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California

Learn English with this geography English lesson

Date: Oct 26 2015

Themes: Travel

Grammar: Contractions and Abbreviations

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Intro

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There are 50 states in the United States, but few have as much mythology attached to them as California. California is one of the largest states in the nation, and it was the site of the Gold Rush and other scenes from the wild west. It’s also the home of Hollywood and celebrity culture. Plus it’s also where Disneyland is located!

California has cities, deserts, mountains, ocean, and more. Is it as great as it’s cracked up to be, or is it just as good or bad as any other place in the world? Find out what Greta and Lily think in this geography English lesson.

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.

Greta

Lily

Greta: So Lily, what do you think of California?

Lily: It’s big. It’s really big. Like, the whole country big.

Greta: It is. But there’s so much tradition and lore around California, like Hollywood, and the glamour of Los Angeles, and the rugged wild west.

Lily: It’s the essence of the American Dream. There are so many people that have come all the way from the east coast, like say New York, driving across the country to go to California. It’s one of those things that you have to do.

Greta: It’s true and I think that often people feel like it doesn’t live up to the hype of the mythology surrounding California.

Lily: Yeah. But I think it’s good to give California the benefit of the doubt, because it’s such an interesting state geographically. It’s so varied. There are mountains, there’s ocean, there’s a desert, rain forest… it’s crazy.

Greta: That’s true. And they do have such an agricultural impact on the United States. It’s where we get our avocados. Who could live without that? And it’s beautiful, I have to say. The sun. It’s always sunny in LA and San Diego and that is wonderful.

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Discussion

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Lily and Greta are talking about the state of California. It’s one of the biggest states in the nation, and there is a lot of mythology and lore associated with it, from Hollywood to the wild west.

Lily thinks, too, that California plays a role in the American Dream. Many people leave the east coast of the US thinking that their dreams will come true in California. But does California live up to the hype?

Greta and Lily both think it does. California has a varied landscape, and produces lots of fruits and vegetables, including avocados. And, best of all, California has lots of sun.

What do you think of when you think of California? Have you ever been? Is there a place in your country that has a lot of mythology associated with it?

Comments

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Hamedrees

Sudan

one of my dream line of coutries and states I wiil reach it and joy with it ,

yes here in SUDAN we have mythology places from ancient time related with sudanese such as ALNUBIA NATION and the pyramids ,

taslit

Morocco

in general i love us its like dream but i never ever been there i wish some day fly to america states …

NIJ321655

United States

love to go. with friends and family.

Wuthering

United States

Life in California is a rat race . People are so rush , traffic is terrible , and living cost is gone through the proof . LOL , I just like to visit not to live in California !

ryan_75

Azerbaijan

California seems to be a spectacular place .It is worth to travel there and see.

moha15

Kenya

I have never been there but i hope 1 day i will come to visit California it’s the best place to be and i will enjoy that great tripe thanks alot

mandzhi

Russian Federation

I’ve never been in California yet, but i’m planning to visit it in a month. I hope it will be great trip and i will see gorgeous sightseeings. The first things i think about California is L.A, Hollywood, DisneyLand.

Yemeni4u

Yemen

9 Things You May Not Know About California:

1. California’s name is derived from a bestselling novel.

2. Sacramento wasn’t California’s original state capital.

3. California once declared itself an independent country—for a month.

4. The grizzly bear on the California state flag was modeled after one captured by William Randolph Hearst.

5. Slavery nearly split California in two soon after it achieved statehood.

6. During the Civil War, Californians marched to Texas to fight Confederate rebels.

7. California has both the highest and lowest point in the continental United States.

8. Dead people are no longer welcome in San Francisco.

9. Oil built Los Angeles.

for more information visite this link

http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-california

rabindra shrestha

Nepal

I never been there but i still remember one song that called Hotel california by eagles band.

“Welcome to the hotel california, such a lovely place, such a lovely place, such a lovely face. plenty of room at the hotel california, any time of year, any time of year, you can find it here. ” I love california.

kimnga

Viet Nam

Actually I had been there a few times, and I also had a chance to visit ” Little Saigon” where Asian and Vietnamese living and doing business.

englishteacher24/7

United States

You’re welcome!

Here is an example of a myth: The lost city of Atlantis, some people think it is a myth, others think it was a real city.

fizaa

Pakistan

First I would like to thank you for detailed reply.

It almost cleared “mythology” term reffered to story of history, and “lore” stated knowledge.

Regards

englishteacher24/7

United States

Fizaa, I will attempt to help clarify the difference between the two terms you mentioned, “mythology” and “lore.”

The word “mythology” has a suffix, i.e. “ology” or “logy,” therefore let’s disassemble the word and discover its meaning.” “Ology” means a branch of knowledge, “logy” means the study of something. The strict meaning of the word means “the study of myths.”

The term “myth” basically means a traditional or legendary story having to do with a supernatural matter and is passed down through the generations.

Because the term “lore” does not have a prefix or suffix, we cannot disassemble it like we did with “mythology.” Nevertheless, the definition of “lore” does have similarities as you stated.

It is defined as an accumulation of knowledge or belief held by a group about a subject with emphasis of being passed from generation to generation by oral tradition.

The main difference is “lore” is based on fact and “mythology” can be fact or fiction.

I hope this helps, thanks for asking.

tamago

Japan

californication :)

Aziza6886

Qatar

lisarahchou

China

i just met a guy from california today, it’s a great place

l..Romance..l

Russian Federation

I’ve never been anywhere except my country and I realy want to travel and visit many beautiful places. California is one of such places.

I wish I lived in LA.. It’s my dream!

fizaa

Pakistan

Informative lesson! Even I learnt alot thnigs of “California” which I never knew. I got it clearly with the help of vocab.

Beside this, get confused in 2 words; mythology and lore: both words have almost similar meaning isnt? Can some one elaborate it more?

englishteacher24/7

United States

I live in Southern California and enjoy living here. Some call it “Cali” or “Cali-forn-i-a” in slang terms. The weather is vastly different depending on the area. For example, Los Angeles is usually very mild to cool because of the proximity to the ocean. You really do not need air conditioning. However, if you travel inland, the temperatures may increase 10-20 degrees F but the mountains can decrease more than that.

The hottest recorded temperature on earth was 134 degrees F (56.7C) on July 10, 1913 in Death Valley, California.

California is not the biggest state, that honor goes to Alaska, second is Texas, then California. However, Cali is the most populated state with approx. 37,252,965 residents. You will realize this driving the freeways, add extra time to travel anywhere!

julito

Argentina

Talking about living up to the hype. I have seen japanese tourists unloading from a tour bus, all of them carrying cameras ready to take the best snaps to the famous Hollywood boulevard where it is located the internationally known Walk of Fame ,the Wax museum and Grauman`s theater, all the buzz is in one or two streets and to my understanding they were looking kind of disappointed and wondering” this is all we came to see , this is the famous Hollywood that people are talking about.??? lol