Pratica di Shadowing: Speak About Your Hometown in English | Easy English Podcast - Impara a parlare inglese con i video
Creazione lezione...
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy, where we make English simple and enjoyable.
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I'm Sarah.
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And I'm Mike.
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Hello to all of our wonderful listeners wherever you are in the world right now.
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Mike, I have a quick question for you.
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Uh-oh.
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Your quick questions are never quick.
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This one is.
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What is your hometown famous for?
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Oh, easy.
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We have a very big roundabout.
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A roundabout?
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You mean the circle in the road where the cars drive around?
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Yes, a very big one.
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People from the next town drive over just to look at it.
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Mike, that is the saddest tourist attraction I have ever heard.
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Hey, it has flowers in the middle.
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In summer, it's actually beautiful.
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A beautiful roundabout.
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Okay, that's amazing.
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And honestly, perfect, because today we're talking about hometowns.
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Our hometowns, your hometowns, everybody's hometowns.
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And how to talk about them in English, because this comes up all the time.
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It really does.
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You meet someone new, and the second or third question is always, so, where are you from?
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And it's such a nice topic.
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Everyone has feelings about their hometown.
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Some good feelings, some not so good.
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Oh, we'll get to that.
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And listeners, stay with us, because later, Mike is going to try to convince you that small towns are better than big cities.
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I am going to convince you.
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I have facts.
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You have a roundabout, Mike.
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A famous roundabout.
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Okay, so let's start here.
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Mike, tell me more about this little town.
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What is it actually like?
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Well, it's small.
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Old buildings, narrow little streets, a tiny market square.
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It's very quaint.
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Ooh, quaint.
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That's a lovely word.
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Can you explain it for everyone?
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Sure.
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Quaint means small, old, and charming, in a cute way, like a place from a postcard.
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Yes.
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So, an old town with little stone houses and a tiny bakery.
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You'd say, oh, it's so quaint.
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Exactly.
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It's a compliment.
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It means pretty and charming, but in an old-fashioned way.
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I like that.
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But Mike, be honest.
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Quaint also means there's nothing to do, right?
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Okay, sometimes.
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When people can't think of anything good to say, they say, it's quaint.
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It's quaint is the polite way to say, I was bored out of my mind.
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Wait, hold on.
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When the town makes me feel that way, am I bored or boring?
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I always mix those two up.
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Ooh, classic trap.
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Think about it.
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Does the feeling describe you or the town?
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Right.
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The feeling is inside me, so I'll say bored.
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Exactly.
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You were bored.
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The town was boring.
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Nice one.
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See, even I need a quiz sometimes.
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But my town really is charming.
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It's just also very far away.
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How far?
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Sarah, we are out in the sticks.
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Out in the sticks.
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Explain that one.
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It's a great phrase.
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Out in the sticks means far out in the countryside, far from the cities, far from everything.
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Very rural.
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So no big shops, no train station, just fields and quiet?
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Fields, quiet, cows, and one roundabout.
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Back to the roundabout.
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Okay, that's a great phrase.
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I grew up out in the sticks.
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Very natural, very British.
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And honestly, I kind of loved it out there, but we'll come back to that.
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Mysterious.
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Okay, listeners, quick one for you.
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What is your hometown famous for?
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And don't say nothing, everywhere is famous for something.
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Tell us in the comments.
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We're so curious.
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Okay, my turn.
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Sarah, you grew up in a big city.
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Tell everyone what that's like.
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I did, and I love it.
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My city is busy, full of people, full of noise.
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It's very bustling.
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Bustling.
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That's a perfect word for a city.
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Yes, bustling means full of busy activity.
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Lots of people moving around.
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Lots of energy.
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The market was bustling with people.
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So a bustling street is a busy, lively street with lots happening.
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Exactly.
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And my city is also huge.
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It just goes on and on and on.
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It's very sprawling.
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Ooh, sprawling.
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What does that mean?
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Sprawling means spread out over a very large area, like a city that grows and grows in every direction.
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So you can drive for an hour and you're still in the same city?
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Yes, that's a sprawling city.
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London is a sprawling city.
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It just keeps going.
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See, that sounds stressful to me.
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Sometimes it is.
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When it's too crowded, too noisy, too many people, I feel claustrophobic.
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That's a big word.
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Break it down for us.
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Claustrophobic means you feel trapped, like there's no space and you can't breathe.
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Usually we use it for small rooms.
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Like a tiny elevator with 10 people squeezed inside.
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Exactly.
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But you can also feel claustrophobic in a huge crowd.
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Too many people, too close.
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The train was so full, I felt claustrophobic.
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See, this is my point.
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In my town, you never feel claustrophobic.
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No, because there's no one there.
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There are people.
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Sometimes.
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Sometimes.
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Okay, listeners, this is the big question of the day.
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Small town or big city, which one are you?
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Comment right now and tell us your team.
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Team city or team quiet?
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Team quiet, obviously.
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Of course you're team quiet.
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Okay, let me ask you something about your bustling, sprawling city.
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How do you even get around?
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Oh, public transport.
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Buses, trains, the metro.
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I almost never drive.
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See, that's so different.
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In my town, you drive everywhere.
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There's no bus.
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No bus at all?
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There's one bus.
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It comes twice a day.
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And if you miss it, you walk.
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Twice a day?
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That's not a bus.
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That's a special event.
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It kind of is.
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But here's the funny part.
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In a small town, you don't really need it.
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Everything is close.
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Everything is within walking distance.
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Ah, within walking distance.
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That's a useful phrase.
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It means close enough to walk there.
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Right.
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The shop, my friend's house, the school, all within walking distance.
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Or, wait, do I say I go to work on foot or I go to work by foot?
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Help me out, Sarah.
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Ooh, sneaky one.
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We say by car, by bus, by train, but walking is special.
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Hmm, right.
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It's the odd word out.
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So it's on foot.
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I go to work on foot.
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Exactly.
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By car, but on foot.
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That one catches everyone.
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Alright, here's something interesting about both our places.
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They change over time.
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Oh, that's true.
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My city looks completely different now.
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Mine too.
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There's an old part of my town that's not great.
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It's pretty run down.
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Run down.
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That's a really useful one.
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What does it mean?
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Run down means old and in bad condition.
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Broken, dirty.
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Nobody is taking care of it.
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So, a run down building is an old building that's falling apart?
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Exactly.
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That part of town is really run down.
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Half the shops are closed.
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We have areas like that too.
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But here's the funny thing.
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Some of those run down areas become cool.
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Oh, you mean they become up and coming.
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Yes, up and coming.
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Tell them what that means.
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I love this word.
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Up and coming means a place that's becoming popular and improving fast.
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It's not famous yet, but it's getting there.
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So first it's run down, then artists move in, then little cafes open, and suddenly it's up and coming.
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And then it's expensive.
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Always.
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There's this one street near me.
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It's been popular, do I say for five years or since five years?
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Good one to pause on.
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Is five years a period of time or a starting point?
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It's a length of time.
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Five whole years.
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So I'll go with four.
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Spot on.
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For five years, a period.
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Since 2019, a point in time.
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Easy to mix up.
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So there's this one street near me, five years ago, empty and sad.
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Now a fancy coffee shop.
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right next to a shop that's been closed since I was a kid.
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That's so funny.
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A $5 coffee right next to a broken window.
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That's an up-and-coming area in one sentence.
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And usually all this new stuff gets built on the outskirts, right?
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Good one.
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On the outskirts means on the edge of a town or city, not the center, the outer part.
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So new shopping centers, new houses, they build them on the outskirts because there's more space.
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Exactly.
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We live on the outskirts of the city, so it's a bit quieter.
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Very common, very useful.
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We live on the outskirts of town.
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Nice and smooth.
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You'll hear that one all the time.
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I like the outskirts, actually.
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Close to the city, but not in the chaos.
