you might have to stop doing that and only go to a coffee shop for your morning coffee, maybe once or twice a month, so that that extra money can go into your savings. Tighten your belt. Spend less money. This is a picture of me and Grace at our senior prom. Thank you for being willing to teach this idiom. Here, come this way. Just a smidge. smidge or smidgen. This means a teeny
tiny amount, a very small quantity. I just wanted her to move a little bit. So, my friend Jenny is a teacher at a school and you guys were recently hiring a new teacher and she used a word and we thought, "Wow, would everybody know how that word was used in that phrase?" Jenny, do you remember the phrase that you guys said to your applicant in the interview? Yes, we were acknowledging that this was the first round of interviews and that we might be meeting with other people again and we said right now we're just going to have our first conversations with everybody in the pool.
Now, they did not mean grab your bathing suit, towel, a nice cold drink. We're partying in the pool. In this case, the pool means the applicant pool. And so that means the group of everybody who's applied. That's right. The applicant pool. Okay. So, a couple job related words have come up here. First, applicant. This is anyone who has applied for a job. A round of interviews. You might do several rounds of interviews if you're trying to hire an important position. And in each round, you bring less people into the next round. So, for example, we might do three rounds of interviews if we're filling an important job position.
Maybe we interview 10 people the first round, then we pick our five favorites for the second round, and maybe in the third round, we pick our final two choices. And the pool refers to everyone who has applied. That is the applicant pool. How else would you use in the pool? Like um especially like collecting money for like um Yeah. gambling like put your money in the pool. Yeah. Yes. Or we're going to pool our resources. Yeah. So we use the word pool in a lot of ways. We have a swimming pool. We have an applicant pool. The group of everybody who's applied. We have something called the gene pool. So a
large gene pool is a lot of genetic diversity and a small gene pool is the opposite. For example, the Amish are pulling on a smaller gene pool because they tend to be pretty separate from the rest of society. Jenny mentioned collecting money for gambling. So you might pool all of your money into one spot when you're playing a game of chance or a lottery or something like that and then whoever wins gets the whole pool of money. You can also pull resources or supplies. This means lots of people put their resources put their supplies into one place for a whole group to use. For example, let's say that we're trying to have a big fundraiser for the neighborhood and I have folding tables that I can put out
and my neighbor is a great baker and she can make all sorts of tasty treats to sell. Let's say my other neighbor has a kitty pool that she can set up and make it a really fun place for kids to come. We might say, "Let's pull our resources so we can throw a great party fundraiser for the neighborhood." This is me and Jenny in high school when the Florida Gator won the national championship. Thanks to Jenny for teaching us these words. Don't forget this. Oh, the weekend went by too fast and it was time to head out. It was time to hit the road.
Goodbye, Ocean View. Love you. at the ready. It's always at the ready. At the ready means ready for immediate use in a state of preparation or waiting. My camera was there. The mic was plugged in. It was on. Oh, let me get that. I could just grab it and film that hug. I didn't have to find the camera or turn it on or anything. It was at the ready. The mic didn't pick it up too well here, but I'm about to use the word deadbolt. Did you think I'd do just the deadbolt? Just the deadbolt. So, the deadbolt is the lock on top of the door knob, which also has a lock. And we use this, of course, for outside doors to make them more secure.
Do you have friends like this that you still get together with? I used to go swimming at the pool at Stacy's house. This is Jenny, Aaron, Jenny, and Grace in high school. And Amanda, Stacy, and Jenny at senior prom. Through our 20s, 30s, now into our 40s, these friendships are still going strong. Huge thanks to my friends for letting me take these photos and clips to put together this lesson. Safe travel. And here, our final destination. Let's study real English conversation from a work trip where my colleague Tom and I went to a YouTube workshop and meetup in Salt Lake City, Utah. We also did some sightseeing when the events were over. Tom and I had the best day
ever meeting other YouTubers and even got to see a nighttime drone show that honestly was kind of cool. Though I will say the altitude got to me. I am feeling a little bit of altitude I think. Yeah, my workout was rough, so I don't think I can walk very far. Altitude is what we call the height of something above sea level. The higher you go, the less oxygen in the air, and that really affects some people, and they get something called altitude sickness. This happens to me a lot when I visit my parents in the mountains of Colorado. Here, we were in Salt Lake City where the elevation is,300 m above
sea level. Elevation and altitude are synonyms, meaning words with the same or similar meaning. Where I'm from in Philadelphia, the average elevation is 340 m. So that added elevation gives me altitude sickness like headaches and fatigue. So I couldn't walk to lunch. Um, so let's look at getting an Uber. I'm like I'm almost I almost can't think. Yeah, let's get an Uber. Okay. I'm concerned about the not being able to think thing. It's It'll work out. But yeah, so we'll go to the same place, but we'll take a car. We should probably not.
