Views #263 | Intermediate 4

Family Wedding

Travis talks about a wedding he has to attend.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Travis	Todd

Todd: So Travis, you said your brother is getting married.

Travis: Well, actually not my brother. My cousin is getting married. On my father's side of the family, I have quite a few cousins and quite a few uncles and aunts. My dad is one of eight children, so we've always been very close and basically we've been a nuclear family around my grandparents of my dad's side. So my cousin Brian, is going to be getting married in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and I think that wedding is taking place about August 9th.

Todd: Oh, wow.

Travis: So we are going to.. be going out there as a family. Hopefully, maybe we'll have as many as forty of us and whoever the bride invites and we'll be on the beach for about 3 or 4 days. And have a wedding of Saturday so it should be pretty exciting.

Todd: Mexico, that's an interesting choice. I mean, that's pretty far away.

Travis: It is pretty far away so it should be kind of expensive for all the guests to get there which might be planned on my cousin's side because he might be trying to limit how many people who come to his wedding so it won't get to overly large. And Mexico is actually cheaper to have a wedding than the United States because the power of the dollar versus the power of the peso is you know, quite strong so you can go down to Mexico and for maybe a third the price have the same lavish wedding you might have in the United States, though Puerto Vallarta might be a little more expensive than a normal Mexican wedding because Puerto Vallarta is sort of a tourist and resort community.

Todd: Have you been to Puerto Vallarta before?

Travis: I've never been there before. In fact, even though I am from Southern California and from Los Angeles basically, which is only two hours from Mexico, I've never been to Mexico.

Todd: I'm from San Francisco and even I've been to Mexico.

Travis: Well, Tijuana is a place everybody goes to and it's never had any big appeal for me. Typically, southern Californians will go there as soon they turn 18 because at 18 you can drink in Tijuana and you can't drink in California when you're 18. You have to wait until you are 21, so that's a big reason to go I suppose but I never made it down there.

Todd: Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy Mexico.

Travis: I'm sure I will.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

father's side of the family

I have quite a few cousins on my father's side of the family.

Your 'father's side of the family' includes your father's parents, his aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, their husbands or wives and their children. This is frequently shortened to 'my father's side' in conversation. Notice the following:

My father's side of the family is much larger than my mother's.
I am going to a family reunion for my father's side.

very close

My dad is one of eight children, so we've always been very close.

If you are 'very close' with someone you have a good relationship with him and he knows about what is happening in your life. Notice the following:

I have always been very close to my parents.
My brother and sister are very close and talk almost every day.

nuclear family

Basically, we've been a nuclear family around my grandparents on Dad's side.

Usually 'nuclear family' refers to just the parents and the children that live in the same house. Travis is saying that his extended family is so close that they acted like a linear family. Notice the following:

My nuclear family and my grandparents live together.
I am in close contact with my nuclear family, but not as much with my extended family.

power of the dollar (or peso)

The power of the dollar is stronger, versus the power of the peso.

The 'power of the dollar' refers to value of a US dollar in Mexico, not just in terms of pesos, but what it can buy as far as things or services. Notice the following: