Vanessa: Hi.
I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to make some American pancakes and immerse yourself in English?
Let's do it.
Today I invite you to my home to make some pancakes with me and my four-year-old son
Theo.
We're going to be mixing the ingredients, making the pancakes, and then we'll be sitting
down at the table as a family and attempting to eat them together.
It's a little bit chaotic.
I have a four-year-old and a one-and-a-half-year-old.
As you can imagine, meal times are a little bit chaotic, but that's daily life, and that's
what I want to show you is real life English.
All of the English that you hear while we're baking and while we're sitting at the table
is what real American speakers use.
So, I hope that you'll be able to add that to your toolbox of English knowledge.
And to help you never forget what you've learned, I've created a free PDF worksheet that you
can download with the link in the description.
This includes all of the vocabulary, the phrases, the pronunciation points.
Everything that you are about to learn in this lesson, you can download in the free
PDF.
Plus, you can answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom of the PDF.
Click on the link in the description to download that PDF today.
All right.
Are you ready to bake some pancake with me?
Well, first things first, we have to go to the chicken coop and collect the eggs.
Let's go.
Dan: Oh my goodness.
Theo: How many?
Dan: We got four.
Theo: Whoa. Dan: Nice.
Vanessa: Thank you, chickens.
Theo: There are our eggs.
Vanessa: Oh, nice.
Theo: Look what you got.
Look what you made.
Vanessa: Thank you, chickens.
Theo: Thank you, chickens.
Dan: Thank you, chickens.
Freddie: Thank you, chickens.
Vanessa: What'd you say?
Dan: Thank you, chickens.
Vanessa: Thank you, chickens?
Dan: Can you say, "Thank you, chickens?"
Freddie: Thank you, chickens.
Vanessa: Thank you, chickens.
That's right.
Theo: Do you think they'll know it's a bowl?
Vanessa: Well< you can tell them.
Do you think that would be helpful?
Theo: It's a bowl.
Vanessa: It is a bowl, yes.
So, today Theo and I are going to be making pancakes, and the first step is I've got to
turn on this skillet.
It's called an electric griddle.
Do you know what this is going to be?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: Super hot.
Theo: Yeah.
This is going to be super hot.
Vanessa: Yes.
So we've got to push it to the side, and I think I have all the ingredients for us.
So, let's look at our recipe.
Mix the milk and vinegar.
Do you know which one of these is milk and vinegar?
Theo: Milk and vinegar.
Vanessa: All right, milk and vinegar.
So, we're going to put it in the biggest bowl.
We need 3/4 of a cup.
Can you hold that out?
Theo: That's milk?
Vanessa: And we're actually going to double our recipe, so we need a cup and a half.
Yes, that's milk.
Hold it really tight.
It's going to be heavy.
We're going to fill it all the way up.
All right, and then we're going to do a little bit more.
A half.
We're going to eyeball it.
That means that we don't use the measuring cup perfectly.
Okay, and the next thing it says vinegar, so we're going to need this.
It's a tablespoon.
We're going to have to use four of those.
So can you help me count them?
Theo: One.
Vanessa: All right, hold it a little bit closer so it doesn't splash.
Theo: Two.
Three.
Four.
Vanessa: All right, and now it says we have to set that aside because this is going to
curdle.
What's curdle?
Theo: Curdle means that it's going to kind of become clumpy.
Usually you don't want milk to become clumpy, but in pancakes it's going to make it great.
It's going to ferment it a little bit.
Vanessa: I need to mix it.
Let's set that aside because we have another bowl we've got to fill.
Are you ready?
It says, "Mix the eggs and... oh, mix the dry ingredients."
Okay, so we've got to mix the dry ingredients, which is flour.
Theo: Nice.
Vanessa: You want to be the scooper?
Oh, there's milk in there.
Let me get a dry one for you.
Theo: I dumped it out of there.
Vanessa: That's okay.
Okay, let's use two full cups of flour.
Good job leveling that off.
Okay, all right.
Oh, level it off before we use it.
Okay, all right.
Pancakes are very forgiving so even if you have a little bit too much or not enough,
then that's okay.
You know what I realized we forgot?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: Your apron.
I'll tie it.
Theo: Because you have an apron?
Vanessa: I have my apron so I bet you can have an apron, too.
There we go.
All right, the next is the baking soda and baking powder.
This one we're going to use the tiny scoop and we're going to use two of those.
