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Hello everyone and welcome back to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we have a wild lesson for you at the elementary level.

That’s right. We are actually going to visit a farm. So, yeah. It’s gonna be fun. We’re gonna see a lot of animals. And not only that but we’re gonna learn a lot of interesting words and phrases in English today. But before we get started, let’s take a look at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview

We’re not going to be teaching you this song today. Don’t worry. You don’t have to listen to us sing. We do have a great word to start us off. It’s called, the word is country.

a country okay. So, you know country is like the United States, Mexico, China, etc. But in this case, we are going out to the country. Not out of the country, we’re going out to the country.

to the country, okay? The country or you might hear the countryside is a place it’s not like a city

right

so, it’s the opposite of city. It means there is lots of grass. It’s very natural. There’re very very few houses and people. It’s very quiet. So it’s the opposite of a busy city. It’s in the country.

And you have a lot of animals. So, usually farms are found on the countryside or at the countryside

in the country

so, usually farms are found in the countryside.

That’s right. And I personally am a big fan because it’s so quiet and peaceful. So, we can talk about that in a minute. Let’s listen to today’s dialogue first and then we’ll be back to talk about some of the words and phrases.

Isn’t this great? I always wanted to own a farm, live out in the country, grow my own food!

This is very beautiful. Though I have to confess, I don’t know the first thing about farming!

That’s fine! Don’t worry about it!

What was that?

Relax, it was just a goat!

And that?

It’s just the cows that are grazing over there. We can milk them later.

What was that?

Honey, seriously, It’s just a sheep. Relax!

Relax, that was just the horses and donkeys that are in the stable .

You know what? I don’t think I can hack it here out in the countryside. I’m going back to the city!

All right, we’re back. So, obviously some people cannot go to the countryside.

That’s right. Some people get very very upset. In fact, there is a whole TV show in America that was about city people living in the countryside

and see if they can do it

That’s right

All right. But before we talk about that, why don’t we take a look at four keywords in language take away

Language take away

The first word is the name of an animal. Okay, so you’ve all heard of cows. But have you heard of goats?

a goat

a goat

All right, so a goat is a strange looking animal. It’s kind of skinny and what you get from a goat?

You can actually drink goat’s milk

Right

and many people like to eat goat’s cheese which is cheese made from goat’s milk.

Okay. So, a goat. We heard the sound that a goat makes so, I think it’s pretty clear what a goat is. And they’re very common as we say in farms such as sheep and horses, cows, etc.

That’s right and normally when they’re in the wild, they like to live in rocky places like mountains.

Right. That’s why they say they’re very good climbers because they don’t fall of the mountains. All right and well, if you have cows, then they’re probably going to be grazing.

Okay, so to graze is a verb. It’s something we do. Well, we people don’t do it. Animals do it. It’s a way for us to describe how animals like cows eat, means to eat grass.

Okay. So, if your cows or horses are grazing, that means they’re eating grass somewhere out.

That’s right. They’re walking, they stop, they eat some grass. They walk, they stop again. It’s a very slow process.

All right, so cows are usually grazing out in the countryside. And well, once they finish grazing and they get all fat, than in the mornings you have to milk them.

Okay, so we drink milk. Milk is a thing but it’s also a verb so, to milk something.

All right and if you milk a cow is when you extract the milk, the liquid from them, right?

That’s right. So underneath the cow, there’s an utter or underneath there are utters which you have to squeeze with hands to make the milk come out

Okay an interesting word as well, utter. It’s like that big bag full of milk.

Exactly. so, to milk a cow

All right and you have cows out in the field grazing and probably your horses and donkeys are going to be in the stable.

The stable is a place, okay? So, this is something that’s often found on farms where the horses or the cows live. It’s a structure of the building for those animals.

Okay, so they’re probably separated in different little rooms or compartments and that’s called a stable. So, as you said, you usually find horses and cows and donkeys in there.

That’s right. So a stable is a way to protect the animals from the weather.

All right, very good. So, four keywords there as we just saw. Why don’t we listen to this dialogue again and we’ll be back soon.

Isn’t this great? I always wanted to own a farm, live out in the country, grow my own food!

This is very beautiful. Though I have to confess, I don’t know the first thing about farming!

That’s fine! Don’t worry about it!

What was that?

Relax, it was just a goat!

And that?

It’s just the cows that are grazing over there. We can milk them later.

What was that?

Honey, seriously, It’s just a sheep. Relax!

Relax, that was just the horses and donkeys that are in the stable .

You know what? I don’t think I can hack it here out in the countryside. I’m going back to the city!

