and I couldn't imagine anything like
that happening here in Ukraine what
about those cars what's the heck where
did they get money like those students
from school to ride a car football games
were so big that it was like an excuse
to pregame to to drink before the game
or they have something called tailgating
this is again like a very American thing
that people go to the parking lot of the
stadium and they'll have a barbecue and
drinks so people get drunk before the
game and then you go watch the game
Ethan how dare you Americans not to take
off your shoes when you entering your
own house there's so many choices when
you go to the supermarket you can find
very nice products but on the other side
we have very strong Paradox of choice
that it takes you forever to go to the
supermarket because you're toilet paper
you know you have like 20 different
brands of toilet paper how do you
possibly choose which is the one for
[Music]
you a yeah Global Citizens this is Ethan
from real life English where every
single week it is our mission to take
you beyond the classroom to speak
English confidently and naturally
connect to the world and actually use
your English as the doorway to living
your greatest life all right cassia I
want to kick us off in a fun way we're
going to try a new game we haven't tried
before called word sneak now what does
it mean to sneak or if someone is sneaky
oh to sneak something is to secretly
hide something or put something in your
purse for example so it's do something
secretly and if someone is sneaky you
might not know their intentions so it's
called word sneak because we're going to
be trying to sneak words into the
conversation so our producer Izzy has
been kind enough to without us knowing
select five words or expressions for
each of us and cassen and I are going to
have a conversation and try to sneak
those words into the conversation in a
natural way without the other person
so you ready cassia okay let's try to do
that and if you're on YouTube we'll also
show the words before each one is said
so that you guys can actually know which
words we're sneaking in there so if
you're just listening to audio that
won't be possible but you might still
catch it so Ethan I know you're living
in Barcelona right for some that's right
some time now right how many years seven
years seven years already and you know
I've always been curious to ask you this
like some times you might feel nostalgic
so did you bring American flag to your
Barcelona
flat I did not I'm not I'm not patriotic
enough to to hang an American flag okay
but I mean sometimes you know I can feel
a little bit more closer to my country
by listening to music so in particular
if I wanted to feel very American one
day I might listen to some country music
like Taylor Swift for example I used to
hey hate her maybe not hate it's a
strong word okay but um sometimes I I
felt like she used to use all those
Shenanigans to make people love her
right but now I changed my mind I think
her lyrics are pretty impressive yeah I
could I could see that uh she she has
some weird Shenanigans I think she had
some show that she was surrounded by
flamingos or something like this it was
all pink yeah did you see that one I
think that was all the rage in the
states that year pink color flamingo
pink pink color Barby I think oh
probably that was like that yeah they
might even dress the Statue of Liberty
maybe for 4th of July you know in some
Barbie hot pink clothing oh really to
welcome in the immigrants that sounds
crazy but back to Taylor Swift I once
watched the video where she literally
used the trampoline in one of her shows
oh that's insane
that's really crazy you know we were
talking about ways to feel more American
of course I forgot the most American
thing of all is I could go and get a a
cheeseburger somewhere here even though
I I don't eat red meat but I could get a
chicken burger instead okay would you
eat it for breakfast I don't think I
would eat it for breakfast eggs and
bacon and you know the full American
breakfast eggs bacon
pancakes I could you know have an
American breakfast though in my pajamas
watching some good American series what
is a typical American breakfast is it an
oatmeal like in Great Britain no that
would be more British the POR or oatmeal
okay did you use all your words yeah one
more word did you use all
yours I did ah so you won okay last one
I wanted to ask is no winners or losers
here yeah okay last one I wanted to use
is um when having your breakfast in the
United States have you ever seen a
squirrel behind your window because I
heard this often happens you have lot of
animals I actually have there's tons of
squirrels in Colorado so it's my brother
has often times when I go to the states
I'll be staying at my brother's house
and they have like these big Windows
looking out onto their yard so if you
look outside you're bound to see
squirrels doing some different
Shenanigans if I want to bring up that
word
again great CIA so that was that was a
doozy that was quite difficult to use
some of those words right yeah yeah it
was but like you know when you you are
in a longer conversation maybe it would
be more easily and naturally because
like you know topics change and gets
easier but that's the fun of it yeah I
don't know if like the American
breakfast if that was one or if it was
just theal maybe trampoline I heard that
sounded like mhm Shenanigans you have