Theo: These?
This?
Vanessa: Yeah, it's kind of clumpy in there, so can you smash up the clumps a little bit
with that scooper?
Kind of just smash in there, yeah.
Do you kind of have a funny feeling in your mouth when you use this?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: I can kind of taste it in the air.
All right, level it off.
One more scoop.
Okay, that will make one full, okay.
Actually, I think...
No, that's good.
You're supposed to use baking powder and baking soda and I only have baking soda, but I'm
afraid to use too much of this because it will make the pancakes yucky, so let's just
use that.
All right, salt.
We need two scoops of that, too.
Before we use it, I'm going to wipe this off, or maybe you can wipe it off, because it has
some of that baking soda on it, which is really yucky.
Yeah, that's good.
Break it off first.
Theo: Is that enough?
Vanessa: That looks great.
Okay, one, two, okay.
And then we have one more dry ingredient and it's back here.
I feel it getting hot.
Do you feel that?
Theo: Yeah.
Vanessa: All right, now we need some sugar.
So let's use this bigger scoop.
Can you dry it off with it?
Theo: What was in here?
Vanessa: We used that for vinegar and we definitely don't want vinegar in our sugar.
Okay.
Theo: Is that enough?
Vanessa: That looks great.
Can you get two- Theo: It's still wet.
Vanessa: It's a little bit wet.
Yeah, that's okay.
Could you get two scoops?
That's two tablespoons.
You know what?
Freddie put some banana pieces on this griddle earlier before it was turned on.
I can kind of smell them burning a little bit on there.
Oh, I see it's steaming, too.
Theo: Yes.
Vanessa: Okay, that's great.
Is that the first one?
Theo: Yeah.
Vanessa: Okay, let's do two.
That looks great And now- Theo: Can I try some sugar?
Vanessa: Yeah, a little pinch.
Theo: This is so both of us could have some.
Vanessa: Oh, I don't really want any, but could you eat it over the bowl so we don't
get ants?
That's a dream come true for any kid right there.
A pinch of sugar.
We'll mix that up.
Can you just wipe it on this towel?
Theo: Oh.
Vanessa: We don't want to gross out our students too much?
Theo: What's gross?
Vanessa: Well, usually it's not a good idea to lick your fingers when you're cooking,
but you know what?
You're only four years old.
It's okay.
If I did it, it probably would be not a good idea.
There you go.
Can you help stir that the rest of the way?
And then we'll go and- Theo: Well, you mix it with this and I'll
mix it with this.
Vanessa: Okay, now, that one can kind of thwack the ingredients all over the place, like that.
So let's use it really gently.
Okay, it says the next thing is to mix...
Oh, Freddie did get a bunch of stuff on here.
Let's see if I can rinse it off.
Usually the griddle does not steam so much, but there's burnt banana on it.
Yum.
Okay, so what are we doing next?
We did the milk and vinegar, the dry ingredients.
Mix the egg and the butter into the milk.
So, let's set aside the dry ingredients and let's check on our milk.
It's looking thick.
So usually when you bake pancakes you use buttermilk, which is already thick, but this
is a good way to kind of make it at home.
Ready?
Theo: Good?
Vanessa: Good save.
All right, let's put those in here.
Theo: (singing) Vanessa: And we need one more.
Theo: (singing) Vanessa: Yeah, but all of our chickens lay
slightly different colored eggs, all shades of brown.
But one of them, the Black Copper Maran, has really dark eggs like this, which is super
cool.
Some of them are really light and some of them are kind of medium.
All right.
Theo: Can we do three eggs?
Vanessa: This is the kind of recipe where we can't add more eggs.
Okay, now comes an important job.
Oh, the butter.
We've got to add the butter to this, too.
Theo: Can I do it?
Vanessa: Yes.
I'm going to scrape the last bits out, and can you use that fork to break up the yolk
in there?
Theo: This fork?
Vanessa: Yeah.
I think this might be our most prepared cooking show, because when we made broccoli cornbread
muffins and when we made chocolate chip cookies, I had the ingredients all scattered around
our kitchen in every place.
But this time I put them all on the counter.
All right, I think the next step after you mix this is to add the dry mixture to the
wet mixture, but there's a special note in our recipe mix.
Theo: What is it?
Vanessa: It says don't over mix.
Do you know what over mix means?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: It means mix it too much.
