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Where You're From

Where You're From

Date: Jun 04 2021

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Hi Friends!
When getting to know someone, it’s common to talk about where you come from. Your background has a lot to do with who you are, so you can help someone understand you better if you tell them about your hometown and your history. Also, it’s interesting to hear what someone else’s opinions are about the place where you grew up. Often, his/her idea of it will be much different than yours.
Josh and Beth recently compared their upbringings, which were very different. Listen in to their conversation to learn more!

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Beth

Beth

Josh

Josh

Beth:  Josh, when was the last time that you, uh, went home to visit your friends and family?

Josh:  Um, trying to remember, I think I was up there… Oh yeah – I was just up there in February for my birthday and for my dad’s birthday.

Beth:  Where are you from again?

Josh:  Oh, I’m from Alaska.

Beth:  Oh, right on. That’s cool. I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska. What’s it like?

Josh:  Well, I mean, I wouldn’t have the same perspective as someone visiting there. It’s a, it’s a great place to visit and I guess for a lot of people it’s a great place to live too. But, I felt really isolated growing up there. I mean, it is beautiful, there’s tons of beauty. But it’s so far away from everything, and when I was a kid, you know, we didn’t have the internet, you know, my town didn’t have a bookstore, a music store. It’s just, like, hard to feel connected to the rest of the world.

Beth:  I can see that. Growing up in New York, I felt very connected to millions of people. I mean, it’s just a, a really, I guess, different experience living in a place where you’re inundated with, uh, media and people and action…

Josh:  Yeah, I mean, I would’ve, I would’ve loved to grow up in New York, you know. We got, like, big blockbuster movies came out six months late in Alaska, ‘cause we only had two screens, you know. It’s just, uh, it’s a… It was a real different way to grow up than a lot of people in the U.S., I think.

Beth:  It seems really peaceful there. I mean, at least that’s my impression of it.

Josh:  Yeah. I mean, it’s quiet. We had a lot of land to ourselves. We didn’t really have neighbors. Um, wildlife and forests, like, all around us, like right at our house. But, but, I don’t know, I couldn’t have a conversation with the wildlife. I want to be around people.

Beth:  It must have been cool, I mean, were there wild animals roaming through your backyard, or…?

Josh:  Literally.

Beth:  Wow.

Josh:  Yeah, I mean, moose or bears. We had a bear visit our house for a couple days once, and that kind of stuff is just constant. It was cool, I guess, I mean, reflecting back on it, but when I was, when I was living there I just wanted to get out.

 

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Discussion

Like Beth, many people think Alaska is a beautiful, peaceful and majestic place. Josh doesn’t disagree, but it’s easy to understand why he’s not as enthusiastic about it as Beth is. He spent many years in the cold and lonely state, and he’s happy to be in a big city with lots of things to do. Josh probably has the ideal situation now, because he can live in Portland, but visit Alaska whenever he wants.
Where are you from? Are you able to describe your hometown and your history in detail (in English)? If not, you should find somebody to tell your story to. It’s a great way to practice your English!
Have a great week!
Tanis

 

Comments

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manju_manoj@hotmail.com

India

 I am from the god's own country "KERALA" i hope you may heard about kerala a state of INDIA. its very beautiful place filled with greenery, back waters, misted mountains, great culture and ofcourse great people . i love my kerala more than any other state of india. you can see the beautiful sceneries of kerala through the websites of kerala.  i'm sure you will be wondered. our mother tongue is "malayalam" .

05:35 AM May 29 2007 |

jack sparrow

Algeria

great ;)

10:26 PM May 28 2007 |

sagittarius star

China

I come from the oriental country :China,which has two long long rivers in the world and also a long long while brilliant culture.To be exactly, my home town is located in the souhern part of this huge country,and it’s a picturestic place or you can regard it as a vationland,each year ,millions of visitors frock to the rivers ,moutains and coasts to spend their vacation.But there are some enviromental issues confronted to my hometown since the economic development. Therefore ,we have to balance between economic developement and enviroment protection.

10:49 AM May 24 2007 |

naazia

naazia

Pakistan

i m 4m great Pakistan.it is most beautiful country in the world.i love my country soooooooooooo much.

03:55 PM May 22 2007 |

Maystro

Maystro

Saudi Arabia

What a bout me Sealed 

I don`t no …....  

no I`m from king dome from saudi arabia ….

I love  my place

10:29 AM May 20 2007 |

Jolina

Jolina

China

I'm from China.I spent my childhood in a small town.It's poor but my childhood was beautiful.During the summer vocation i always went swimming in the river near my school compus with my friens.In the evening we will go to a bridge and had a nice chat there,or sang some songs even shouted loudly.We often went to some place by bike.It's wickly wonderful and romantic.It gave me so many beautiful recollection.I love my hometown!!Smile 

12:10 PM May 15 2007 |

BLACK FANG

BLACK FANG

Egypt

I`m from Egypt and i`m so sad coz i can`t talk about my lovely country

06:07 PM May 12 2007 |

Josh K

Josh K

Guatemala

now, tell you where….........................?

04:11 PM May 12 2007 |

Josh K

Josh K

Guatemala

that is common i always ask where are you from and ask me too. we're from differents places of world, is normal to do that question, cause want to know people and discover your customs, habits of life. Its very normal to do ask that; where….................................................................?

04:06 PM May 12 2007 |

Josh K

Josh K

Guatemala

I live a country in central america. come here and met it.

04:02 PM May 12 2007 |

eternal_84

eternal_84

Turkey

my hometown is trabzon which is in the north easth of turkey has a population nearly 1 miliion.ıt is not as big city as istanbul or ankara but nearly is the biggest one in black sea region.besides has deep history,and has lots of historical places and seaside resorts.people from all over the world and differnt parts of turkey come here to see this places in their holiday.you can see the great number of the green in the forests .ıt is not as big as got lost in crowd and not as small as have nothing to do for wasting time.people say ıt is an ideal city to live.sometimes ı prefer to live bigger cities but when ı arrive ı miss trabzon,ı like my hometown:)

05:06 PM May 11 2007 |

Gabriel Darnox

Mexico

I’m from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. This land is very hot in summer, but is peacefull city.

11:16 PM Mar 14 2007 |

getchar

getchar

Algeria

beautifull things are always something real…!!

03:01 PM Mar 10 2007 |

coco823328

coco823328

China

when I live in countryside,i feel very inconvience,when I live in city ,I feel very tied .People always doesnot satisfy what they have now.

03:06 AM Mar 05 2007 |

diazbarreiro

Mexico

Yeah!! It´s usually that people don’t appreciate the place where they come from. That’s due to a stranger feeling that make us thinking other places are better than our hometown. However, when we leave our hometown and then come back, we catch the real beauty that couldn’t see.

02:44 PM Jan 14 2007 |

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