Shenanigans of course Shenanigans yeah I
just wanted to ask you to Define it for
our viewers and listeners right it's
doing crazy silly things so I said like
squirrels do Shenanigans people have
probably seen different videos of
squirrels doing crazy things or cat
videos doing Shenanigans if Taylor Swift
were doing Shenanigans that's in ENT
just being silly you know okay so I had
Taylor Swift I had the flamingo I I
don't think she's ever had any flamingos
in her shows but who knows the Statue of
Liberty cheeseburger and
pajamas did you have a pajama party in
your childhood I did yeah that's quite
having a sleepover we might call it
pajama parties I think maybe use more
for girls yeah this is something I
always enjoyed while watching American
movies those pajama parties and
everything like that related to American
culture uh because we never had it like
that I think sometimes they try to do it
here but it's just like copying the
movies American movies um because it's
not so traditional here so today
speaking of the topic I brought a list
of questions about American culture to
ask you Ethan because like personally
I've never been to to the US and all I
know about America is from the movies it
sounds perfect so we can jump in today's
main topic all about crazy American
Shenanigans are strange strange culture
yeah I have I have a list of topics to
ask and I have three categories oh wow
you went all
out what does it mean to go all out it
means you go above and beyond you do
more than what's expected of you so I
have three categories to ask you well
one is related to American schools
colleges uh another category is about
American homes and everything around
like what can happen at home and the
third category are the questions from
our students because I asked our
students on Instagram and our in our
fluenc Circle to send me questions if
they have any so we got couple of
questions from them as well let's get
the show on the road let's picture
ourselves at school right you remember
yourself back in school Ethan
it depends what
year but I can get an image when I watch
American movies or I watched American
movies back in my teenage uh years um
I've always noticed those lockers school
lockers they are everywhere like in
every movie so I wanted to ask you Ethan
did you have your locker decorated
because this is something like crazy all
those posters pictures in those lockers
yeah that's true I only had Lockers in
high school I believe that's the only
thing I remember there's another word
Cubbies so this is when you're younger
little kids have Cubbies which is kind
kind of like there's a armoir you know
like like a dresser we call it like that
you put clothes in but it's all open and
it's just Square this would be the
typical cubby I would think of so each
kid has like one square sort of box
where they can put their belongings
their their school things their backpack
and so on
and then when you're in high school
maybe because high school kids get up to
more Shenanigans you have an actual
locker with a a pad lock so that no one
can get into your your belongings and I
did have a locker I never could be
bothered to decorate it I for me that
feels very from movies and Series yeah
so it's something from the movies not
from real life yeah just
from what did I have in there I think
just books and any supplies maybe that I
didn't need between classes so you might
grab so I would start school in the
morning at 7:00 a.m. so I might just
grab the books that I needed for my
morning classes and then go there again
at lunch leave them go have lunch and
then uh I might after grab my books that
I need for the afternoon I don't have a
lot of memories about my locker but
probably was some strategy like that but
I don't I'm trying to remember even if I
remember anyone having a decorated
locker and I can't remember that I think
that's a very high school serious movie
sort of thing another fun fact is that
everything happens by the locker like
any important gossip spilled or any
important conversation or even fighting
everything happened by the locker even
like the other day I watched this clip
from the Superman I believe the first
episode where I remember this guy who
like turned into Superman um when he
discovered his powers for the very first
time fighting a school bully by
accident and that happened in the locker
by the lockers yeah in real life I would
say we don't spend a lot of time by our
Locker in general it's kind of like a
In-N-Out sort of deal okay so it is
something from the movies really I have
so many more questions so let's get from
the lockers to something else but not
too far another thing that was like
super I don't know it it seemed crazy to
have something like that high school
students were k in pretty openly in all
those movies and I couldn't imagine
anything like that happening here in
Ukraine no I don't think that happens
much I I think yeah you would even get
uh talking to if you were doing that so
open that's a nice phrase to talk to
like to get a talking to get a talking
as a noun like a talking to as a noun
right to get a talking to so you get
reprimanded by one of the teachers or
School staff and another thing it
reminds me of that I don't think exists
here for example I don't think it exists
in any other country I've lived is a
dress code so and I don't mean a school
outfit some schools do have outfits but
a dress code is in they remember they
