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College Life – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. And welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation College Life.

I have the text printed out of the conversation and I’ve chosen some words or some groups of words that I thought you might have had some difficulty understanding. So I’ll be giving you the meanings of those words or groups of words as they relate to this conversation.

So they could have a different meaning in another conversation but I’ll give you the meanings as they relate to this conversation.

And as I always say at the beginning, there’s three different words that I’d like to talk about that you see and hear a lot in our conversations. As native speakers we use these a lot. The first one is “yeah.” Yeah is a slang word for yes.

The next one is actually two words that we say really quickly. We say them quickly so it sounds like… it comes out sounding like one word and it’s “y’know” but actually it’s you and know. But when we speak fast sometimes, we just kind of combine words so y’know. That’s very common. You’ll see that throughout the conversation.

And another one is “like”. Like is many times used by native speakers as just a filler word so that means it doesn’t really have a meaning.

Alright let’s begin with the conversation College Life.

So let me first mention that in the United States we use the word college as well as university. So they’re… they have the same meaning pretty much although there is technically a difference and the difference is college is usually a two-year or four-year program.

So if it’s a four-year program, you get a bachelor’s degree. A university is actually a four-year bachelor degree as well as you can get a master’s degree or a Ph.D. even. So you can go on past the bachelor’s degree and get higher degrees at a university. But we use those words interchangeably so… alright let’s begin.

At the very beginning, AJ says, “I’ve got a lot of great memories of going off to school.” So when he says going off to school, what he’s speaking about is the four years that he spent at college.

So he was living with his mother and father and then when he went… started going to college, he actually moved out of their house. He moved about an hour and a half away in another town to start going to college or university.

Then AJ says, “If you’re lucky your parents are paying for it or at least helping you pay for loans or something.” So loans: this is borrowed money and usually it’s borrowed from the government.

Sometimes I think families might borrow money from banks to pay for their children’s college education but many times it’s actually borrowed from the government.

And then I say, “I stayed at home my first two years and drove to a little community college.” So what I’m speaking about when I say little community college, it was actually at that time only a two-year school.

It was a two-year college and it was only the next town over from where I lived so it only took me maybe 30 minutes to drive there.

So it… because it was only two years it was not… you could not get a bachelor’s degree and for those two years you’re basically work… your classes are what we call core curriculum. They’re classes that everybody has to take no matter what their major is going to be for their bachelor’s.

So if I wanted my bachelor’s I had to go to another school after that community college.

Okay, next I say, “It still wasn’t the same as you going away and living on campus.” So when I say going away I mean moving away, moving away to go to college. And campus: campus, this means the grounds and buildings of a college or a university.

Then Joe says, “There’s a huge difference between going away to college, or I guess what they say, commuting to college.” So commuting to college: commuting means driving or taking public transportation to get to college.

And that’s actually what I did my first two years. I continued living with my parents and I actually drove to the community college.

Then Joe says, “There’s no curfew or anything.” So a curfew: this is a specific set time by parents usually to have their children or their kids come home by. So it’s usually a time set at night that their kids need to come home by.

And then Joe says, “You have to have your own schedule in place.” So when he says in place he means arranged. You have to have your own schedule arranged. You have to have it in place.

And then I say, “Once I transferred over to Athens and started my junior year and finished my senior year at UGA, it was great.” So Athens is the name of a town in the state of Georgia.

Georgia is in the southeastern part of the United States. That’s where I grew up. And Athens is a town where the University of Georgia is and that’s where I finished my final two years of college getting my bachelor’s degree.

And when I say UGA, UGA, those letters stand for University of Georgia. GA is the abbreviation for the state of Georgia.

Then I say, “I bypassed living in a dorm.” So when I say bypassed I’m saying I avoided.

And dorm: this is short for dormitory. A dormitory is on-campus housing so it’s usually where students, freshman and sophomore, or first or second year of college or university, they many times will stay in a dormitory.

Then AJ says, “I loved going to Georgia as well.” So when he says Georgia, he’s… what he means here is the University of Georgia.

And then AJ says, “There’s a big difference I think between the experience of going to a large university like I did and like you did for your last two years, or a smaller private one.”

So when he says private one, he’s talking about a private college or university. Let me explain the difference between a public and a private college or university.

A public college gets its funding, gets its money from, most of its money from the government. And a private college gets its funding or money from various other ways, not from the government but maybe from people who had previously gone to that college.

They might donate money or organizations might donate money. They also get the money to fund or pay for the college by charging more for the students. So private colleges are usually more money than public colleges.

And then AJ says, “There were so many cool clubs.” So cool is just a slang term for interesting.

And then AJ says, “And so many awesome classes.” So when he says awesome what he means is interesting or great classes, wonderful classes.

