Mixer #35 | Intermediate B1

Was high school a good experience?

Six people share their memories and feelings about their time in high school.

Jeannie, The United States
speakerHigh school was a very good experience for me. During my high school years, I was having a lot of trouble at home so school was where I went to escape all my problems and I really put myself into my work and I loved my teachers and a lot of us are still friends so, yeah, high school was great.

Jim, England
speakerHigh school was quite a good experience for me really. My high school wasn't a fantanstic school, but I had lots of good friends and some good teachers. Yeah, I think I came out of it relatively unscathed.

Martin, The United States
speakerHigh school for me was, well, they call it formative years. I enjoyed my senior year a lot because I didn't go to high school as often as I used to before my senior year. Overall, high school was like it is from some of the movies from the 1980's. A little difficult, a little odd and very, very strange.

Nitya, India
speakerOK, I think I loved my high school. That was the best part of my whole school life because I had my best friends in that and a bunch of good teachers, a lot of hard work and studies, crying happy moments and it was great fun, because also we had our final exams in high school and it's like all India exam. It's really tough, but I had great friends so we did a lot of joint studies and great fun, ideas, yep.

Rina, Canada
speakerI loved high school. I absolutely loved it. I can't even describe. I grew up in a town of a 1,000 people and so my whole graduating class was 35 people and we were all very, very close and still my best friends are two people from my high school so, yeah, loved it.

Todd, The United States
speakerI have to admit, I loved high school. I thought high school was the best. It's a really good time, you know, you know you play sports, you're in clubs, you're hanging out with your friends, but what I remember most about high school though, is that I thought it would never end. I mean at that point, you've only been in school your entire life and I remember thinking, " You know what, I'm always going to be a student. They're never going to let me out of school." But eventually they did.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson!

came out of it

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I think I came out of it relatively unscathed.

How you 'come out of something' is your position or condition when something finishes. Notice the following:

  1. William got into a fight at school yesterday, but he came out of it OK.
  2. We were in a car accident last weekend. Luckily, everyone came out of it OK.

unscathed

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He survived the crash unscathed.

When something or someone comes out of a negative situation 'unscathed' that means without injury or damage. Notice the following:

  1. The school remained unscathed after the earthquake.
  2. They survived the fire scared but unscathed.

formative years

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They call it formative years.

Our 'formative years' are ages one to twelve. These are the years we form much of the values and behavior that make us who we are as adults. Notice the following:

  1. I spent my formative years at a boarding school in Switzerland.
  2. Eating healthy is particularly important during our formative years.

joint studies

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We did a lot of joint studies.

Here, 'joint' means something we do together with one or more people. Notice the following:

  1. The project was a joint effort between the two companies.
  2. Rick's 401K is jointly funded by his employer.

let me out

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They're never going to let me out of school.

To 'let someone out' means to allow them to leave a place. Notice the following:

  1. Mom won't let me out of the house until I clean my room.
  2. If I don't improve my grades, they'll never let me out of school.

Vocabulary Quiz

come out • unscathed • formative
joint • let him out
  1. He took a bad fall on his bicycle, but somehow walked away .
  2. When his mother finds out what he did she is never going to of the house.
  3. This is kind of a project.
  4. Moving so much in his years really made him an adaptable person.
  5. I think a lot of good things are going to of this situation.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

One Minute English Video

Speakers
Mixer Video #35
What is your best memory of high school?

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