چرا آمریکایی ها ماشین هایشان را می فروشند و دوچرخه میخرند

Why Are Americans Buying Bikes and Selling Their Cars?

Lindsay:This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 18: Why Are Americans Buying Bikes and Selling Their Cars?

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Gabby: Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, where you’ll finally get real native English conversation. Now here are your hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the ‘English Adventurer’ and Gabby Wallace, the ‘Language Angel,’ coming to you from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

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Gabby: In this episode, you’ll learn about an alternative to hailing a cab in Boston and New York. And you’ll learn about the fastest, funnest ways to get around the city.

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Lindsay: All right. So hey Gabby. How’s it going today?

Gabby: Hey. Hey Lindsay. Good. How are you?

Lindsay: I’m doing great. So uh, today we’re talking about transportation. So Gabby, how do you actually – so we both live in Boston.

Gabby: Mm-hm.

Lindsay: So how do you get around the city? How do you get around Boston?

Gabby: I get around mainly by bicycle.

Lindsay: Mm. Interesting. And so why do you decide to not take the train or not drive. What’s that about?

Gabby: Well my bicycle is faster than taking the train or actually faster than driving because there’s a lot of traffic and as far as taking the train, it doesn’t always go exactly where I need to go so, riding a bicycle is more efficient.

Lindsay: Cool. Cool. And so I bet you save a lot of money. I mean…

Gabby: I do. Yeah I do. I do. Absolutely. So I don’t have to worry about tickets or parking, um, which can be a headache in the city.

Lindsay: Yeah. But Whaddyado (what do you do) in the winter? I mean today for example, it’s so cold out.

Gabby: It’s really cold.

Lindsay: I was dying just walking here.

Gabby: Yeah. Well when it’s not too cold, I still ride my bicycle. If it’s really cold or the weather’s bad. I will take a taxi or maybe take the bus.

Lindsay: Okay.

Gabby: Yeah.

Lindsay: Not hire a limo. No.

Gabby: Not hire a limo. Maybe. What about you? How do you get around?

Lindsay: I am always on the subway.

Gabby: Okay.

Lindsay: Yeah. So I buy the subway tickets because – I don’t know I just like it. I like walking form the station to my home and I just like that I have a chance to kinda (kind of) think through things.

Gabby: Yeah.

Lindsay: Um, I, I’ve been sort of lazy to buy a bike. Like I’ve always wanted to have a bike, but I just – I don’t know. Sometimes I get lazy.

Gabby: Well now in the cities, they have those Hubway bicycles.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: Have you tried those?

Lindsay: I haven’t tried that yet, but I’ve heard they’re staying open for the winter, which is really cool.

Gabby: That is cool.

Lindsay: Yeah. So this is a new thing that’s getting started in Boston, New York. So have you tried it? Do you know how to use it?

Gabby: I, I…

Lindsay: No, you haven’t tried it

Gabby: …haven’t tried it because I have two of my own bicycles.

Lindsay: Oh yeah.

Gabby: So I’ve never been in a situation where I have to try it, but um, I’ve seen a lot of people using them. They seem really popular, um easy to use.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: It’s like modeled off of some European cities, I think…

Lindsay: Okay. Cool.

Gabby: …like Amsterdam or…

Lindsay: That makes sense.

Yeah because – ugh. In the US we haven’t been a very bike friendly culture…Lindsay: Yeah. No we’re not.

Gabby: …I guess, but we’re becoming more so because it’s just more, I guess, environmentally friendly and fun.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: I mean it’s something that brings more tourism too. I think like when people visit here from other cities, other countries and you wanna (want to) get around the city in a fun way, you know it’s nice to rent a bicycle.

Lindsay: It’s a good way to do that. So if you’re looking for that um, bike program it’s called Hubway, um, and it’s available like here in Boston. If you’re in Boston, you can find little like bike kiosks. Right. In front of the public library. In front of – near the subway stations, but I think they also have it in New York, don’t they?

Gabby: They do. They do. I was just in New York and I saw uh, the bikes for rent.

Um, it might have a different name in New York

Lindsay: Right. Probably has a different name ‘cause (because) ‘Hub’ is a name for Boston.

Gabby: For Boston.

Lindsay: The Hub.

Gabby: Exactly.

Lindsay: Yes. Yeah.

Gabby: Yeah.

Lindsay: Okay. Cool. So. Awesome. Sounds like a good way to get around.

Gabby: Yeah it is. And you know what, it’s good exercise too. Makes you feel healthy so…Lindsay: For sure.

…yeah, just um, be sure to wear your helmet. You know there’s, there’s traffic out there, so.

Lindsay: Maybe knee pads or elbow pads.

Gabby: Yeah. Whatever you need to get around. Yeah. Um. Yeah. I mean I think that like in European cities, a lot of people grow up riding bikes and you know when they’re in their early 20’s still, like they do ride bicycles pretty often, and so most drivers are aware of what it means to ride a bicycle. I mean I, I read a story about this recently in the news, but it’s different in the US because a lot of people start driving young. I mean I started driving at 15.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: I got my permit to drive.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: So um, I mean yeah I know what it’s like to ride a bicycle too, but sometimes there is a divergence between drivers and bikers in terms of sharing the road and um – so you just have to be considerate of one another.

Lindsay: Right. Especially in the rural areas. So I grew up in sort of a rural part ofNew Hampshire and I also started driving at 16. I did Driver’s Ed

(Education) when I was 15 ½ and then on my 16th birthday [snaps fingers] license, driving with your friends. You’re out there cruising as we call it right? For sure. So in the rural areas, you never see people walking or biking.

Gabby: Right.

Lindsay: You just don’t. Everyone’s got a car. Fifteen year olds have cars. So that’s something – but here in the city, I guess it’s probably easier ‘cause(because) more people are living this urban lifestyle.

Gabby: Yeah. So it’s easier to bike, you’re saying?

Lindsay: Yeah. I think so. Yeah. Probably.

Yeah. I think so too. It’s just the distance between where you live and where you wanna (want to) go is not as far like if you live in Texas, you don’t see bikers as much because the distance is just so much bigger…Lindsay: Definitely.

Gabby: …so much farther.

Lindsay: Definitely.

Gabby: Yeah.

Lindsay: Interesting. So maybe in another episode we’ll talk about this idea of driving at a young age.

Gabby: Oh yeah. That’s an interesting one. Having a car at 16.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby: Yeah.

Lindsay: Okay. Cool.

Gabby: Cool.

Lindsay: All right. We’ll wrap it up for today I guess.

Gabby: Yeah and we’ll talk tomorrow, we’ll uh, do ‘Teaching Tuesday’ and we’ll share some of these phrases and we’ll explain the phrases that we used in this episode.

Lindsay: Yep. So come back and listen tomorrow.

Gabby: All right. We’ll see you then.

Lindsay: Thanks guys.

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Lindsay: Okay. So Gabby, what do you think would be the best way for students to use the All Ears English Podcast to actually move from the intermediate to the advanced level?

Yeah. A lot of people get stuck at the intermediate level. I know in my own, uh, language learning that listening and then reading the transcript of what I just listened to, like a radio program or a podcast, really helped me to push my language skills to the advanced level.

Lindsay: Absolutely. So in order to do that and to actually get more out of this All Ears English experience, where can our listeners go?

Gabby: Well you guys can get premium transcripts of all of our podcasts, word for word what we’re saying if you go to allearsenglish.com/conversations.

Lindsay: And one more time that’s www.allearsenglish.com/conversations.

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Lindsay: Thanks for listening to the All Ears English Podcast. We’re here to help you learn English and you can help us by leaving a five star review on iTunes. See you next time!