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Of course you like the outskirts.
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You like anything quiet.
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Who's team quiet now?
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Okay, okay.
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Maybe just a little bit.
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Mike, I have to ask.
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What do you actually miss about your town and keep it real?
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Honestly?
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The food.
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Ooh, the food.
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Always the food.
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There's this little bakery near the famous roundabout.
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This bakery makes fresh bread every morning, and the smell?
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Oh, I miss that smell.
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See, that I understand.
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Food is the thing everyone misses.
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What about you?
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What do you miss?
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The food, too, honestly.
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There's a tiny noodle place near my old flap.
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Cheap, busy, a little messy, but the best food in the city.
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And you can't find it anywhere else?
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Nowhere.
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I've tried.
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It's never the same.
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The hometown version is always better.
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It's true.
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Food from home just hits different.
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Hits different?
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Listen to you using the slang.
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I'm a cool guy, Sarah.
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You have a famous roundabout, Mike.
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You're not cool.
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Rude.
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Okay, listeners, here's a fun one.
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What food do you miss from your hometown?
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Tell us in the comments.
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And now I'm hungry, so make it good.
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Okay, but here's something I think is really special about small towns.
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Oh, you're admitting small towns are special now.
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Don't get excited.
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But in a small town, everyone knows everyone, right?
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Oh, completely.
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We call that a close-knit community.
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Close-knit.
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Explain that one.
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Close-knit means the people are very close and connected.
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They know each other, they help each other, like one big family.
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That sounds lovely, actually.
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It is.
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Until you do something embarrassing and the whole town knows by lunchtime.
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Oh, no. Oh, yes.
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You drop your shopping in the street at 9 in the morning, and by noon, your grandmother has heard about it.
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That's the dark side of close-knit.
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Word gets around fast.
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Everyone knows your business.
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Word gets around.
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That means news or gossip spreads quickly.
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Very quickly.
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In a small town, you can't keep a secret.
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In your big city, nobody even knows your name.
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That's true.
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My neighbors and I just nod at each other.
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Twelve years, I still don't know their names.
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Twelve years?
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Twelve years.
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We nod.
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That's our whole relationship.
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See, that's a bit sad, though.
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It is a bit sad.
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Okay, fine.
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Point to the small town.
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Okay, now it's time.
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The big one.
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The thing small towns do better.
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Remember I promised this?
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I remember.
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Go on, convince me.
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Small towns feel like home, even when they're small and old and far away.
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They feel warm.
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They feel homely.
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Homely.
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Nice.
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What does that mean?
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Homely means simple, warm, and comfortable.
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Not fancy, but cozy.
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The kind of place where you instantly feel relaxed.
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So, a homely little house with a warm kitchen and a soft sofa?
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Yes.
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Their kitchen is so homely, I never want to leave.
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It's a lovely feeling.
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Okay, that is a beautiful word.
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I'll give you that one.
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And here's my real point.
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When I first moved away, I missed it.
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The quiet.
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The friendly faces.
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The bakery.
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The town I always called boring.
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Aw, see?
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This is where you go soft.
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A little.
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But here's the thing about hometowns.
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Even the quiet, quaint, out-in-the-sticks ones, they grow on you.
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Ooh, it grows on you.
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That's a great phrase.
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Explain it.
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It grows on you means you like something more and more over time.
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At first you're not sure, but slowly you love it.
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So maybe you didn't like a place at first, and now you love it.
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So would I say it grew on me or it growed on me?
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Ha!
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Careful.
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Grow is an irregular verb.
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It doesn't follow the normal rule.
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Right.
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No ED for this one.
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So the past is grew.
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It grew on me.
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Spot on.
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Grow, grew, grown.
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Never growed.
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Good catch.
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It really grew on me.
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You can use this for anything.
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A city, a meal, a person.
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I didn't like this song at first, but it really grew on me.
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Supernatural.
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That's my favorite phrase of the whole episode.
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That's my whole argument, by the way.
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Big city, small town, doesn't matter.