would come in and tell us okay so these
are the rules like girls if you are
wearing a a tank top one of the ones
that has straps like it has to be this
many fingers wide so you have to use
your fingers to measure anything thinner
is against the the dress code and things
like this so you can't dress however you
want and I see I have schools near where
I live here in Barcelona and sometimes I
see young girls dress quite scandalously
like sometimes I'm like oh my God can't
believe the parents are okay with them
going out in the street like that but oh
schools here are pretty strict and we we
also have dress code so either they have
uniforms like special color or they just
like ask to wear something light at at
the top right like and something dark in
your lower body uh but always like you
know no tanks or nothing like too open
so maybe it's a thing here in
Barcelona dressing scandalously maybe
maybe it's too hot I don't know in the
summer for
sure okay let's move on to the next
question okay what about those cars like
I mean what's the heck where do they get
money like those students from school to
ride a car yeah it depends
I was going to actually say about the
kissing probably the car would be a good
place to do the kissing because there's
a parking lot in front of the high
school and technically it's high school
property so you could have someone you
know keeping watch there to make sure
people aren't doing bad things but we
also had drug like drug sweeps where
they would come through with dogs during
the classes and go through the lockers
this so people who were misbehaving
might keep drugs in their locker May
something you could find or in the car
and some people would actually get in
trouble because they had drugs in their
car so that was a tangent sorry but no
but that was interesting I didn't know
that's happening I can't imagine here
like first of all we don't have parking
lots in front of our
schools and yeah no checkups for drugs
and you asked about how people get cars
so I said it depends because there were
some kids who their parents would buy
them their first car is this something
too you see on TV right like the sweet
16 you have the sweet 16 and often times
I don't know if it's that often but on
TV or a movie you might see the parents
for the sweet 16th birthday party by
them their first car so this was the
case for some people but others like my
brother for example he knew when he
turned 16 he really wanted a car so he
saved up he worked for I think he
started working his first job when he
was
14 and he saved up so he could buy a car
when he turned 16 it's interesting
that's actually was my next question
about jobs students have after school
it's so unusual for us here like when
you're in school you're learning like no
jobs here but uh in the US I I see it in
movies again like many students have
some real jobs after school so you're
saying your brother was working right
since 14 he had his first one at 14 I
think I had my first one at 15 or 16 so
it's it's quite common I I saved up I
was saving up so that I could study
abroad mhm
uh so it's it's another thing but it's
quite common because some people's
parents will pay for everything but
other people they might need to save up
to be able to go to university
university tuitions are super expensive
in the United States uh or they might be
saving up to buy a car or just to be
able to have their own spending money
that that's pretty incredible because I
think it also adds up to this
Independence I again in the movies I see
that like I don't know students are so
independent in the US and they become
early independent quite early maybe ALS
because like getting the jobs and having
more privacy as well I think that
culturally really is American that we
become independent much earlier CU we
get a car when we're 16 we go to
university like here for example unless
you're living in a small town and
there's no University most people will
study at a university in their city but
in the states even if there's a
university in your city I think most
people will go somewhere else and even
they'll go across the country and it's a
very big country so you could end up
going somewhere that's potenti very far
away from from your family yeah and
that's that's something very different
from Ukraine for example because if you
have a university and especially if it's
a good University in your town you most
Pro or city you most probably stay here
close to your parents close to your
family it's very rare that somebody
would choose another city unless it's
the capital you know it's always like it
it seems prestigious to graduate from
the University the capital city what
does prestigious mean um
very high
rated maybe yeah like very good with
honor With Honor I've noticed Cass
actually both of us we've been using a
lot of advanced vocabulary and
expressions just naturally during this
conversation we haven't been defining
all them so if you are watching this on
YouTube or you're listening on Spotify
Apple podcast or somewhere else then you
might want to check out the real life
English app because there you can get
all the most advanced vocabulary
Expressions defined for you there and
you get vocab flashcards so you never
forget these new words and expressions
so next time you get a conversation you
can already use them so just wanted to
remind you guys to check that out which
you can find Linked In the description
