خانواده و روابط فامیلی

Kinship - Relatives - Family connections in English

Hello, everybody! I am Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. I want to help you speak English fluently, speaking English is easier than it looks! You just have to use the right material and techniques.

In today’s lesson

Let’s talk about kinship. That’s to say, the relationship between the different members of a family.

Then, through a mini-story lesson, you’ll practice vocabulary and of course your fluency. I’ll use the question and answer technique to get you involved in the conversation.

By the way, thank you so much for listening wherever you are. If you can, please write a comment on iTunes. That’s how you help me reach more people.

Well, today we’re gonna talk about family, and in particular kinship.

Kinship is what we call the relationship between two people from the same family. For example father, son, etc.

Well, on this subject, I have a confession to make. Sometimes I also get confused with the kinship of my own family, especially for distant relatives. A relative is a member of your family, by the way. It can be a bit complicated, but it’s not a language issue. It’s about always wanting to define what relationship you have with someone else in your family especially if you come from a large family.

Today you’re gonna learn the most fundamental kinship. I recommend that you listen to this episode several times to better understand and consolidate.

I’ll give an example of a family and name each member. It’ll be easier that way.

And make sure you read the text. I’ve added a simple family tree graphic with the names of the family members.

Let’s imagine a marriage. Alexander is married to Alexandra. Alexander is Alexandra’s husband. Alexandra is Alexander’s wife.

So, Alexandra could say things like:

My husband is lazy, never helps at home and is always on the couch watching TV.

And Alexander could say:

My wife always tells me to clean up, but I’m tired. That’s why I’m always on the couch.

Okay, we have this happy marriage, Alexander, and Alexandra. They have children. To be exact, a son and a daughter: Alex and Alexa. Alexander is Alex’s father or dad. Alexander is also Alexa’s father. Logically, Alexandra is the mother or mom of the two children.

Alexander could say:

I am very proud of my children: Alex and Alexa. They’re really smart.

Alexandra could say:

Unlike Alexander, my children always help at home. They’re not lazy.

All right. So, what are Alex and Alexa to each other? They’re brothers or siblings. Alex is Alexa’s brother, and Alexa is Alex’s sister. They are siblings.

So far so good? We already have parents, sons, and brothers or siblings; husband and wife.

All right. Alexander, the father, has parents too, doesn’t he? Sure, everyone has parents. Alexander has a father named Raymond, and a mother named Rachel.

And Alexandra? Well, she’s Anthony and Antoinette’s daughter.

So, let’s have a look at the relationship between Raymond and Rachel, Alexander’s parents, and Anthony, and Antoinette, Alexandra’s parents regarding Alex and Alexa.

Raymond and Rachel are Alex and Alexa’s grandparents or granddads.

Of course, Anthony and Antoinette are also Alex and Alexa’s grandparents.

So how many grandparents do Alex and Alexa have? For grandparents.

Alex and Alexa have four grandparents. They have Raymond and Rachel and Anthony and Antoinette.

Alex and Alexa say that they like their grandparents very much because they always bring them gifts.

The grandparents are very proud of Alex and Alexa.

Now, another important question. What are Alex and Alexa to Raymond, Rachel, Anthony, and Antoinette? Well, they are the grandchildren or grandkids. Alex and Alexa are the grandparents’ grandchildren.

Do you get it? Alex and Alexa are the grandparents’ grandchildren.

Is that understood? We now have three levels of kinship: Grandparents

Parents

Grandchildren

Let’s move on to the next section:

Mini Story 📖

(Improve your Speaking)

Here’s how it works. I give you information about something. I ask questions about this information. After each question, there is a silence, for about 5-6 seconds. Try to answer the question. Short answers are fine. After the silence, I will give you an answer so you can compare. Of course, you can pause and look at the text if you want to. Remember that a short, quick answer is better than a slow, hesitant one.

Let’s get started!

Alex and Alexa wanted to go to the zoo with their parents.

Did Alex and Alexa want to go to the amusement park?

No, they didn’t want to go to the amusement park. They wanted to go to the zoo.

Did Alexa’s brother want to go to the zoo?

Yes. He wanted to go. He wanted to go to the zoo just like his sister.

What about his sister? Did she want to stay home?

No, no. Alex’s sister didn’t want to stay home. She wanted to go to the zoo just like her brother.

Whom did Alex and Alexa want to go to the zoo with?

With their parents. They wanted to go with their parents.

With whom? Their grandparents?

No, no. Not with their grandparents. They wanted to go to the zoo with their parents.

The parents couldn’t go because they had a too much work to do.

Did the parents have a lot of work?

Yes. The parents had too much work to do.

What did the parents have?

Too much work. They had too much work to do.

Could the parents go to the zoo?

No, they couldn’t go. The parents couldn’t go because they had too much work to do.

Why couldn’t the parents go to the zoo? Why didn’t they want to?

No. They couldn’t. The parents couldn’t go because they had too much work to do. They were busy. They didn’t have time to go with their children.

The grandparents volunteered to take their grandchildren to the zoo.

Did the grandchildren volunteer?

No. They didn’t volunteer. It was the grandparents who volunteered.

Who volunteered?

The grandparents. The grandparents volunteered.

Did the grandparents volunteer to take their grandchildren to the zoo? Yes! They volunteered for that.

Where did the grandparents want to take their grandchildren?

To the zoo. They wanted to take their grandchildren to the zoo.

They volunteered to take them to the zoo.

Where to?

To the zoo. They wanted to take their grandchildren to the zoo.

Alex and Alexa were delighted to go with their grandparents.

Were the grandchildren delighted?

Yes, they were delighted. They were delighted to go with their grandparents.

How were the grandkids?

They were delighted. They were very happy to go with their grandparents.

Did the grandchildren go with their grandparents?

Yeah, they went with their grandparents.

Who did Alex and Alexa go to the zoo with?

With their grandparents. They went with their grandparents.

Where did Alex and Alexa go with their grandparents?

To the zoo. They went to the zoo.

Did the grandchildren go alone or with their grandparents?

With their grandparents. They went with their grandparents.

They didn’t go alone.

Finally, the parents were also able to go, and everyone had a great day at the zoo.

Were the parents able to go to the zoo?

Yes, the parents were finally able to go to the zoo.

Were the grandchildren able to go? And how about the grandparents?

Yes. The grandchildren and the grandparents were able to go to the zoo. All of them had a great day.

Did they have a bad day or a great day?

A great day. They had a magnificent day.

So, the grandchildren, the parents, and the grandparents went to the zoo, right?

Yes! All of them went to the zoo. The whole family. They had a wonderful day together at the zoo, and there they saw some very special penguins wearing sunglasses.

Perfect! Do you like this technique? It’s very powerful! Thousands of students have learned English with it. If it’s important for you to speak fluently, without translating mentally,

I recommend you my courses that you can find at: Courses.SpeakEnglishPod.com

All right, well, that’s it for today.

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See you next time!

Bye! Bye!