It's like a 25-minute walk, right? 34-minute walk. Okay. We're taking a car for sure. While we wait for the car to arrive, we discuss the weather the next day, the day we fly out. Okay. So, what about tomorrow? So, it is supposed to be thunderstorms from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Oh. And we fly at 11 something. I didn't check that. So, it's And it's like a 90% chance of rain. Ah, that sucks. We might get pushed. That would suck. It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day. That would suck. This is a common,
casual, and a little bit of a slangy way to say that would not be good. That sucks. That would suck. I also use the phrase get pushed. Here, I'm talking about if our flight can't go out on time and is delayed. It might be delayed several hours, but if the weather is bad, it could get delayed until the next day. It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day. Oh, yeah. I think No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That's going to be my hope. If you're flying somewhere and it's not direct, that means there will be one or more stops at another airport. This is called a layover. And usually, you have
to change planes. Whenever possible, I always choose a direct flight. Yeah. Think about No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That's going to be my hope. Oh, interesting. But um yeah, and maybe there will be like windows cuz thunderstorms are often like patchy, right? Windows. Tom doesn't mean an actual physical window like in a building. He means a spot in time in the day when it's not raining. Window can refer to a range of time. For example, what's the pickup window for your kids school? It's 3 to 3:15.
Yeah, maybe there will be like windows. He also said patchy. If the storm is patchy, that means it's not stormy the whole day, but off and on. There will be windows of storms, periods of time where there are storms, but also periods of time where there are no storms. No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That's going to be my hope. Oh, interesting. But um Yeah. And maybe there will be like windows cuz thunderstorms are often like patchy, right? Okay. So, the flight's at like 11:45, 11:47. Yes, Tom and I were on the same flight back home. Here we're discussing when to leave for the airport the next morning.
Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you? Too tight. This means not enough time to do something. Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you? I don't know this airport. I don't either. Let's say 10:15. 10:15. Okay. So, we'll leave here at 10:00. Okay. Or 5 till. Okay. 5. Great. Okay. 5 till. 9:55. Did you hear how many times we said K as we negotiated the timing, short for Okay. Agreeing with someone.
10:15. Okay. So, we'll leave here at 10:00. Okay. Or 5 till. Okay. 5. Great. Okay. 5 till. 9:55. Okay. I like to push it. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say. I like to push it, which means I leave as little time as possible. Tom is the opposite, and he likes to leave in plenty of time. Notice I dropped the T in plenty. This is a common pronunciation of t after n. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say. Plenty of time, time to spare. Notice the two reduction. Timed. Make it quick and lower in pitch. Attached to time. Duh. Time to spare. In plenty, we dropped the T. In to we
change the T to a flap T. Or here, it sounds kind of like a D. Duh. Time. Duh. It's really common to change the pronunciation of T to have smoother speech in American English. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say. You know, I consider the airport a chance to sit and read a magazine maybe or just like collect your thoughts. It's a nice time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic. Collect your thoughts. This is a phrase that we use in English to mean get control of your thoughts or feelings or emotions after something very surprising happens or very shocking. For example, let's say your employee comes in and
says that they're quitting and you don't know what to respond. You did not expect this. You might say, "Wow, okay. Please give me a moment to collect my thoughts." But here, Tom simply means to have quiet time to oneself, maybe to reflect on something that's happening in his life. Basically, just think, good old thinking time. You see, I'd rather do all that self time at home. Ah, yes. But you can't because I can't because at home you're worried about like what's going to happen on the way. Like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something?
A traffic jam. A detour. Basically anything that could make your drive to the airport unexpectedly longer because at home you're worried about like what's going to happen on the way. Like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something? Okay. What kind of traveler are you? Do you like to push it like me, or do you like to leave plenty of time like Tom when heading to the airport or train station? Let me know in the comments. There going to be something happening at the airport that demands that I slow down.
Have you ever missed a flight? Never because I once. And for me, for the amount of times I've flown, it is such a fair trade to miss once. I mean, the hours saved at airports. That's fair. I just used the phrase fair trade. What does this mean in this context? It means I accept what I had to pay for what I get. That seems worth it to me. So, yes, I missed a flight once. That was bad. But all of the other times I've gotten to the airport with enough time to make my flight, and I wasn't sitting there for hours and hours waiting for my flight. So, to me, that's a fair trade.
