Views #527 | Low Intermediate 4

Family Road Trip

Tres talks about taking road trips with his family.
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Todd: So Tres, you said when you were younger, you took many family car trips.

Tres: Oh yes. You can say I grew up in the car. We’d take road trips from Oklahoma (state of Oklahoma) to say Florida or Georgia, Mississippi. We’d even drive up north to New York, and I’ve taken road trips to Colorado, and Seattle Washington. Inside the car, when I’m with my brothers and sisters, sometimes we’d fight but most of the time we’d play various games. For example we’d count the license plates.

Todd: So license plates are the, like I.D. on the back of a car.

Tres: Right. I.D. on the back of a car, and depending on the state, the license plate changes. So we try to see, how many states we can count. And who every got the most states by the end of the trip of course would win. We’d do other things, for example, my parents always made sure that we visited historical sites to learn about the local culture of the area. And we’d also try the local foods that existed. So whenever we’d drive to the south, for example, if we drove through Louisiana, we’d try Cajun food. Which is full of gumbo (which is another word for okra), and rice, and Cray fish (which is sort of like a lobster).

Todd: Sounds good. It’s spicy?

Tres: Oh yea it’s very spicy. Very very spicy. So we had a lot of fun times in the car.

Todd: So did you have some bad times in the car? Did you fight with your brothers and your sisters?

Tres: Occasionally we would fight. I was the youngest of three, so I always lost. So it was very hard. And I had the middle seat. So if my older brother fought with my older sister, then I was stuck in the centre.

Todd: Not fun.

Tres: Not fun at all. But we hardly every fought and I would say the road trips were a lot of fun.

Todd: Yeah. I took a lot of road trips with my family I remember them very fondly.


Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

various

Most of the time we’d play various games.

'Various games' refers to many different games, or a variety.  Notice the following:

  1. He had various girlfriends when he was in his twenties.
  2. She had various books in her room, but had never read any of them.

historical site

My parents always made sure that we visited historical sites to learn about the local culture of the area.

A 'historical site' is a place that was important in the past.  This can be a building, a park, a battlefield, etc. Notice the following:

  1. Italy is full of historical sites.
  2. What do you think is most important historical site in the world?

spicy

Sounds good. It’s spicy?

If a food is 'spicy,' it probably contains chili of some type.  Spicy food can make your eyes and nose water.  It is hot, but not because of temperature.  Notice the following:

  1. The Indian food was almost too spicy to eat.
  2. I like Mexican food because of the spicy sauces.

fun time

So we had a lot of fun times in the car.

'Fun times' are experiences that are positive and good.  Notice the following:

  1. We can some fun times and Grandma's house when we were kids.
  2. That vacation was full of fun times.

fondly

I remember them very fondly.

If you remember something 'fondly' you remember it positively and with affection.  Notice the following:

  1. He looked at his wife fondly.
  2. Although I haven't seen him in years, I will always think of him fondly.

Vocabulary Quiz

various • historical • spicy
fun times • fondly
  1. I like the flavor of this stir-fry, but the sauce is a little too for me.
  2. When you are teaching children, it's important to do activities to keep them interested.
  3. We had a lot of together when we were kids.
  4. There are many sites in this area.
  5. I think very of my last summer after high school.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

 

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