Because if you mix it too much you're going to have rubbery pancakes, and we want fluffy
pancakes.
So I'm going to pour this into here.
Theo: Can I do it?
Vanessa: Just a little bit at a time.
There you go.
Okay, let's mix that in.
I'm sure some professional bakers will be upset at us for using a fork because you're
supposed to use other tools, but I like to use a fork.
All right, go ahead.
If you pour it a little bit closer to the bowl, then it won't explode like that.
Okay, a little bit more, Chef Theo.
All right.
Usually recipes say mix just until combined.
That means when all the ingredients are just combined, and not afterwards, that's when
you stop mixing.
Okay, let's add all the rest.
Even the bowl.
Do you think this bowl would be tasty?
Theo: No, that's a little accident.
Vanessa: That was a little accident.
Theo: That was a big accident.
Vanessa: Well, you know what a big accident would be?
If I dropped all of this on your head.
That would be a super big accident.
And then what would we teach our students?
We'd teach them that to make pancakes you dump it on your head?
Oh my goodness.
Is that flour?
Theo: Yeah.
Vanessa: Okay, okay.
Theo: It's yummy.
Vanessa: Don't eat the flour like that.
Do you think it's combined, Theo?
Does that look good?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: I think it looks good.
What do you guys think?
This looks just combined.
Okay, now it's time- Theo: It's combined?
Vanessa: The word combined?
What do you think the word combined means?
Can we teach them?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: What's it mean?
Theo: Teach them.
Vanessa: You want me to teach them?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
It means until everything is mixed together.
So, I'm going to get a cup.
But you know what?
We're going to have to wash your hands before we make it.
Vanessa: Why?
Theo: Because you were licking your hands.
Vanessa: What cup?
Theo: So let's take a little break.
Vanessa: What cup?
Theo: The cup measurement to scoop into here.
So let's take a little break and wash your hands and then we'll make the pancakes.
Vanessa: Could you...
What is that?
Theo: That's the microphone.
Don't touch that.
All right, let's... can you go to the bathroom really quick and wash your hands?
Theo: My scrunge (!), my sponge.
Vanessa: Here.
Okay.
Theo: I'm back.
Vanessa: We're back and we're going to make the pancakes on the hot griddle.
Theo: Could you make snowflakes and stuff?
Vanessa: You want me to try to make shapes?
Theo: Like snowflakes or- Vanessa: How about I try to make a snowman?
Theo: Make a snowman.
Vanessa: Okay, all right, here we go.
I'm going to make the head and the body.
Oh boy, oh boy, and then once we let it cook we'll put some chocolate chips on it.
Theo: That looks like a snow angel.
Vanessa: There's some videos of people online making really fantastically-shaped pancakes,
but I think they have a different type of batter.
This batter makes really fluffy pancakes.
Theo: Fluffy.
Vanessa: Do you know how to tell when we should flip it over?
Whoa, cover your mouth.
Thank you.
Oh, there you go.
Baking with children is an exercise in teaching.
Teaching many things.
Cooking, patience, and hygiene.
Oh, those are special chocolate chips that were made in Asheville, where we live.
Theo: They were from...
What's that called?
Vanessa: French Fried Chocolate Lounge.
So, it's this really amazing chocolate shop that-
Theo: I'm going to put some in.
Vanessa: ... gets cocoa beans.
You can put them on top.
And they have a bean to bar factory, basically.
Theo: I want to try my chocolate for the afternoon.
Vanessa: You can try a couple pieces.
And you can have chocolate bars, hot chocolate, sipping chocolate, and this is the kind of
chocolate I got for- Theo: I think Daddy got it.
Vanessa: Daddy bought it for me, yes, for Mother's Day, and it's chai masala milk sipping
chocolate.
So, you can melt this and make it into drinkable chocolate or-
Theo: Hot chocolate.
Vanessa: ... hot chocolate.
So good.
Theo: Let's make this to our hot chocolate tomorrow.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
Well, we're pretty excited because tomorrow is going to be the first snow of winter.
And at first they said we're only going to get this much and then we looked this morning.
Okay, that's enough, that's enough.
Theo: I'm putting them on the pancakes now.
Vanessa: Okay, and then they said this morning we're going to get this much, about 6 to 10",
and that's a lot for us where we live in North Carolina.
So, it's quite exciting.
Dan: Here we go.
Nice.
There he goes.
Oh, yay.
You're going to try to do it by yourself, Freddie?
