Shadowing Practice: After Class English #15: What is Summer Break? | EXCLUSIVE RELEASE - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hi everyone and welcome back to the After Class English Podcast.

Hola a todos y bienvenidos de nuevo al podcast de inglés después de clase.

The podcast where we talk in slow, clear English for adult English learners to understand American English in real life context.

El podcast donde hablamos en inglés despacio y con claridad para que los adultos que están aprendiendo inglés puedan entender el inglés americano en un contexto de la vida real.

Today we are going to focus on the American school system and specifically something American students can all relate to, and that is summer vacation.

Hoy nos vamos a centrar en el sistema escolar estadounidense y, en concreto, en algo con lo que todos los estudiantes estadounidenses pueden identificarse: las vacaciones de verano.

But we are also going to dive a little bit deeper.

Pero también vamos a profundizar un poco más.

We are going to talk about the history of the American school system as well.

También vamos a hablar de la historia del sistema escolar estadounidense.

We will answer questions like, why do American students get such a long summer break?

Responderemos a preguntas como: ¿por qué los estudiantes estadounidenses tienen unas vacaciones de verano tan largas?

And is the school system the same everywhere in the United States?

¿Y es el sistema escolar el mismo en todo Estados Unidos?

Let's break it down step by step.

Vamos a analizarlo paso a paso.

Don't forget to follow along to this episode with the practice packet down below.

No olvides seguir este episodio con el paquete de ejercicios que encontrarás más abajo.

You can always download it before you listen or after.

Siempre puedes descargarlo antes o después de escucharlo.

Okay, let's start here.

Bien, comencemos por aquí.

The American school system is divided into different levels.

El sistema escolar estadounidense está dividido en diferentes niveles.

Let's start here with elementary school.

Empecemos por la escuela primaria.

Notice my pronunciation.

Fíjate en mi pronunciación.

It looks like elementary, but it's not pronounced that way.

Parece una palabra elemental, pero no se pronuncia así.

Well, you can say it that way,

Bueno, puedes decirlo de esa manera,

but most Americans will pronounce it like elementary, tree school, elementary school.

pero la mayoría de los estadounidenses lo pronunciarán como elementary, tree school, elementary school.

I know it's weird.

Sé que es raro.

Elementary school is from kindergarten to fifth grade, and in some states it's kindergarten to sixth grade.

La escuela primaria abarca desde el jardín de infancia hasta el quinto grado, y en algunos estados, desde el jardín de infancia hasta el sexto grado.

Elementary school takes place when the students are five to eleven years old.

La etapa de primaria se da cuando los alumnos tienen entre cinco y once años.

And note, many American students go to preschool or pre -K,

Y cabe señalar que muchos estudiantes estadounidenses van a preescolar o pre-K,

pre -kindergarten, where you are around three to four years old.

Preescolar, cuando tienes entre tres y cuatro años.

The students are around three to four years old, and it is there in preschool that the students start beginning to gain independence from their parents.

Los alumnos tienen entre tres y cuatro años, y es en la etapa preescolar donde comienzan a ganar independencia de sus padres.

They're usually half days, like from 9am to 1pm or something like that, and they're usually only a couple times a week.

Suelen ser jornadas de media jornada, de 9 de la mañana a 1 de la tarde o algo así, y normalmente solo se realizan un par de veces por semana.

But it's for a student to practice going to school, taking care of their basic needs,

Pero es para que un estudiante practique ir a la escuela, cuidar de sus necesidades básicas,

and learning to socialize with others before they go to elementary school, or in other words, start kindergarten.

y aprender a socializar con los demás antes de ir a la escuela primaria, o dicho de otro modo, antes de empezar el jardín de infancia.

So preschool, elementary school.

Entonces preescolar, escuela primaria.

Inside elementary school, you have kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade,

Dentro de la escuela primaria, tienes jardín de infantes, primer grado, segundo grado, tercer grado,

fourth grade, and fifth grade.

cuarto grado y quinto grado.

And in some states, sixth grade.

Y en algunos estados, sexto grado.

It depends.

Eso depende.

We'll get there later.

Llegaremos allí más tarde.

After elementary school, students go to middle school or junior high.

Después de la escuela primaria, los estudiantes van a la escuela secundaria o preparatoria.

Again, Depending on the state, it's either called middle school or junior high.

De nuevo, dependiendo del estado, se le llama escuela intermedia o escuela secundaria básica.

Just depends.

Students in middle school are starting at around 11 and ending middle school around 14 years old.

And finally, we have high school from 9th grade to 12th grade,

where students start at 14 and end at 18 years old when they become a legal adult in the United States.