or search for real life English in the
App Store of your choice and by the way
another one let me come back a little
bit and ask you to um expand a little
bit more on why is it called sweet 16
again something sweet is it's a
alternative to say cool awesome or
sometimes we use it for a person if we
think they're very sweet it's they're
very kind we call it a sweet 16 there
because it sounds good there's a
literation right the double s and just
because it's like it's a special
birthday in a lot of Spanish speaking
countries they have like the ktha which
is like the when you turn kin when you
turn 15 you have your it's kind of like
a coming of age for girls
especially uh different countries have
different Traditions like this for
different ages right so I think it's
also a Coming of Age so like a milestone
a milestone yeah it's another nice way
to put it seems like again judging from
the movie seems like everyone is
obsessed with uh college football or
college basketball like in general
college sport it's even televised even
they being like amateurs not
professional players they have huge
stadiums some of the schools do have
some really big stadiums right and
everyone seems to be either rooting for
their local team or be on the team
what's going on here yeah there's in
high school and college right college
football is
absurdly popular and there's a lot of
investment in it uh if you are a good
athlete even you can get a full ride so
this is a nice expression to get a full
ride means that you get your University
fully paid for uh because you're playing
on the team is that true like this is
something I watched in the movies that I
could how being a sportsman you like
secure place or spot they colle it it
sounds crazy right yeah so we're really
that is something about our culture
we're really big on Sports we're really
keen on Sports so there is huge
Investments because people will go to
university to play on a team and that's
sort of the doorway to being able to go
onto the professional league so if
you're really good in high school you
can play in college if you're really
good in college then you'll get scouted
this is a word meaning that a scout a
person from one of the professional
teams goes and and watch as people play
and might try to draft or get one of
these players to join their team when
they finish University so it's a big
thing Sports and it can be a pathway to
being able to even if you don't end up
playing a professional sport you still
get to go to university for free so you
end up getting a degree but it does go
the other way too that it's not enough
just to be playing on the sports team
you also have to maintain good grades to
be able to keep playing on the team you
can get kicked off the team if you are
flunking
out of your classes or failing failing
your classes blanking means failing mhm
okay nice phrase I I wanted to ask you
did you play or did you root for your
college team College is very difficult
to play and I didn't play any sports in
high school either I kind of regret that
because it's a great way I think to
build community to build friendships and
so on but I was never so sporty as a as
a kid but I did go in College my first
year cuz the football games were so big
that it was like an excuse to pregame to
to drink before the game or they have
something called tailgating this is
again like a very American thing that
people go to the parking lot of the
stadium and they'll have a barbecue and
drinks so people get drunk before the
game and then you go watch the game oh
my God so it's an excuse to to party and
to drink then there's parties after the
game but the thing is I I would always
leave the games earlier just cuz I got
bored it's a really it's like a
three-hour game it's very slow football
there's a lot of strategy involved so I
could never get into it how about
pregame this getting yourself prepared
for the
game that part I enjoy it but then it's
you would sober up during the game and
it's kind of like okay you know I'm
tired I'm ready to go home I'm over it
so you had some some questions about the
home yeah okay Ethan let's start with
home or house itself I know or I notice
that it's been changing with see more
and more Apartments like Realto life
apartments in the movies but if I
remember those older movies every time a
typical American house would be this
twostory building with this beautiful
staircase uh I don't know how far from
to from truth is this having like a
two-story beautiful house it really
depends where you live but because the
United States is so big and there's so
much space I think that the house I'd
actually wouldn't mind seeing statistics
on the to see what the comparison is but
I imagine many more people live in
houses than in apartments really because
so most the United States isn't City you
know so most people do live in houses I
I lived in houses my entire life I'm
trying to think the first time I lived
in apartment when I moved to myor on
college that that was the first time I
lived in an apartment interesting to
know when I was 20 was the first time MH
nice did you have a staircase from where
you we can see like home alone remember
he was sliding uh on the staircase we
did have a staircase I grew up mostly in
two houses and both of them had
staircases yeah remember as a little kid
playing like sliding down it you know on
your butt or running up them as fast as
you can having races up the stairs Yeah
