Welcome to the second unit of English Success, a course that uses video and practice activities
to teach you English.
My name is Alfredo, and I will be your teacher for this unit.
The theme of this unit is Adventure.
How is learning English similar to other adventures?
When people go on an adventure, they face challenges and earn rewards.
Even though they have difficulties, the adventure is a rewarding experience.
Learning English can be challenging, but some of the rewards that you might enjoy include
becoming fluent in English, passing an important English test, traveling to English-speaking
countries, getting a better job, and making new friends who speak English.
For some English learners, the biggest reward is the enjoyment of learning.
People who go on an adventure often have a guide.
The guide is someone who can help you to be successful in your adventure.
For your English-learning adventure, I will be your guide.
Most importantly, an adventure has a destination.
Your destination is knowing English--in other words, becoming fluent in English.
Today, I want to introduce you to Jeremiah and Jon.
They are going to talk about their adventures.
Listen to their conversation.
If you don't understand everything that they say, that's ok.
I will use examples from this conversation throughout this unit as I teach English pronunciation,
vocabulary, and grammar.
Listen closely to their conversation.
What adventure did Jeremiah have recently?
What adventure is Jon having right now?
Use the closed captions for this video if they will help you to understand the conversation.
Or turn them off if you want to try to understand Jeremiah and Jon without closed captions.
Did you enjoy your trip to New York City?
Yes, absolutely.
What a city.
Tell me about it.
From the beginning?
Sure.
Well, my flight arrived at the JFK airport on Friday night.
So I took a taxi to my hotel on Fourth Avenue.
I checked in just after midnight.
And let me tell you, I was ready to sleep.
But Saturday morning, I was ready to go.
I had a blast.
Visiting New York is so much fun.
I walked around, went shopping, and visited the Statue of Liberty.
I also went to Ellis Island, Wall Street, Coney Island, Rockefeller Center.
I'm amazed at how many activities you packed into one day.
Yeah.
Now, I did have some problems on my way back.
First, I missed my original flight.
Before I got onto another flight, I waited three hours at the airport.
No big deal.
But then, I was flying from New York when I remembered my brother's birthday.
Argh!
It was too late to send him anything.
So I called him later, and wished him a happy birthday.
Finally, I was driving my car during the storm last night, and I bumped into another vehicle.
Another problem, but thankfully, it was just a fender bender.
Well, here I am, ready to get back to work after a fun, crazy weekend.
That sounds like an adventure.
It was a thrill.
No more adventures for me, I guess.
What?
Why?
Well, you know.
I have a family to take care of.
Our adventures are limited.
Are you kidding?
If you want adventure, you just need to think about life as an adventure.
You don't have to go somewhere to have an adventure.
A wise man once said, "Adventure is not outside man; it is within."
That's true.
I like that perspective.
In one sense, having a family is an adventure.
I keep learning new things about my wife.
And helping my kids grow up is challenging sometimes, but it's also rewarding.
That's an adventure, too.
Well, yeah.
Most adventures have at least a little bit of challenge.
In fact, I believe that some difficulty makes an activity even more adventurous.
My next adventure is to learn a new language.
To learn Spanish, I may not travel a lot, but it will still be an adventure.
There will be challenges, but there will also be new discoveries.
I guess adventure is a choice.
Yeah, man.
Make every day an adventure.
What adventure did Jeremiah have recently?
Jeremiah went to New York City.
He visited a lot of famous places there, and he faced some challenges while he was returning.
What adventure is Jon having right now?
Well, he discovered that having a family is an adventure.
There are challenges, rewards, and new things to learn.
What challenges are you facing right now?
What rewards will you experience if you face those challenges successfully?
Answer these two questions about your adventures by adding a comment to the discussion below
this video.