درسنامه واژه ها

##Birthdays – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation Birthdays. So I have the text here of the conversation and I’ve made some notes about some words or groups of words that you may have had difficulty understanding. So I’ll be explaining those as they relate to this conversation which means they could have another meaning in a different conversation. And I’ll be giving you the explanations or the meanings for this conversation. Alright, so let’s begin.

And as I always say in the beginning, I like to talk about three different words. The first one is actually two words combined together. You see this in the texts of our conversations a lot and you hear it a lot, a lot of native American English speakers use this quite often. It’s y’know, which is actually the two words, you and know, put together. So when we speak, sometimes we speak fast and instead of saying you know it sounds like y’know.

Okay, the next word that you see a lot in writing and you hear a lot is yeah. And that’s just a slang word for yes. And the third word is like. So you probably know that like means to have positive feelings for someone or something but you can hear it a lot in conversations or see it a lot in text and it really has no meaning so it’s just a filler word. Okay, so let’s begin.

At the beginning of the conversation, Joe says, “I don’t know if I told you but Wat called yesterday.” So Wat, this is the name of a friend of ours from Thailand.

Then Joe says, “He said he’s going to come to San Francisco.” So San Francisco is a city in the state of California. California is on the West Coast so it’s on the westernmost part of the United States and it’s where Joe and I live and AJ and his wife, Tomoe, live part of the year.

Then I say, “He usually does come here but he actually told me the last time he visited a few weeks ago that he was probably going to be staying up there.” So when I say he usually does come here, what I’m talking about is for his birthday. Wat usually does come here for his birthday. He comes to San Francisco. And then when I say he’s probably going to be staying up there, up there means where he lives which is about 4, 4-1/2 hours north of San Francisco.

And then I say, “Just kind of spending it alone.” So when I say spending it alone, it means his birthday.

And then AJ says, “The sacrifices your mom made.” So sacrifices, this is giving up important things for other things that are seen to be even more important.

And then AJ says, “That’s kind of Wat’s approach.” So approach means way of dealing with things.

And then AJ says, “Maybe it’s a general Thai attitude.” So attitude is a way of thinking about someone or something.

And then AJ says, “We’re a lot more selfish.” So selfish means thinking only of one’s own self.

And then AJ says, “How grateful they were or are for their mother.” So grateful means thankful.

And then I say, “AJ and I went with Wat up to Chiang Mai.” So when I say up to Chiang Mai, up meaning north. So AJ and I were living in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Chiang Mai is a city in the northern part of Thailand so it’s…that’s why I say up. We went, because were in Bangkok so we went up or we went north to Chiang Mai.

And then I say, “He started getting really upset and agitated.” So upset and agitated, both of these words mean bothered or disturbed.

And then I say, “It just gave me a different perspective on how you celebrate your birthday.” So perspective means way of thinking.

And then Joe says, “He was going to go to the temple the entire day.” So entire means whole, the whole day.

And then Joe says, “Indulgent?” So what he meant was self-indulgent. So self-indulgent means thinking only about oneself.

And then I say, “He didn’t want to be indulging himself.” So indulging, just like self-indulgent, it’s very similar. It’s enjoying pleasurable things in great amounts. So if you’re self-indulgent, you’re enjoying those in a selfish way, only thinking about yourself.

And then I say, “He wanted to be more introspective.” So introspective means thoughtful. It could also mean meditative.

And then I say, “This might be a Bangkok thing.” So Bangkok, like I said a few minutes ago, Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. It’s a really big city.

And then I say, “It’s on us to pay for the party.” So on us means our responsibility.

And then Joe says, “Then usually everyone pitches in money to pay for it.” So pitches in means offers.

Everyone offers money to pay for it.

And then AJ says, “You’re number one for the day.” So what he means by you’re number one is that you are the important one for the day. You’re the most important person.

And then I say, “I used to have pool parties.” So what I mean by pool is a swimming pool.

And then I say, “We lived in a subdivision where there was a pool.” So a subdivision is also known as a neighborhood. And it, our particular subdivision or neighborhood had a shared pool. So people in that neighborhood, they all could use the swimming pool.