Vanessa: Okay, I think this one is ready.
Let's check underneath.
Looks good.
Theo: Look at them.
Vanessa: Oh, that one's the perfect color.
Okay.
Theo: I'll mix this up.
Vanessa: All right, that one's looking good, too.
That one's looking good.
I think we're going to try this giant chocolate chip one.
Ready?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: All right.
That one probably could use some more time.
I am curious what's going to happen with this snowman.
Do you think I can flip him without him breaking?
Theo: Do you think?
Vanessa: I hope so.
I'm not sure, because these two parts might fall apart, but I'm going to hold onto the
spatula really well and we're going to try.
Theo: That one probably will not break, that one you're holding now.
Vanessa: I kind of smushed it.
Whoopsies.
Theo: “I don’t want a lot for Christmas...”
Vanessa: All right, I'm going to give it a try.
Theo: “I don’t want a lot for Christmas...”
Vanessa: Are you ready?
Theo: Don't tell me.
Vanessa: Can you count down?
Three, two- Theo: Don't tell me what happens.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
Are you worried about your precious snowman?
All right, I'm going to try to use a little thing to help him get on.
Here goes.
Oh, I did it.
Theo: Yay.
Vanessa: Okay, now we've just got to wait a moment and we are going to put them on here
and finish making these, and when daddy comes back, we're going to eat them.
Theo: But I want to eat one while it's done.
Vanessa: Maybe like one of these small ones you can see if it's good?
Theo: That’s good.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Theo: I'll flip one.
Vanessa: We'll see if they're done.
You want to peek under one?
Peek under that one.
I think it could go for just a moment longer because they're pretty thick and fluffy and
looking great.
But I have one other thing on the stove over here that I'm making for these.
Theo: What?
Tell me.
Vanessa: It is a syrup.
Now, you can use a regular maple syrup.
That's fine, too.
But I'm also making a syrup with blueberries, raspberries.
Theo: I need the syrup.
Vanessa: Blueberries, raspberries, and banana that Freddie cut up that he burnt onto the
skillet.
All right, ready?
Theo: No, stop.
Vanessa: You're going to do it?
Theo: Yeah.
Raise up.
Vanessa: Oh, let me get you your plate really quick.
Oh, it's a lucky day.
We've got so many chocolate chips in here.
Usually we get, like, 10 chocolate chips and mix them into the batter and it's kind of
like a mystery which pancake will have chocolate chips.
Maybe one will have five, maybe one will have none, but this one has a lot.
Maybe it's a special occasion.
Theo: Maybe it's a special occasion for Christmas.
Maybe we're celebrating the day before snow.
Vanessa: The day before snow.
Snow eve.
The eve of the first snow.
That's right, we're celebrating that.
Whoa, it's all gone.
Tell me, how was it?
Theo: Well, I want another one.
Vanessa: Well, that's a good sign.
I guess it was good.
Let's check on your snowman.
All right.
He's so cute.
Hello.
Are you going to eat me?
Theo: Put him on my plate.
Vanessa: I think he needs some syrup.
You think he needs some syrup?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: Yeah?
Okay.
Theo: I'll put some syrup on.
Vanessa: Well, we have three different types of sweetener you can put on.
Excuse me.
You could put syrup, maple syrup, from somewhere very exciting.
Oh, it's from Canada.
Or you could use my berry syrup.
It has no sugar in it.
It's just berries, so you could both if you wanted.
Or you could put half- Theo: I'll do that and this.
Vanessa: Okay< sounds like a great plan.
Theo: Pour some on him.
Vanessa: All right.
We're going to put it on his head?
Theo: Yeah.
Vanessa: Whoa, that's a lot, okay.
Usually we're a little conservative with the syrup in our house, but I guess it's a special
occasion.
You're a licking machine today.
All right, there you go.
Can you wipe your hands off on this, Theo?
Yeah.
Theo: Yum.
Vanessa: I know it's yummy, but it's not a good idea when you bake or when you cook,
especially when you cook food for other people.
Theo: We're not cooking it for other people.
Vanessa: Well, what about me?
Am I going to eat it?
Theo: Are you?
Vanessa: Yeah.
What about daddy?
Theo: Daddy is.
Vanessa: What about Freddie?
Theo: Yeah.
Vanessa: So that's other people.
When you're making something only for you, that's when it's probably okay to lick stuff.