Yeah Izzy actually looked up for us this
statistic as of 2023 about 65% of
Americans live in detached houses while
35% live in apartments interesting yeah
it's funny how your perception can
change just based on
where they're having more series be set
right okay going inside that house Ethan
how dare you Americans not to take off
your shoes when you entering your own
house or even worse your friend's houses
I'm right there with you I I do take off
my shoes now and here like I I wear
slippers here at home uh here in
Barcelona I I wear slippers and when I
went back to the States for Christmas
for example I just have the habit take
off my shoes but my dad for example
doesn't and he takes the dogs for walks
and it's like muddy and he'll track in
mud into the house and it's just like
like drives my mom and my and me crazy
but did you take off your shoes being a
kid growing up in the US I Hon I can't
remember honestly it like makes me
cringe every time I see not only you
walking inside the house in your shoes
but also Jumping on the Bed wearing the
shoes yeah no I don't think that my mom
would have let me jump on on the bed in
the
shoes that's something I see too on on a
lot of series is like we were watching
Seinfeld and it happens in apartment in
New York right and a lot of times it
happens a lot of it in Jerry Seinfeld's
apartment the main character of the show
and his friends will come over and
they'll like lay or sit on the couch
with their shoes on and their shoes up
on the couch right and I'm always I
always find that crazy like okay your
friend just came in from the street and
is just making himself at home getting
his dirty shoes that have stepped in who
knows what you'll never see that in
Ukraine I mean like we have a strong
culture of taking our shoes off so this
was something I noticed when I went to
Poland for the first time and I'd be
curious if in Ukraine it's the same but
not only do people not wear their shoes
in the house but they tend to have
slippers also for guests so when you
arrive at their house they have a pair
of slippers waiting for you which I
thought I thought that was amazing it's
like such a beautiful hospitable thing
but in the states I don't think you'd
ever find that we do have we do have and
sometimes you know what happens as well
like for example it happened to me like
when I didn't have um enough Sleepers
for my guests for example for some
holiday I having people over so I warned
them to take their sleepers here because
the floors are too cold in Winter oh
that's something here too that there's a
big culture of if you don't wear
slippers you're going to catch a cold
okay uh a question that is uh both
college or school and home do you guys
really have those crazy e home parties
when like imagine parents go outside go
somewhere and you invite all your
friends and sometimes it's just like a
real huge crowd flooding your house like
I remember the last time I saw it in the
movies in the movie Yes day with Jen
Ortega they just had a crazy party is it
true did you have any this always
happens in the movies right in the
series I don't think it's that common
but I went I grew up in a small town and
I was a pretty good kid so I tended not
to do things that could get me in
trouble or at least I wouldn't do them
in such a way that you know my parents
could find out about them I never went
to one of these parties in high school
in college yes to to House Parties but I
think then it usually belonged to the
students or the it was rented by the
students so I believe they
happen but in the movies they make it
sound like you know it's every weekend
or you know everyone goes to these
things and I don't think that that's
actually that common and like every time
parents are not at home like it's like
they take advantage is like just throw
out the like throw the party yeah I mean
there's people I'm sure who do it but
it's like pretty disrespectful of your
parents right MH okay last question
about the home home related question
right so I found it really nice it's not
a weird tradition I find it nice so I'm
interested in asking you is this
tradition still alive so in the movies I
often see if you have a new neighbor so
it's a tradition to pay him a visit pay
her or him a visit and bring a homemade
meal people do it I don't know if we've
done I'm trying to think too when we
moved when I was a kid if if some
neighbors did that I think it's not as
common as it is in the movies but
there's people who do it but that is
kind of strange like you just moved into
a place and your neighbors show up with
something without knowing you know what
your diet is like and things like this
it's a nice gesture though it's a nice
gesture but I just wondered to ask you
can it be a little bit related
to curiosity like to be curious too much
and like have it as an excuse to you
know ask more questions about new people
it could be you want to see if their
house is nicer than yours is how the
remodel went it could be there could be
some aspect of that and also just
wanting to know who's Living Next To You
Right who's this new person yeah yeah I
just remember one of my favorite movies
as a kid or as a teenager was Edward the
Caesar hands and I remember everyone was
so curious to look at him and that's why
they use this tradition as an excuse to
bring some meal and like you know
peeping over the shoulder to see the
adward exactly there's some really nice
tradition that's a great movie to
