English Listenign Lesson Lab Online
Views #132 | Low Intermediate 4

Life in Idaho

Roe was an exchange student in Idaho. He talks about his stay while he was there.
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Todd: OK, so we're here. Do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself to the listener?

Roe: OK, my name is Hiroe Hashi. I've lived in America for about seven and a half years. I lived in Italy for two years.

Todd: Wow! You lived in Italy too.

Roe: Right, right. So all together I've lived in a foreign country for nine and a half years.

Todd: Wow! That's amazing. So did you live in America before you lived in Italy?

Roe: I was in Italy when I was 9 years old, no actually 7 years old to 9 years old.

Todd: Did you learn Italian?

Roe: A little bit. Basically slangs.

Todd: Wow, so then how old were you when you moved to America?

Roe: Yeah, I was 17. I was on a exchange program for when I went to Idaho.

Todd: Wow, what did you think when you first got to America?

Roe: OK. I bought new clothing cause my image was like L.A., New York, but it was Idaho, but I didn't know what to expect, and I got of from the airplane and I said to myself, "Oh, my god!". There was nothing there.

Todd: Yeah, so was it flat. Was it flat.

Roe: It was flat. I saw, There was...I remember the sun going down cause it was nothing, really nothing: a flat space, 360 degrees, an airport, cowboys.

Todd: Cowboys!

Roe: Potatoes. Real Cowboys. Spuds.

Todd: So Idaho is cowboys and potatoes.

Roe: Exactly. That's all. About.

Todd: Do you still like potatoes?

Roe: I stopped eating spuds since I came back cause I ate it everyday. You go to 31 Ice-cream shop and there they have spuds ice-cream.

Todd: Wow. So spud means potato.

Roe: Yeah, spud, it's like Idaho English.

Todd: Wow. And how about cowboys. Did you become a real cowboy?

Roe: I started to grow my hair, cause if you had short hair, people used to call you like a new-waver, like faggots. It was kind of a little disaster for somebody different to live.

Todd: Yeah, for sure, that would be really harsh. So tell me about your family

Roe: My family! I have two brothers and a sister, and my father passed away three years ago and my mom is working.

Todd: OK, Do you miss idaho?

Roe: Friends. I've made some best friends in Idaho actually.

Todd: Really.

Roe: Yeah, actually, I've lived in L.A., Washington State, but Idaho.

Todd: When is the last time you were in Idaho?

Roe: When I, that's when I finished my program, so a long time ago. 10, wow, 12, 13 years ago.

Todd: Wow, that is a long time. OK, and where do you live now?

Roe: I live in Yokohama.

Todd: Yokohama.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

slang

Basically I learned slang.

'Slang' is informal vocabulary that is used in a particular country or area.  It is frequently used by young people.  Notice the following:

  1. Don't use slang when you write a report.
  2. My grandparents don't understand modern slang.

expect

I didn't know what to expect.

If you don't know what to 'expect' about a place you don't have an idea of what it will be or look like.  Notice the following:

  1. I expected that the city would be bigger.
  2. She didn't expect that it would be so hot.

harsh

That would be really harsh.

Something that is 'harsh' is mean and terrible.  Notice the following:

  1. He ended our relationship in a really harsh way.
  2. The cold weather has been very harsh recently.

passed away

My father passed away.

To say that someone 'passed away' is a nice and polite way of saying that he died.  Notice the following:

  1. Their dog passed away today.
  2. When did your father pass away?

miss

Do you miss Idaho.

You 'miss' a place if you are not there and you want to be there.  You notice the absence of things that made you happy.  Notice the following:

  1. When I travel for a long time I begin to miss the food at home.
  2. Don't you miss your family?

 

Vocabulary Quiz

slang • expect • harsh
passed away • missed
  1. You should always that she will be 10 minutes late.
  2. The review of the movie was pretty .
  3. They never teach you when you are learning a language at school.
  4. His mother when he was very young.
  5. Traveling for work was fun, but I my family a lot.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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