Most school days in the United States run Monday through Friday.

A normal school day is around 7 to 7 .30 start time with a 2 .30 finish time

or 8 a .m to 8 .30 start time with a 3 .30 to 4 end time.

American students study a lot of the same subjects as many people all over the world like history,

English, science, physical education like gym class and even art classes and foreign language classes too.

But school systems and what they offer really depends on the state and the school district.

A school district is like a territory of land, so to say, that is ruled by one governing party,

the district executives, or the people in charge of making the rules for all the schools in that territory or location.

Some districts are better off economically than others, and some schools just have different demands for different things.

For example, my town in the Midwest, I was lucky to have three foreign language options by the time I was in high school.

They offered Spanish, French, and German.

But other places in the United States start foreign language in middle school, and when I was in middle school,

they didn't offer foreign language until eighth grade, and they only offered Spanish, because where I lived, that made the most sense.

Our town really just had a population of mostly English and Spanish speakers, so there wasn't really a demand for a French teacher in middle school,

at least not in my district.

Another thing to point out is that some schools begin in September and some schools begin in August.

Again, this also depends on the climate of where you live.

For example, when I lived in Wisconsin, we would start school in middle to late September,

and then we would begin our summer vacation around the beginning or middle of June.

This is because where I lived, it was very cold up until like May.

So it didn't start getting warm outside until June anyways, and it could really only be like 60 degrees in June still.

But later in my life, I moved schools to a different state, and I realized we started school in August, but we ended school in May.

And the month made all the difference from where I moved from.

So my point is, is even though the United States is one country, education is not completely identical everywhere.

Now let's talk about summer break.

This is something you've probably seen on movies or tv shows right

when you're a kid you go through the whole school year just thinking about summer again

because summer feels like forever when you're a child i mean it's roughly three months

and that feels like a lifetime

when you're like eight in most u .s schools summer break is 10 to 12 weeks

but why does it exist we'll have to go back in history a little bit to answer that question.

So there is a common myth that it all has to do with farming.

All throughout the 1800s, many

Americans worked on farms and in rural areas.

Children were expected to help their families plant during harvest season.

So yes, the summer was a very useful time for farming.

But one important detail of this time is that there was no one system.

Not all schools had the same schedule back then.

Some rural schools were open in the winter and not the summer.

But you might think, after the Industrial Revolution, what about the cities?

Well, those schools had a problem with heat.

As you can imagine, before air conditioning, the classes became extremely hot in the summer, so it made learning very difficult and uncomfortable.

So to spare the students the agony, they just closed the schools for the summer.

But of course, over time and into the 1900s, the U .S education system became a little bit more organized.

Schools began adopting a standardized calendar.

Summer break kind of just became the default schedule, so both the rural farming schools and the city schools benefited from taking the summer off.

But let's talk about today's more modern debate, because not everybody takes long summer breaks anymore.

The modern debate surrounding summer break, though, is a little bit different.

Some educators argue that summer break needs to be a thing of the past.

They argue that students forget too much over the summer, which is unfortunately very, very true.

Also, some parents struggle to find child care over the summer because they're working and they need their kids in school.

But also, students of course have different households and different families with different priorities.

Therefore, some students might study the whole summer as encouraged by their parents, and other students might not.

Maybe they don't have the same parental supervision or lifestyle as those students.

I even knew students that would go to summer school or got tutoring over the summer, and those students absolutely excelled.

But some educators argue it increases learning gaps between students.

On the other hand, some educators are for summer break.

They believe students need to rest.

The families benefit from the extended travel time.

Like a lot of people go on vacation during summer with their kids

because they don't have to worry about school

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and they can get the time off work coordinated and they have more free time with their children.

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And I would argue that teenagers also benefit from the long break.

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Teenagers can take the summer to work.

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I think in the United States you can start working at 14 with parents' permission.

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I'll have to check that here.

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So as you can see, summer break has its pros and its cons.

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But what do you think?

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Do you think students should keep a long summer break?

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Let me know in the comments below if you're at this point in the podcast.

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As someone that grew up in the American school system, I feel like I can speak on summer breaks a little bit.

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So what is summer break actually like for the standard American kid?

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For many students, summer means sleeping in, traveling, part -time jobs, full -time jobs, or even taking some summer classes.

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Some students lose academic progress from the year prior, and this is called summer learning loss.

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And this summer learning loss is why some school districts in

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the United States are trying to change to year -round schooling or more breaks that are shorter instead of one long break.

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But honestly, most schools still follow the traditional system.

