درسنامه واژه ها

Roots – 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 Roots. As always, I have the text of the conversation here 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 words as they relate to this conversation. They could have a different meaning in another conversation but I’ll be giving you the meanings as they are in this conversation, so let’s begin.

Okay, I always like to explain three words that you hear quite often in our conversations. The first one is like. So like most commonly means to have positive feelings for someone or something. But it can also not have a meaning. It’s just a filler word, so you’ll hear that a lot. You’ll hear like used a lot where it doesn’t have a meaning, it’s just a filler word.

The next word is actually two words combined together, so it’s y’know, y’know. So y’know is actually you and know combined together. So sometimes when we speak, we’re speaking very fast and two words sound like one word. We combine them together when we’re speaking quickly. And the third word is yeah. Yeah is slang for yes. Alright, so let’s begin.

Let’s begin with the title of the conversation, so roots. Now roots is an idiom and for this conversation it means to be settled in one place. So it actually comes from the roots of a plant, so those are the parts of a plant that grow into the ground. So we use it as an idiom to describe being settled or living in one place.

Okay, at the beginning of the conversation, I say, “I feel like we’ve barely even seen you.” So when I say we’ve barely even seen you what I’m saying is we haven’t seen you very much.

Then AJ says, “Yeah, man, this has been an exhausting trip actually.” So when he says man, this is just kind of a filler word. It doesn’t really have any meaning. And exhausting, an exhausting trip, exhausting means very tiring.

And then AJ says, “We were down in LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Monterey, all in California.” So California is a state here in the United States. It’s a pretty big state. It’s a large state and it’s on the western coast of the United States. Now the cities that he mentioned, LA which is actually short for Los Angeles, so LA or Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Monterey, those are all cities here in the state of California. And San Francisco is actually the city where Joe and I live and AJ and his wife Tomoe spend some time here as well when they’re not in Japan. And then AJ, in that same sentence, when he says we were down in LA, San Diego, Monterey, what he’s talking about, he’s speaking about from San

Francisco, because San Francisco is about in the middle part of the state of California. So when he’s saying we were down in LA, we were down in San Diego and we were down in Monterey, he’s saying we were south of San Francisco. That’s what he’s referring to. South of San Francisco.

Then AJ says, “Then Indiana to visit my family.” So Indiana is a state here in the United States and it’s in the middle part of the United States. And it’s where AJ’s sister and mother live and he’s got some aunts and uncles that live there also.

And then AJ starts to say, “Down to” and then I say, “Georgia.” So Georgia is another state and it’s in the southeastern part of the United States. It’s directly above the state of Florida and it’s where I grew up from the age of 8 all the way through college or university and AJ also lived in Georgia from his high school years through college or university. And both of us even have lived there as adults, after we graduated from college. My family still lives in Georgia actually and AJ’s dad, and he has a grandmother, they live in Georgia.

Then I say, “You guys have been on the move quite a lot for sure.” So when I say you guys, guy generally means man or boy, it’s a male. But I’m talking about he and Tomoe so it can also be used to speak of two or more people, even if there are women or girls in that group of people. And then on the move, when I say you guys have been on the move, what I’m saying is you both have traveled around a lot.

And then I say, “I don’t blame you.” So what I mean by that is I understand what you’re saying.

And then I say, “I don’t want to be on the go as much.” So on the go, this means moving around.

And then I say, “When we travel, we tend to travel for two to three months.” So when I say we tend to, tend to means usually. We usually travel for two to three months.

Oh, let me go back. Before that sentence, I say, “Two weeks would be ideal.” So ideal means best.

Okay, then I say, “I would like to move there, or this place, or the grass is always greener, right?” So the grass is always greener: this is an idiom. It’s shortened from the longer version of the idiom which is the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. And what this means is that people always think that they would be happier in a different situation when, in reality, the different situation is probably not any better.

Alright, then AJ says, “Yeah, and there’s a flip side.” So flip side means an opposite side.

And then AJ says, “American society is very extreme in how mobile we are.” So extreme means beyond what is usual or beyond what might be expected. And when he says how mobile we are, he’s saying how freely we are able to move.

And then AJ says, “My dad got moved around a lot.” So AJ’s dad got moved around a lot when he was growing up due to his job. He worked a big company, IBM, and they would move him around a lot to different cities.

So then AJ says, “I lived in South Carolina.” So South Carolina is a state and it is in the southeastern part of the United States so it’s actually next to my state that I grew up, Georgia.

And then AJ says, “I feel like I actually have a lot of friends, good friends, but they’re all over the place, not in one spot.” So when he says they’re all over the place what he means is they live in many places. And when he says not in one spot, spot means place. They’re not in one place, not in one spot.

And then I say, “Our families are across the country.” So across the country, as I said, I live here in the state of California. My family, my brothers, my parents, an uncle and an aunt, cousins, they live in the state of Georgia. So if I’m on the western part of the United States, they’re in Georgia, which is the southeastern part of the United States. It’s a 5-hour, 4-1/2 to 5-hour flight, so that shows you how far it is. And for AJ, he’s, as I said, he has family in Indiana, which is in the middle part of the United States, and he also has family in Georgia. So again, 4-1/2 to 5-hour flight to Georgia, if he’s spending time here in California, or Indiana, I’m guessing it’s maybe about the same amount of time to fly there from here. So they are across the country from us.