But if other people are going to eat it, they might not want you to lick it.
We make pancakes maybe like once a month, and it's a special occasion.
Sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for brunch, sometimes for lunch, like today, depending
on how busy our morning was.
All right, well, all our pancakes are done.
Theo: Except mine.
Vanessa: Well, even yours, because you ate it.
And we're going to go sit down at the table with daddy and eat them.
Theo: Now?
Vanessa: Now.
I just saw daddy come back with Freddie.
Let's go.
So here we are with our pancakes.
Dan: Hooray.
Vanessa: Yay.
Thank you, Theo, for helping me make these pancakes.
We are going to put some goodies on them.
Dan: Thank you for making them, dears.
Theo: Dear.
Vanessa: Dear.
Some of them have more chocolate chips than others.
Dan: Oh, surprise chocolate chips?
Theo: Can I do them?
Dan: That's exciting.
Vanessa: This one has a lot, yes.
But while we're eating, I also have some questions to ask you guys.
Dan: Oh boy.
Theo: I want some questions.
Freddie: I want some.
Vanessa: Okay.
Dan: I want some.
Vanessa: You want some, Freddie?
Dan: You want some questions?
Vanessa: In case you were wondering, yes, Freddie has a black eye.
He fell and he hit a chair with his face.
Dan: If you can see it.
Vanessa: Yeah, so anyway, it's not syrup in his eye.
It is a black eye, but it is getting better.
This is day two, so probably in two days it will be gone.
Dan: It actually almost looks worse- Vanessa: I know, it's getting blacker.
Dan: ... because it's getting darker.
Vanessa: Okay, I have a question.
This is from a game called Table Topics and we did it when Theo was one-and-a-half.
Theo: I'll do it.
Freddie: I want to do it.
Vanessa: Okay, are you ready?
My question is, what was your favorite game to play as a child?
Theo: Right now my favorite game is the Dinosaur Escape.
Vanessa: The Dinosaur Escape Game?
Dan: Dinosaur Escape.
Vanessa: All right.
Dan: You are a child.
Vanessa: Yeah, so that's what he likes now.
Freddie: Dino Game.
Dan: What's your favorite game?
Vanessa: The Dinosaur Escape Game?
Dan: Do you like the Dinosaur Escape Game?
Freddie: Yeah.
Vanessa: Yeah?
Okay.
Dan: So he likes it, too.
Vanessa: What about you, hon?
What was your favorite game as a kid?
Dan: I don't know for sure, but the game that just came to my mind was Twister.
Vanessa: Twister, okay.
Dan: Remember Twister?
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, you put your hands down and you try to step on the circles.
Dan: You spin a wheel and there's a color and you have to put your hand on the color-
Vanessa: Oh, yeah.
Dan: ... or your foot.
Isn't that called Twister?
Vanessa: Yeah, yeah.
I kind of like that game but I feel like every time we played it, it was with people I didn't
really want to play with.
Dan: Oh, really?
Vanessa: So, I didn't really play it with my best friends.
Dan: Well, I had two other siblings and a family of three kids that were our best friends,
so we were all comfortable with each other.
Vanessa: Yeah, I think you should tell them about the alligator game.
Don't give our kids any ideas.
Dan: Well, that's not an official game.
Vanessa: It doesn't have to be an official game.
Freddie: Alligator game.
Theo: What's the al- Dan: The alligator game was when you stacked
two mattresses on top of each other.
Vanessa: Oh boy.
Dan: And then the little kids get in between the mattresses and the big kids jump on top.
Theo: I want to do that.
Vanessa: You want to do it?
Oh, Freddie, that's the microphone.
We don't tap that.
Dan: You need at least six children, though, so we don't have enough.
Vanessa: Oh boy.
Would you be a little kid inside the mattress, or would you be jumping on the mattress?
Theo: I would be jumping on the mattress and Freddie would be in it.
Vanessa: Okay, Freddie would be in it?
Theo: Oh, yeah.
Dan: I was a middle child so I got to be both in the mattresses and on top.
Vanessa: Oh boy.
I think when I was little my favorite game was just playing in the back yard, digging.
I think we dug in the back yard for half of my childhood, which is always fun.
Dan: What about a real game, like a board game?
Vanessa: A board game?
Theo: How deep did you dig?
Vanessa: Well, we dug lots and lots and lots of holes, shallow holes.
I think my favorite official game was Uno.