And then I say, “One of my fondest birthday party memories.” So fondest means favorite.

And then I say, “We were still living in Michigan.” So Michigan is the name of a state that’s in the northern part of the United States as well as the middle part of the United States. And I lived there until I was 8 years old.

And then I say, “He sold piñatas.” So a piñata is…it’s something that is made out hardened paper, so it’s paper that’s with something that makes it hard, it’s made into a figure like a man or an animal. And then there’s usually like bright colored paper on it and, yeah, usually the way I’ve seen it is it has brightly colored paper. So let’s say there’s a piñata of a donkey. It’s going to have eyes and a mouth and nose.

You’ll definitely be able to tell it looks like a donkey. It’ll be in the shape of a donkey. A donkey, by the way, is a…it looks like a horse, a small horse. It’s an animal. So you would be able to look at the piñata and see that it was a donkey. And then for the body, y’know, it would have the eyes, the mouth, the nose, and then for the body there’d be different colored paper just to make it look really bright and colorful, decorative. And then in the middle it’s actually empty.

And then I say, “We had a big picnic and played the piñata game.” Okay, so the game is where you hang the piñata, so in this situation, I think mine was a donkey, that’s why I’m remembering or talking about a donkey piñata. It was hung from a tree low enough so that we could reach it because I was 8, 9 years old. So we’re just small children. And inside, like I said, it’s empty inside the piñata so there’s an opening and you can put candy and toys down inside the piñata. So on the outside it looked like this donkey, this brightly-colored donkey and then inside was candy and toys. So it’s hung from a tree and then we were all given some, like a big stick or a bat, y’know, a bat that you hit a ball with like in baseball. And we had an eye covering, something that came over our eyes so we couldn’t see. And we were spun around to kind of make us dizzy so we didn’t know where the piñata was and we would just have to start swinging at it as someone…so the piñata was hanging from a rope, someone has the other end of the rope and they’re pulling on it to make the piñata go up or down as we’re trying to hit it. And the reason we’re trying to hit it is to break it so that it opens and all the candy and toys fall to the ground and then the kids go running and get as much as they can for themselves. So this is actually, it’s a…it’s a birthday tradition that I believe comes from Mexico. I’m not exactly sure about that, or maybe it’s somewhere in South America, but it’s not an American tradition. But it was so much fun, that birthday, playing the piñata game.

Okay, moving on. Joe then says, “My mom always let me select whatever meal I wanted for my birthday.” So select means choose. And meal means like dinner or breakfast or lunch. Oh, actually, no in this sentence, excuse me, it can mean that but in this sentence a meal means a type of food. So maybe rice and vegetables or a noodle soup, something like that.

Okay, so then Joe goes on to say, “That was always like lasagna or pizza or something like that.” So the meal that he would choose would be, he’s saying lasagna or pizza. Lasagna is a pasta dish. It’s actually Italian. He would choose that because his mom’s whole side of the family is Italian so he grew up eating really good Italian food.

And then Joe says, “You guys know.” So usually guy means a man, a male person, a man. But it can also be used in a slang sense to include women or girls. So Joe is saying it to AJ and I. Obviously, I’m a woman but he’s still including me as a guy. It’s just kind of a slang way to group males and females, even though it also means just males.

And then I say, “We went to the Millennium.” So the Millennium is the name of a restaurant. It’s mine and Joe’s favorite restaurant and it’s a vegan restaurant. Joe and I are vegan. So it’s 100% vegan which means there is no meat. There is no cheese. There’s no milk. There’s nothing in the food that comes from an animal. It’s all plant-based food and it’s a very good restaurant.

And then AJ says, “They’re becoming less dramatic.” So dramatic here means exciting.

And then AJ says, “The more you have they become a little smaller and simpler.” So when he says the more you have, he’s talking about birthdays. The more birthdays you have, they become a little smaller and simpler. And simpler means easier.

So this is the end of our vocabulary lesson for the conversation Birthdays. And I will be right back with the commentary.