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It almost feels like a part of the American culture at this point.

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Like my grandma had a summer break and my mom had a summer break as a kid.

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And so did I and so will my children.

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It's like, you know, that feeling as a kid is so nostalgic, right?

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We've talked about that word in previous podcasts, but it feels sentimental.

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And you know, your child is looking forward to it every single year, just like you used to.

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And I know when I have kids

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that I'm going to watch their eyes light up on the last day of school

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when they know they have a whole summer break to look forward to.

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Because it honestly does feel kind of fun when you're a kid.

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But before we end today's podcast, let's practice some speaking together.

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Repeat after me.

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In the USA, school is divided into three levels.

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Elementary, middle, and high school.

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Summer break lasts 10 to 12 weeks.

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There are historical and practical reasons for this schedule.

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Not all schools follow the same system.

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Now answer this question in the comments below.

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Do you think your country should have a short summer break or a long summer break?

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Think about your lifestyle, your school system, your family needs, maybe even your learning habits.

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What do you think is better?

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Long summer break or short summer break?

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Maybe many breaks.

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Let me know in the comments below.

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And don't forget to download the practice packet for even more studying.

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If you want to share some of your answers with me, don't forget you can message me on this platform too.

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Remember, if the podcasts slow down a little bit,

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that's because we are now going live twice a week and having the podcast be twice a month instead of every week.

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So more exclusive lives and two podcasts a month.

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Thank you guys so much for your support.

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I appreciate you all so very much.

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And I will see you guys very, very soon.

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Bye, guys.

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación se basa en el vídeo “After Class English : What is Summer Break?”. Las palabras que más se repiten: summer, break, student, elementary, grade. Este vídeo tiene 148 frases y 1866 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 12:01. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 155 palabras por minuto, cercano a una conversación cotidiana. El 89 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es fácil de seguir.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

15 palabras del vídeo que vale la pena aprender, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
elementary adjetivo	/ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/	elementario
podcast sustantivo	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	podcast, pódcast
kindergarten sustantivo	/ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/	kínder, preescolar
argue verbo	/ˈɑɹ.ɡju/	argüir, argumentar
depend verbo	/dɪˈpɛnd/	depender/pender (de), ser dependiente (de)
vacation sustantivo	/veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/	vacaciones, vacación
educator sustantivo	/ˈɛd͡ʒəkeɪtɚ/	educador, educadora
preschool adjetivo	/ˈpɹiːskuːl/	preescolar
sixth adjetivo	/sɪksθ/	sexto, seiseno
lifestyle sustantivo	/ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/	género/estilo de vida/vivir/vivencia, estilo/género vital/vivencial
divide verbo	/dɪˈvaɪd/	desunir, dividir
teenager sustantivo	/ˈtiːnˌeɪ̯d͡ʒə/	adolescente, adolescentes
packet sustantivo	/ˈpæk.ɪt/	paquete
practical adjetivo	/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/	práctico
gap sustantivo	/ɡæp/	brecha, rehendija

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Significado
look forward to verbo	no ver la hora de, quedar a la espera de
go through verbo	atravesar
point out verbo	señalar, apuntar
slow down verbo	desacelerar, decelerar

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

Let's break it down step by step.
Let's start here with elementary school.
I'll have to check that here.
Do you think students should keep a long summer break?
What do you think is better?

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

Estructura	En el vídeo
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	is divided · is ruled · were expected
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	you've probably seen · We've talked
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa	summer, which is · students that would
Verbo + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbos seguidos de la forma en -ing	start beginning · start getting · start working

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 22 contracciones y formas reducidas, como don't, you're, they're. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: sixth /sɪksθ/, eighth /eɪtθ/, myth /mɪθ/
Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, supervision /ˌs(j)uːpəˈvɪʒən/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, socialize /ˈsoʊʃəlaɪz/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/, kindergarten /ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/, educator /ˈɛd͡ʒəkeɪtɚ/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

/v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, divide /dɪˈvaɪd/, dive /daɪv/, eleven /əˈlɛv.ən/, harvest /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/
/z/ — sonora, no /s/: anyways /ˈɛn.iˌweɪz/, organize /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/, socialize /ˈsoʊʃəlaɪz/
/dʒ/ — no es la “y” ni la “ch”: educator /ˈɛd͡ʒəkeɪtɚ/, teenager /ˈtiːnˌeɪ̯d͡ʒə/, encourage /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como elementary, podcast, kindergarten.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →

Shadowing Practice: After Class English #15: What is Summer Break? | EXCLUSIVE RELEASE - Learn English Speaking with Video

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