I'd rather miss one flight every 10 years and not go extra early to the airport than go extra early to the airport all the time and never miss a flight. To me, missing one flight, that's a fair trade for what I get, which is more time at home. After we went out to lunch and after the event, we decided to do some sightseeing. We went to Analopee Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake for a sunset tour. It was a small tour with a friendly guide who picked us up at our hotel. On the ride to the park, the tour guide had everyone introduce themselves to the rest of the group.
Oh, okay. Hi everybody. I'm Tom. Um, and I am here from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Uh, in town with my friend Rachel here who is has a camera cuz she uh runs a YouTube channel. Um, and so we were here for a YouTube conference uh at a YouTuber's space who works in the area. The tour guide asked every person to say where they're from, why they were in Salt Lake City, and their go-to karaoke song. If you're ever forced to sing karaoke, what song do you choose? My karaoke song is Billy Joel's Piano Man. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. Great, great choice. Thank you. Okay. I'm Rachel from Philly, and my go-to karaoke song used to be uh the Queen of the Nights Arya from the Magic Flute.
But I can't hit a high F anymore. So now it is um Omio Babino Noaro from Johnny Skiki by Puchini. Wow. These are classic hits on karaoke. Did you know I used to be an opera singer? Yep. It's how I learned to listen to different voices to discover the music of American English. We made it to the island and drove around looking for wildlife. You want to take a peek? Yeah, sure. Take a peek. Have a look. Check it out. All ways to say see. Beautiful bird on the left. I don't know if folks there. Wait, we're going to back up real quick.
Is it close to the road or Yeah, right on the road. Hopefully I don't spook him with the beeping. She said spook him. This is a common reduction, dropping the h in him and attaching it to the word before. To spook an animal is to scare him, startle him, cause him to run off. Spook. Spook him. We also saw a prong horn. Are you getting eaten alive? I know. Are you? Did you get that? What was that? The long pong horn crossing. I did. Are you getting bitten? Oh, yeah. Tom said, "Eaten alive." An expression we can use when the mosquitoes or other biting insects are bad.
Pull your sleeves down. Great call. But it's actually the top of my hand. Oh, well then do this. Oh my gosh. Really? Yeah. Really? We also saw some bison. We saw just this one at first, but ended up seeing a lot, including babies. It was pretty cool to see this. Then we got to the trail head of the short hike we would do, and we even saw a faint rainbow. The tour guide pointed out different features of the landscape. It was sunset, so the sun was really low, and everything around just looked stunning. It was a short hike to the end of the trail and the wind was really blowing, so I didn't get any good
audio up here, but I did enjoy just a few minutes in nature. Now, let's review all the vocabulary and pronunciation we studied by watching all the clips straight through. I am feeling a little bit of altitude. I think my workout was rough, so I don't think I can walk very far. Okay, so what about tomorrow? So, it is supposed to be thunderstorms from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Oh, and we fly at 11 something. I didn't check that. So, it's And it's like a 90% chance of rain. Well, thunderstorms. Ah, that sucks.
We might get pushed. That would suck. It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day. Oh, yeah. Think about No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That's going to be my hope. Oh, interesting. But um Yeah. And maybe there will be like windows cuz thunderstorms are often like patchy, right? Okay. So, the flight's at like 11:45, 11:47. Yes. Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you? I don't know this airport. I don't either. Let's say 10:15.
10:15. Okay. So, we'll leave here at 10:00. Okay. Or 5 till. Okay. 5. Great. Okay. 5 till. 9:55. Okay. I like to push it. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say. You know, I consider the airport a chance to sit and read a magazine maybe or just like collect your thoughts. It's a nice time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic. And see, I'd rather do all that self time at home. Ah, yes. But you can't because I can't because at home you're worried about like what's going to happen on the way like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something? Is there going to be
something happening at the airport that demands that I slow down? Have you ever missed a flight? Never. Once. And for me, for the amount of times I've flown, it is such a fair trade to miss once. I mean, the hours saved at airports. That's fair. You want to take a peek? Yeah, sure. Beautiful bird on the left. I don't know if folks here. Wait, we're going to back up real quick. Is it close to the road or Yeah, right on the road. Hopefully I don't spook him with the beeping. Are you getting eaten alive?
I know. Are you Did you get that? What was that? The long pong horn crossing. I did. Are you getting bitten? Oh, yeah. Do you know anyone who could use some help with vocabulary? If so, please send them this video and keep your learning going now with this video. Don't forget to subscribe with notifications on. I love being your English teacher. That's it. And thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