mention for American culture because
it's this guy who's been isolated living
alone and he's almost being shocked by a
lot of these cultural things so it made
me think too of the Avon calling you
know like the the people who go door
Todo the door to- door salesman right I
think is quite more common in the states
than in other countries we used to have
it usually something like at school or
in the working place somebody you know
would bring the catalog something
interesting I'll share because my mom
just told me about this have you ever
heard of Girl Scouts and Girl Scout
cookies only in the movies but yeah of
course I heard but it's a very American
thing that when we're kids we are in the
scout not everyone but a lot of people
do Scouts and this was actually
something I was really jealous of when I
was a kid so I was in Boy Scouts and we
get to sell popcorn and it's like they
they have different kinds of popcorn
like covered in chocolate and caramel
and things like this but no one likes
car uh popcorn as much as they do
cookies so it's I was like jealous
always the girls get to sell cookies
it's much easier and the Girl Scout
cookies are famous people look forward
some people look forward all year to
getting to buy Girl Scout cookies oh
really uh because there's they're these
special cookies you can't buy in the
store they're specially made for the
Girl Scouts and they're they're they are
delicious they have some everyone has
their favorite kinds I didn't know that
I thought I really thought those were
just like random cookies I don't know no
we'll have to on on YouTube we'll have
to show some some pictures of Girl
Scouts cookies for people to see mhm and
you say that boys uh tend to sell
popcorn is it like only your yours uh or
your organization or is it like
throughout America I think it's all the
Boy Scouts I think it's the same deal
like there's probably they have a
partnership with someone who provides
the popcorn but it was kind of difficult
to sell because people aren't usually
looking to buy big tins of flavored
popcorn as they are for cookies so great
Ethan we only are left with a couple of
questions from our students let me ask
you one question is from Claudia from
our fluency Circle and she lived
actually in Houston for six years oh wow
that's why she knows what she's talking
about when she says that Americans are
obsessed with shopping in the USA people
buy things all the time change furniture
and electronics and leave the replaced
items outside any comments on that they
leave their what outside like the
replaced items so the old ones like they
bought new ones and all the old items
the replaced ones they leave outside I
don't know about that in in Colorado but
one thing that's strange that that makes
me think of is that people order
Amazon Amazon's become huge there and
they'll just leave your package on your
doorstep which here couldn't happen like
people someone would take it for sure if
we just left it outside the door so they
always have to hand it to you or hand it
to your doorman if you have a doorman
here that's something that's interesting
but would you agree that is like too
much obsession over shopping what I
would say about that it was actually was
something I took note of is that in it's
a difference with Europe at least is
that America is a very capitalist
culture one of the things that I took
note of that I think can be overwhelming
even for me it's like a reverse culture
shock thing when I go there is just
there's so many choices when you go to
the supermarket you have breakfast
cereals you have like a hundred
different brands of breakfast cereals
there's a nice aspect to this because
there's a lot of nice like artisanal
products and special things that you
would never think of just one that came
to mind is for example sunflower seed
butter with chocolate and hazelnuts oh
my God you know like something very very
Niche very specific like this so
sometimes you can try really nice things
or you can find very nice products um
many healthy products or if you have a
certain dietary restriction there's
often a lot of options for you compared
to what I've seen in other countries but
on the other side we have very strong
paradx of choice that it takes you
forever to go to the supermarket because
you're anything like toilet paper you
know you have like 20 different brands
of toilet paper how do you possibly
choose which is the one for you analysis
paralysis analysis paralysis yeah that's
what it's called awesome so um next
question this is a question from our
Instagram follower I've heard they don't
use cotton cases to cover a blanket so
first of all a blanket do you use this
word in America or do you use duvet I
know yeah I know what you're talking
about duvet so we don't we have
comforters at least this is what I had
always growing up sorry what is a
comforter a comforter it's the same
thing but it's it's already packed right
so it's just the whole thing you don't
have to take it off and put it back on
if you wash it you just throw it in the
washer and and dryer and and it gets
clean but here's the same in Barcelona
that you have the duvet and the duvet
cover so that you have to take it off
you just wash the cover you don't watch
the you usually don't watch the duvet
that's what we have here so it it's not
the case in America no and it's such a
pain taking off and putting on the duvet
cover so I kind of miss that actually