All right, we’re back. So, now is take a look at fluency builder.

Fluency builder

You know Marco, I have to confess. I love fluency builder.

All right and that’s our first phrase for today, I have to confess.

Okay. So, to confess is to tell someone something that’s a secret. Okay, so we can confess with the priest, no. So we can confess to a priest. We can confess a secret to a friend

okay

but I have to confess, is a very common phrase. It’s a way for us to start a sentence. I have to confess.

Right. So, you’re saying I have to be honest with you. I have to tell you the truth.

Exactly. So, I have to confess I’m not a huge fan of that sweater.

Okay

So, I have to be honest, I really don’t like your sweater. This is a way for us to be more polite, when we’re saying something that’s negative.

And in this case, it was a girl who was confessing and what she confessed is our second key phrase. I don’t know the first thing about farming.

Okay, so I don’t know anything about farming is another way we can say this or I don’t know a thing about farming. But I do know the first thing about farming means I don’t even understand what a farm is, okay? The first thing is, what is a farm. I don’t even understand what a farm is for. This is a way for us to say I don’t know anything at all about this.

And if we change the noun, right? And we can say for example, I don’t know the first thing about cars. So, I have no idea of what models they are or what type of engine they have. I don’t know the first thing about cars.

All I know is how to turn them on.

right

or I don’t know the first thing about wines. I’d love to learn about wine but I don’t know the first thing about it.

Okay, so it’s a phrase that you can use with many many different nouns. right, I don’t know the first thing about architecture. I don’t know the first thing about English.

All right. Well, we do a little mess over here to help you but this is a really great phrase to describe not understanding anything at all about something.

right

so, this is a really great way to describe not knowing anything at all about something.

Okay. And well, obviously saying she didn’t know the first thing about farming, she ended up leaving as she said you know what, I don’t think I can hack it out here in the countryside.

Okay, so I can hack it. He can’t hack it. We use this with a verb to be able to and it means I don’t think I can do this. I think this is too hard.

Or maybe if somebody quit, right? After a week at the office and you can say he couldn’t hack it. He couldn’t hack the pressure and he left.

Exactly. So that means to handle or to be able to handle or to—

Withstand

Withstand, so I just don’t think I can hack the cold, right? I can’t handle the cold. It’s too cold here. I’m moving somewhere warm.

All right. So, I’m sure you guys will be able to hack our dialogue one last time, so let’s listen to it and we’ll be back.

Isn’t this great? I always wanted to own a farm, live out in the country, grow my own food!

This is very beautiful. Though I have to confess, I don’t know the first thing about farming!

That’s fine! Don’t worry about it!

What was that?

Relax, it was just a goat!

And that?

It’s just the cows that are grazing over there. We can milk them later.

What was that?

Honey, seriously, It’s just a sheep. Relax!

Relax, that was just the horses and donkeys that are in the stable .

You know what? I don’t think I can hack it here out in the countryside. I’m going back to the city!

All right, we’re back. So, as you said you’re a fan of the countryside and about farming, right?

That’s right. Well, I wish I knew more about farming. I don’t know the first thing about milking a cow. But I do come from a part of the world, in Illinois, near Chicago where we have a lot of farms and I appreciate the quiet.

Yeah, it’s nice

And having animals around. And being able to go on long walks without cars and horns and bicycles.

It is actually a little bit refreshing to be out in the countryside sometimes and not even have Internet or cell phone coverage or anything. So, it’s just basically, you can’t do anything else but relax, read a book, talk to people.

Exactly.

Now an interesting thing about this is a lot of people take for granted the countryside because I’ve met many people who live in the city, who grew up in the city and have never seen for example, a live chicken. And when they see it, they just freak out and take pictures with the chicken or a cow or something. It’s amazing.

It’s really funny. Well, I think it it’s very valuable the skills– I think there’re very valuable skills that you learn being on the countryside, like how to cook for yourself. There’s no one else who can cook for you or how to get food from animals.

Or maybe you can’t even use a microwave. So, how do you cook without a microwave or something.

That’s right. And I think the biggest problem for city people when they come to the countryside is that it’s dirtier. You know you get mud and there’re bugs. I imagine some of our coworkers here having a very hard time in the countryside.

Yes, indeed. So why don’t you guys come to our website Englishpod.com, let us know what you think about this. Maybe you’re very funny with the countryside or have a relative who’s a farmer. It’s great. So, visit us Englishpod.com and if you have any questions or comments, you can leave them there as well.

Can’t wait to hear from you. Happy studies. Bye.