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.
Brothers and sisters can be a lot of fun. But sometimes cousins are even better. They’re family, so you share a special bond with them. But you probably don’t have to see them every day, and you don’t have to worry about sibling rivalry with your cousins.
Ella recently went to Thailand, where her family is from. She met 13 cousins she hadn’t seen since she was a very young girl. Find out if they hit it off as she and Jason talk about cousins.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Jason: So I only have one family member who lives here in town, and it’s a cousin. I really don’t see him all that much. He’s really cool, but, I don’t know, for some reason we just don’t call each other out of the blue very often. Are you very close with your cousins?
Ella: Well, I wouldn’t say close. I just met 13 of them when I was in Thailand last month, which was a trip. I was not prepared for that. I have a lot of cousins.
Jason: Yeah, I think I might have, like, 14 total, let alone 13 I’ve never met.
Ella: Yeah, that was just my dad’s side. It was weird, because I hadn’t seen them since I was really young, but when I met them I felt an instant connection, like, “Weird, I don’t know these people, but I automatically love them.”
Jason: That’s amazing. So you had a connection immediately upon seeing them for the first time?
Ella: Yes. It was weird. Like on my mom’s side and my dad’s side, the cousins I met, it was really awesome. I’m just overall pretty close with my family.
Jason: Do you think it’s important to stay in touch with your cousins?
Ella: I definitely do. I try to talk to them at least once a week.
Jason: Wow. All of them?
Ella: Facebook most of them. But I’ll be on the phone with a couple different ones every week.
Jason: Woah. I gotta get better about hanging out with my cousin.
Ella: You should.
Jason: I’ll give him a call really soon.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Jason lives in the same town as his cousin, but they rarely see each other, even though they like each other and have things in common. Ella has many more cousins than Jason. In fact, she just met 13 cousins on a trip to Thailand. As soon as she met them, she felt a strong connection to them.
Ella thinks it is important to stay in touch with your cousins. She keeps up with her cousins through Facebook and talks to them on the phone as often as possible. She thinks Jason should make more of an effort to spend time with his cousin, especially since they are lucky enough to live in the same town.
How many cousins do you have? Are you close with them? How do you stay in touch?
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