ENGLISH CONVERSATION

Hey, happy fourth!

So, today isn’t the fourth but the day that you’ll be seeing this is the fourth of July.

So today is the 2nd of July and I’m here with some friends in the park

and we’re gonna talk about what we’re doing for the 4th and Fourth of July traditions.

What do you typically do on the fourth of July,

• like the 4th of July is on Tuesday.
  -Fireworks.

Fireworks.

Going to see fireworks is a much beloved tradition on the 4th of July in America.

Probably the most common tradition.

A couple years ago, I took you up

to see the view of the fireworks from the roof of my apartment in Manhattan

and made a video there. That was a great view.

We’re going to see fireworks and then like, usually there’s like a family grill out.

Family grill out.

The verb ‘grill out’.

This confuses some people because the word ‘out’ seems like an extra word.

Almost always when you grill, you’re grilling outside.

Certainly, he could’ve dropped the word but he said grill out

which is similar to cookout

which implies that the food is being cooked and eaten outside.

Usually, you invite people over for this. It’s a little bit of a party.

So a grill out is where you do this with a grill.

He definitely could’ve just said: We’re going to grill.

Or he could’ve said: We’re going to have a cookout.

But some people do use the term grill out.

Usually, there’s like a family grill out.

Family grill out.

But that was before I had my own family.

Yeah. So what do you do now?

Uhm. Now, I’m not sure. We’re new to the starting traditions.

No fireworks though, right?

I heard they scare babies.

–We might go to fireworks. Probably not this year.

Did you notice how he pronounced the word ‘probably’?

He reduced it to something more like pry–
pry not–

But pry not this year: Pry– pry–

Americans really reduce this word.

You can say probly, prolly, or pry.

He doesn’t even really make an L sound.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a non-native speaker.

But you will hear native speakers do this.

Pry not this year. Pry not. Pry not. Pry not.

• We might go to fireworks. Probably not this year.

• Really?

• Yeah. We’re not going to try this year either.

• Eventually. Eventually, we’ll go to fireworks.

Fireworks really scare dogs. We need to take care of him.

So you guys have no idea what you’ll do on Tuesday? Do you have off?

Do you have off means have you been given the day off at work?

As in for a holiday in this case.

Do you have off?

I do have off. We might do some grilling. We’ll see friends.

But uh, it’s to be determined.

Yeah.

To be determined.

This is a phrase you can use for something that’s not yet certain.

We’re definitely leaving tomorrow but I don’t know the time yet.

It’s to be determined.

But uh, It’s to be determined.

Yeah.

We might try to go one of these state parks with like a swimming beach lake in New Jersey.

– That sounds pretty cool.
– I just feel like,

for me, I want a body of water involved in my 4th of July plans.

A body of water refers to something like an ocean, lake,

maybe a spring, sea, pond, that kind of thing.

For me, I want a body of water involved in my 4th of July plans.

That sounds like a good plan to me.

• Yeah.
• Yeah?

I don’t know.

– Find a place to swim.
– Yeah.

It’s just hard with the nap time. Don’t you hate it when your life gets ruined by naptime?

Dave and I both have babies about the same age, a little over a year.

And I know for us, we want to keep our baby on a schedule because we think it makes life easier.

But at the same time, it kind of makes life harder.

Yeah. It’s just hard with the nap time.
Don’t you hate it when your life gets ruined by naptime?

You guys haven’t made that happen yet, right? You guys are still flexible.

Nope. We are pretty flexible.

Yeah.

Our son pretty much dictates when everyone is to fall asleep.

We still live and die by a schedule.

• We’re not very scheduled.
• Yeah.

Besides our own work schedule.

• Pros and cons to both approaches.
• Yeah!

Pros and cons.

This is a way to discusss and talk about things that are positive about a situation

and things that are negative about a situation.

For example, if someone’s having a hard time making a decision, sometimes, the advice is:

Why don’t you write out at list of pros and cons?

He started talking about traditions again so I turned the camera back on.

Where I grew up in Lancaster, there was always a bunch of fireworks done by each like little borough.

Vocabulary word: borough.

A borough is a town or district incorporated within the US.

So here, he’s talking about Lancaster which is a country.

And within that county, there would be Lancaster city but there are also lots of little boroughs.

Also in New York city, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island are called The 5 Boroughs.

A bunch of fireworks done by each like little borough.

So there would be days of fireworks around the 4th of July.

What do you mean days? Like entire days where there was like a fireworks

– in 2, 3…
– No, there would be like the 3rd,

– the 4th, 5th..
– Yeah. Right.

Depending on if it’s on a weekend.

But like you can go to a like couple consecutive nights of fireworks.

Yeah.

Vocabulary word: consecutive.

This means following continuously or right in a row.

An unbroken sequence.

So ‘on 2 consecutive days’ means 1 day right after the other.

No extra days in between.

– to a like couple consecutive nights of fireworks.

So did you ever?

Sometimes, we would. Uhm, the biggest one was in Lancaster County Park

where there actually had an orchestra

– as well.
– Oh, nice!

That’s– where I grew up in Gainesville, there was like an outdoor amphitheater.

Vocabulary word: amphitheater.

This is a building, usually an outdoor building, often without a roof,

rounded, semi-circular,

used for the presentation of musical events or maybe some drama.

There can also be tiers of seating.

–in Gainesville, there was like an outdoor amphitheater with some pops band doing stuff and some fireworks.

That was every year. Never strayed from that. Picnic and fireworks.

Yeah, that was like the biggest one.

There are definitely places like that in Philly, right?

We’re just not going cause we have babies.

– Right.
– Yeah.

They– in Philly, they set up at the art museum.

Oh yeah!

And they do really big firework production

with even, there’s always like some live band.

I’m not sure who it is this year though.

Okay.

– I think The Roots did it one year.
– Really?

Well maybe next year when the kids are older, we’ll all go together.

– That sounds good to me.
– That’ll be fun!

Huge thanks to my friend, Dave, for being in this video.

That’s it guys! Thanks so much for using Rachel’s English!