And then AJ says, “I consider you and Joe and Wat to be family.” So Wat is the name of a friend of mine and AJ’s and Joe’s and he’s from Thailand. He lives here in California with us.

And then AJ says, “Then my mom’s side of the family, which is most of my extended family, they’re all in Indiana.” So extended family: this means grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins. That’s your extended family.

And then AJ says, “My fantasy is just to get, if I could convince everybody to move to one place.” So when he says my fantasy, what he’s saying is my dream. And convince everybody to move to one place, convince means he would like to get everybody to move to one place.

And then AJ says, “I would have this incredible community of family and close friends.” So incredible means amazing. He would have this amazing community of family and close friends.

Okay, then AJ says, “And then travel as more of a vacation instead of what I’ve been doing which is just constantly moving around.” So constantly moving around, what he’s saying is moving around all the time.

And I say, “Yep, yep.” So yep is a slang word for yes.

And then I say, “I was talking to my mom a lot about wanting to leave San Francisco. I just wasn’t happy here. And she would just latch onto that.” So when I say she would latch onto that, I’m saying that my mom became attached to that idea. She really wanted me to move back to Georgia, where I’m from, to be closer to her. So she really became attached to that idea.

And then I say, “Well, y’know, it’s so much cheaper back here and you’ve got your family here and you still have friends here and blah, blah, blah.” So I’m actually acting like I’m my mom speaking here. So my mom would tell me: You should move back to Georgia. It’s cheaper. You’ve got your family here. You’ve got your high school friends, or your friends, you still have friends here. So when I say blah, blah, blah, I’m just saying…what that means is and on and on and on. So in other words, my mom would just, she had all these other reasons that I should move there. Blah, blah, blah and on and on and on.

And then I say, “If I’m not in Georgia, if I’m in another state, a neighboring state like North Carolina, I have no friends really.” So neighboring: a neighboring state means a state that’s next to another state. So North Carolina is actually next to Georgia.

Okay, then I say, “I’m totally starting over and that’s hard.” So when I say I’m totally starting over what I’m saying is totally means completely. I’m completely starting over. And when I say that’s hard, hard means difficult.

And then AJ says, “Yeah, I get it.” So when he says I get it he’s saying I understand. I understand what you’re saying.

And then AJ says, “It’s a push-pull I feel, too.” So push-pull here means inconsistent feelings or opposite feelings.

And then AJ says, “There’s certain kinds of places that I personally like based on my values.” So values: these are things that AJ sees, they’re things that AJ feels are important.

And then AJ says, “I like more interesting, kind of open places.” So when he says open places, what he means is open-minded places. And open-minded means, it’s when people are accepting of many things. If people living in a particular place are open-minded then they’re accepting of many things.

And then AJ says, “Like cool cities like Bangkok or Kyoto or San Francisco.” So cool here means interesting. And Bangkok, this is the capital city of Thailand. Kyoto is the name of a city in Japan.

And then AJ says, “They’re town is so boring for me and I just, I find it so boring, so conservative.” So conservative means traditional, not usually open-minded. Remember open-minded is accepting of many things. It’s not usually accepting of many things, very traditional.

And then AJ says, “So it’s a conflict.” So conflict means having opposite feelings about a situation. So for example, AJ’s living situation.

And then AJ says, “On one hand, I want to be near my family and spend lots of time with them.” So when he says on one hand, this is an idiom meaning in one situation.

And then AJ says, “On the other hand, I want to live in an interesting place that is more stimulating for me, not in a really boring, conservative, Midwest town.” So when AJ says on the other hand, he’s saying in the other situation. So there’s one situation he’s talking about and then there’s a different situation that he’s talking about, two different situations. Okay, so he says on the other hand, I want to live in an interesting place that is more…and I say, “Right.” When I say right, I’m showing agreement or showing him that I understand what he’s saying. And then AJ says stimulating for me, not in a really boring, conservative, Midwest town. So stimulating means exciting. And Midwest town: this is referring to a town in the middle part, it’s referring to a town in a state in the middle part of the United States.

And then I say, “I know it would be a big adjustment going to a smaller place.” So adjustment means it would take some time to get used to.

And then I say, “It would just kind of have a more desolate feel.” So desolate means empty.

And then AJ says, “Small towns and even medium-sized towns have died. They’ve lost a lot of their vitality.” So vitality means energy or liveliness.

And then I say, “I can be in Atlanta and it feels so desolate.” So Atlanta is a city in the state of Georgia and it’s the capital city of Georgia.

And AJ says, “Yeah and isolated.” So isolated means lonely.

And then AJ says, “Yeah, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, in America that’s about it.” So New York: this is a city that’s very well known in the state of New York. So you have a state here called New York and there’s a city in the state that’s also called New York. That’s New York City and that’s in the northeastern part of the United States. Chicago, this is the name of another city, both New York and Chicago, they’re very large cities. Chicago is in the state of Illinois which is in the middle part of the United States.

Okay, then AJ says, “Maybe New Orleans somewhat.” So New Orleans is a city, a fun, fun city in the state of Louisiana. Louisiana is in the southern part of the United States.

Then AJ says, “It’s a dilemma really.” Dilemma means problem.

And then AJ says, “I don’t’ know what the solution is honestly.” So solution means answer.

Okay, this is the end of our vocabulary lesson for the conversation Roots. I’ll be right back with the commentary.