Dan: Uno.
Vanessa: We played Uno all the time.
And you know, Uno's a really great way to learn English, too, because you've got numbers
and letters, and simple game.
Dan: Definitely.
Very simple.
Vanessa: But we used to play that at the swimming pool-
Dan: That's a good game.
I think Theo might be ready for Uno.
Vanessa: ... with our friends.
Yeah, I think we could play Uno.
Theo: Uno, dos, tres.
Vanessa: Yeah, that's right.
You can count a little bit in Spanish.
All right, I have one other question.
Are you ready?
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: If you could have any view from your back porch, what would it be?
Dan: This one.
Vanessa: Yeah?
This is your dream view?
Dan: No, but it's pretty good.
Theo: This one.
Dan: Well, we did one time see a bear running in the neighbor's lawn.
That's pretty special.
Vanessa: That's a good view.
Freddie: Theo. Dan: Well, I already answered this in another
video, but not this one.
I would take the ocean from a cliff.
Vanessa: Oh, so there'd be a cliff outside your door or somewhere out there?
Dan: Mm-hmm, yeah.
I love ocean views from a high vantage point.
Vanessa: That would be nice.
I think I would like- Dan: I like that more than the beach.
Vanessa: Oh yeah?
Dan: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: I think I would still like the mountains, like a big mountain view where it's like the
mountains just open up in front of your window.
But I don't want to be isolated.
I still would like to live in a community, but maybe a mountain community.
Vanessa: What about you, Theo?
Theo: Where's a towel?
Vanessa: Here you go.
Dan: Well, we could have an ocean view from the back and a mountain view from the front.
Vanessa: Wow.
Dan: Who can make this happen?
Vanessa: What country could make this happen?
Dan: For us?
Korea.
Vanessa: Yeah, a lot of countries have mountains.
Dan: California, probably, places in California.
Vanessa: Oh, yeah.
Lots of places have mountains.
Dan: And oceans.
Vanessa: What about you, Theo?
Theo: Lots of places have mountains.
Vanessa: Do you want to live near the beach or the mountains?
Dan: Thank you.
Freddie: The towel.
Dan: Paper towel?
Theo: Beach.
Vanessa: The beach?
We did have a good time at the beach this year, didn't we?
All right, I have another question.
Oh.
What would you most like to do for someone if you had the money and time?
Theo: Share my water bottle.
Vanessa: Share your water bottle with Freddie?
Dan: If you had money and time, you'd share your water bottle with the world.
Vanessa: So, Theo's New Year's resolution is to share his water bottle with Freddie,
which he often doesn't like to do.
But you said this year you're going to try to learn to be okay with it?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: That's very generous of you.
Dan: If I had all the money in the world and time-
Vanessa: Yeah, what would you like to do for someone else?
Dan: For somebody else?
Vanessa: Yeah.
Freddie: All done!
Vanessa: Maybe while you're thinking- Dan: I would probably-
Vanessa: No, go head.
Freddie: All done.
Vanessa: You're all done?
Dan: You're all done?
Freddie: Yeah.
Dan: You want to just sit there or do you want to go for a run?
Vanessa: Do you want to go play?
Freddie: Run.
Run.
Dan: Okay, let's wipe your hands off.
Vanessa: Our kids go for a run around our house when they're done eating.
Freddie: Done eating.
Dan: That's a lot of syrup on your fingers.
You're sure you're all done?
Freddie: More syrups.
Dan: More syrup?
No, you've got enough syrup right there.
You can dip your pancake in it.
Theo: Do you want to run with me- Dan: Do you want to dip it?
Theo: ... or run by yourself?
Dan: Okay, he's going to eat that.
Vanessa: Okay, here you, go, Freddie.
Freddie: I'm done.
Dan: Okay, I would probably start a bunch of schools.
Freddie: I'm done.
Dan: Kind of like a forest school.
Vanessa: Oh, like nature schools?
Dan: Nature schools or even nature schools for kids who are not very little.
Like, all the way through elementary.
Better schools than we have now because I think school, controversial take, I think
most schools- Freddie: I'm done.
Dan: You're done?
Okay.
Uh oh.
Oh.
I think most schools have kids sitting around too long, so.
Vanessa: Especially little kids.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: And it doesn't seem like the public schools are going to change anytime soon, at least
in our country, so- Vanessa: So you could fund-
Dan: ... I would fund in, yeah.