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Your hometown grows on you.
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Okay, that was actually sweet, Mike.
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I'm impressed.
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Was it the roundabout?
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Did the roundabout win you over?
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No, absolutely not the roundabout.
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One day, Sarah.
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One day you'll love that roundabout.
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Don't push your luck.
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Right.
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Before we go through the words one more time, let's get your mouth moving.
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Repeat each line after us.
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Say it right out loud.
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I grew up out in the sticks.
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It's within walking distance.
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We live on the outskirts of town.
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This place really grew on me.
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Lovely work.
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Those four will sound great in a real conversation.
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All right, now let's do a quick recap of all today's words.
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First, quaint, small, old, and charming.
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What a quaint little village.
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Out in the sticks, far out in the countryside.
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I grew up out in the sticks.
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Bustling, full of busy activity.
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A bustling city street.
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Sprawling.
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Spread out over a big area.
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A sprawling city.
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Claustrophobic.
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Feeling trapped with no space.
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The crowd made me feel claustrophobic.
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Run down.
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Old and in bad condition.
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A run-down old building.
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Up and coming.
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Becoming popular and improving fast.
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It's an up-and-coming area.
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On the outskirts, on the edge of a town or city.
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We live on the outskirts.
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Homely.
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Simple, warm, and comfortable.
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Their home is so homely.
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And it grows on you.
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You like it more over time.
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This place really grew on me.
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We also had a few bonus phrases.
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Within walking distance, close knit, and word gets around.
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Those are so useful for talking about where you're from.
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They really are.
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And now we want to hear from you.
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Yes.
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Tell us in the comments, where are you from?
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And give us one word to describe it.
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Is it quaint, bustling, run down, out in the sticks?
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And one more thing.
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Tell us one thing you miss and one thing you would never miss. Be honest.
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We won't tell anyone.
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We read every single comment, so don't be shy.
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And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Everyday English Academy and give us a like.
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Share it with a friend from your hometown.
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They'll know exactly what we mean.
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Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
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Keep practicing, keep talking, and remember, even a town with one roundabout has a story.
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Stay curious, everyone, and we'll see you in the next episode.
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Bye, everyone.
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Goodbye.
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you
Informazioni su questa lezione
In questa lezione, ti concentrerai sulla pratica di conversazione in inglese riguardo al tuo paese d'origine. Utilizzerai espressioni e vocaboli che ti aiuteranno a descrivere dove sei cresciuto e quali caratteristiche rendono unico il tuo luogo natale. Imparerai a esprimere emozioni legate alla tua città, sia che queste siano positive che negative, migliorando così la tua capacità di conversare con gli altri in inglese.
Vocabolario e frasi chiave
- Hometown - paese d'origine
- Famous for - famoso per
- Roundabout - rotatoria
- Quaint - pittoresco
- Narrow streets - strade strette
- Market square - piazza del mercato
- Beautiful - bello
- Attraction - attrazione
Consigli per la pratica
Per migliorare la tua pronuncia inglese e rendere il tuo parlato più fluido, ti consigliamo di utilizzare la tecnica del shadowspeak. Questo metodo consiste nell’ascoltare attentamente e ripetere immediatamente ciò che hai sentito, imitando intonazione e velocità. Nel video, il ritmo di conversazione di Sarah e Mike è chiaro e relativamente lento, rendendolo perfetto per shadowing in inglese. Prendi una frase alla volta, fermati e prova a ripetere, facendo attenzione a come pronunci le parole.
Non avere fretta; il tuo obiettivo è migliorare progressivamente la tua pronuncia. Usa un shadowing site per trovare trascrizioni e audio di alta qualità. Concentrati sulle espressioni e sulle frasi chiave presentate, in modo da inserirle nel tuo vocabolario quotidiano e sentirti più sicuro quando parli dell'argomento delle tue origini. Con la pratica costante, diventerai più abile nella conversazione in inglese, rendendo ogni interazione più naturale e coinvolgente.
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.