And then AJ says, “It was so stimulating.” Stimulating means inspiring.

And then AJ says, “I was instantly thrilled as soon as I arrived on campus.” So thrilled means excited. He was instantly excited as soon as he arrived on campus.

And then Joe says, “The experience of the life on campus must have been drastically different from what you guys had.” So drastically: drastically different, this means very much, very much different, very different.

And when Joe says from what you guys had, guys is a slang term meaning AJ and I. He’s speaking to us. Sometimes guys means only men or boys but here he’s speaking to both AJ and I so it’s just a slang term meaning for both AJ and I.

And then Joe says, “Sports was just a big, big draw for the town and for the school.” So when he says it was a big, big draw he’s saying it was really… sports were a really popular event or sports were popular events for the town and for the school.

And then Joe says, “People used to go to the football games and tailgate.”

So tailgate: this happens at different sporting events so it’s very common during the college football games, not everywhere, but in the South for example where college football’s very popular.

It’s very common for people to show up at the game or go to the game early and sit in the parking lot with all their friends. And they eat and they drink beer.

It’s kind of like having a picnic but you’re sitting there at your car doing this. Maybe they’re listening to music. They’re just enjoying spending time together before going in to the game, going in to see the game together.

And then Joe says, “I remember being in Columbus, Ohio.” So Columbus is a city in the state of Ohio. It’s actually the capital city of Ohio and Ohio is a state that’s… it’s considered a Midwestern state which means it’s in the large middle part of the United States, that large area, those states in the very middle, they’re considered Midwestern states.

And then Joe says, “The place was jam-packed with people.” So jam-packed means filled.

And next Joe says, “When Lehigh University had a football game.” So Lehigh University: Lehigh is a private university and it’s a pretty small university. It’s in a town called Bethlehem which is in the state of Pennsylvania and that’s a northeastern state. That’s in the northeastern part of the United States. This is where Joe went to college, Lehigh University.

Then I say, “I’m not a big sports fan.” Or sorry, excuse me, I say, “I’m not a big sports person.” So when I say I’m not a big sports person I’m saying I’m not a big fan of sports. I don’t particularly like sports.

And then I say, “Football was definitely big at UGA.” So when I say it was big I’m saying it was popular. Football was popular at UGA, at the University of Georgia.

And then I say, “I think football in the south is pretty big anyway.” So when I say the south I’m talking about the southern states, the states that are in the southern part of the United States.

And then I say, “Joe, because you weren’t into it and I couldn’t understand.” So when I say you weren’t into it I’m saying you weren’t a fan. You weren’t into it. You weren’t a fan. I’m saying you weren’t a fan of college football.

And then I say, “College football was popular nationwide.” So nationwide: this means in all of the United States, all over the country.

Okay, then I say, “There were so many different kinds of people I was exposed to.” So exposed to means that I came into contact with. There were so many different people I came into contact with or that I met.

And then I say, “Not just undergrads but a lot of my TAs.” Undergrads: this is short for undergraduates. So undergraduates meaning they’re getting, they’re working towards getting their four-year bachelor degree.

And TAs: this stands for teaching assistants. In many colleges or universities, graduate students, those who are working on their master’s degree or their Ph.D., their higher degrees, they will sometimes actually teach classes for the professors. So they’re considered teaching assistants.

Then AJ says, “Lots of… a variety of, in terms of international students.” So when he says in terms of what he means is in regards to.

And then AJ says, “Anyone could find their own little niche.” So niche: sometimes it’s pronounced niche. A niche, it’s a place or a position that is appropriate for someone.

And then AJ says, “It didn’t matter if you were kind of like a, y’know, a geeky science person.” So geeky: this is… it’s a slang word for someone who studies a lot and it’s considered negative. It’s… if you’re a geek it’s not a good thing usually in American culture.

And then AJ says, “If you’re like a frat and sorority person.” So frat and sorority: frat is short for fraternity. Fraternity and sorority people: these are…

So a fraternity is an organization, a social organization for boys in college and sorority is a social organization for girls in college. There’s different sororities and different fraternities.

So it’s… if you choose to join one it’s a way to start meeting people immediately and it especially can be helpful if you’re at a really large school, like a really large university.

And then Joe says, “Athens was a really cool spot to go to school.” So when he says it was a cool spot he’s saying it was a cool place.

And then AJ says, “I think that’s why I got stuck there after school.” So when AJ says he got stuck there, he means he ended up staying there for a while after he graduated.

And then AJ says, “It’s kind of a funky little artsy town.” So funky means strange or weird but in a positive way, kind of an interesting weirdness or interesting strangeness.

Okay, this completes the vocabulary lesson for the conversation College Life and I will be back with the commentary.