And then I'd probably have to do a ton of research to really make sure that that's exactly
what kids that age need.
Vanessa: Well, I think that's a noble cause, though, because-
Dan: It's a noble cause.
Vanessa: ... usually in the US, outdoor schools are pretty expensive and a lot of people can't
afford that, but- Dan: Well, they just barely exist.
Vanessa: There's not many of them, yeah.
So, if they were cheaper because they had an angel donor, Daniel-
Dan: Maybe just an angel.
Vanessa: Maybe an angel, Daniel, then that would be nice, yeah.
I think if I had all the money and time in the world, I think I would add one more thing
here, and power.
Dan: Oh.
Vanessa: And influence.
Dan: President Vanessa.
Please, America.
We might be pretty well off, I think.
Vanessa: I don't know about that.
Dan: I'd vote for you.
Vanessa: Okay, well, thank you.
Freddie: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Vanessa: You married me.
Freddie wants to water our plants with- Dan: Go ahead, squeeze it.
Vanessa: All right, we took a little pause so our children can spray our friends.
Nothing better than kids with spray bottles.
Freddie: Spray.
Vanessa: And I wanted to answer this question before we said goodbye.
I feel like if I could help someone else and had all the money and time and power in the
world, my first thought for this- Freddie: Spray, spray, spray, spray, spray,
spray, spray.
Dan: Oh, someone else?
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: I thought it was like...
Just one person?
Vanessa: Or it could be anyone else?
You're spraying, Freddie?
Freddie: Yeah.
Vanessa: Okay.
Is, uh, I would like to free North Korea.
Freddie: Spray, spray, spray.
Dan: Oh.
Vanessa: I was thinking about now we already- Freddie: Spray, spray, spray, spray.
Vanessa: He's spraying, yeah.
Dan: You don't need to do it too much.
It's probably fine now.
Vanessa: We donate to a charity every month that helps North Koreans who have escaped,
North Korea to kind of reintegrate into daily life, wherever else they are.
Freddie: Spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray, spray,
spray, spray, spray, spray.
Vanessa: He's very into spray.
Dan: Spray, spray, spray.
It doesn't work unless you say, "Spray."
Freddie: Spray, spray, spray.
Vanessa: That's the magic word.
Anyway, I feel like that's something, that's a cause that's very close to my heart and
I feel passionate about.
So yes, I would like to help people in North Korea.
That would be awesome.
Theo: I'm done.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Well, thank you so much for joining us today for our slightly hectic but-
Dan: A normal meal at our house.
Vanessa: Very normal.
Making pancakes and children spraying plants while we try to eat.
Theo: Bye.
Vanessa: Bye.
Freddie: Bye.
Vanessa: Well, thank you so much for learning English with us today.
I know that our mealtime was a little bit chaotic but that's okay.
I appreciate you being willing to open your mind to learn real, daily life English.
Don't forget to click on the link in the description to download the free PDF worksheet so that
you never forget what you've learned.
You can also answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom of the PDF.
There is a link in the description to download that now.
And now, I have a question for you.
When you want to make a special breakfast, what do you make?
For us, we like to make pancakes as a special breakfast, maybe about once a month.
But what about for you?
Let me know in the comments and thank you so much for learning English with me.
I will see you again next Friday for new lesson here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
All right, Theo.
Are you ready to make to make some pancakes?
Theo: Yes.
Vanessa: Okay.
I'm going to get our measurements.
Do you think that Freddie's going to be ready to help make pancakes soon?
Theo: He thinks that...
what's after one?
Vanessa: Two.
Theo: He's going to be two after he's one?
Vanessa: Yes.
Theo: Maybe when he's two he could help.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
Theo: What's after two?
Vanessa: Three.
Theo: Probably when he's three or four.
Vanessa: Okay.
You know, in the South where we live, some people make chicken and waffles.
There's restaurants called Chicken and Waffles, and there was a restaurant I used to go to
when I was in college called Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles.
And you got a waffle, and they put fried chicken on it.
You think that would be good?
A lot of people think so.
Personally, I think I like my waffles and my chicken separate.
Maybe waffles for breakfast and chicken for lunch or dinner.
But put them all together and it's a southern delicacy.
The next step is to download the free PDF worksheet for this lesson.
With this free PDF, you will master today's lesson and never forget what you have learned.
You can be a confident English speaker.
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for a free English lesson every Friday.
Bye.