you're saying you have a hope whole
thing like together and you clean it
like together the whole duvet exactly
how big should be your washing machine
to put a whole duvet there everything's
bigger in America
C that was something I was thinking
about is like the something very iconic
I'll just share real quick is the big
gulps big gulps have you heard of this
or seen in the movie so 7-Eleven it's a
very famous chain in the states it's
called a convenience store would be the
type so it's not a whole big Supermarket
but it's like a small one where you can
just get B B things without all the
analysis paralysis but they sell also
their like soda soda fountain drinks we
call it where it's like a dispenser
right and they got very famous because
they've made these bigger and bigger and
they have these things called a Big Gulp
and then they made an even bigger one
called the double Big Gulp I'm not sure
if they even have a triple one now but
it's this thing that's it's a drink like
the size of your head so it's like no
wonder Americans are so having so many
health problems so much obesity because
they're drinking like these gigantic
drinks and in American cars the the cup
holders have gotten bigger and bigger
because the drinks keep getting bigger
and bigger so these people need a big
cup holder for these ginormous drinks
that they're getting from 7-Eleven oh my
God that's crazy yeah and I I I even
think that those you were talking about
shopping malls and those convenience
stores I think they are parking lots are
also huge like the fields MH it's true
well if you're in a big city of course
it's different but if you're in a town
you never have issues with parking
that's something good right but again
it's related to the fact that every
family owns one or two or even three
cars right yeah I mean if Mom and Dad
and the 16-year-old all have cars then
you have to you also have big garages
right like often times people have three
car garages at their house maybe you
have a boat even you have to have a
garage for the
boat there's like two houses one house
for the family and one house for all the
trans excessive yeah last questions last
question and I believe that this
question came from someone from Brazil
because I already heard it from one of
our team members about this
misunderstanding or confusion yeah this
confusion so Americans eat avocados with
salt we would never do it like yeah here
I believe he's talking about
Brazil yeah well for me when I lived in
Brazil it was the opposite like you eat
avocado ice cream you make avocado
smoothies like what that's so so strange
but one of the things that's important
asterisk here is that they're different
avocados so Brazilians have these big
avocados that are
more The Taste is more mild it's more
smooth and creamy and American avocados
they typically come from Mexico I
believe and they're they're small ones
and the taste is a bit more bitter so it
lends itself more to eating something
salty than like we're making a guacamole
something like this whereas the
Brazilian ones lend themselves more to
being almost like a substitute for
butter because it's just something very
creamy I like both though I grew to
appreciate a good you know avocado
smoothie or avocado ice cream when I
lived in Brazil can you find those big
avocados in Spain no I've never I don't
think I've ever seen them outside of
Brazil in fact yeah same here and
actually avocado is something new to
Ukraine I don't believe I've ever seen
them you know
before
2011 or something something like that I
don't know um and honestly I didn't even
know how to eat it avocados are so
finicky because you have to get them
exactly the right day or maybe you have
two days but you have very few time to
eat it before it goes bad and when you
first get it usually it's hard so yeah
what is finicki finicki means that it's
another way to say picky or Choy so if
you say that someone's finicky it's like
they only like very specific things but
if we say it with this it's sort of the
avocado is finicky because of this it's
you have only specific days to eat it
you have to really get it right yeah I I
noticed it and I don't like avocados
when they're too hard you know and this
is what you get here in the stores
because it's imported so usually they
are like not ripe yet it was nice having
one from Brazil since I just got back
from there so we can jump into the dig
in it have we gotten enough of American
culture for one day oh yeah but that was
super interesting and finally I got some
answers to my questions you know because
I grew up watching American movies and
you always compare your life with life
from the movies you know and some things
really got you thinking like can it
really be true I prepared for this
because I wasn't sure what you're going
to ask so I wanted to be prepared to
talk about anything so I have a whole
list of things that we didn't cover so
if you guys enjoyed this let us know in
the comments or shoot us an email at
hello reif globo.com and we can do a
part two mhm would be nice yeah you will
be shocking me yeah with things I didn't
[Music]
ask casso what have you been digging
this week this is something I really
wanted to share with you today I
actually started it today I attended a
yoga class A group yoga class and I
really liked it but not so much this
wasn't my first encounter with yoga when
I was pregnant with me I used to attend
this prenatal yoga I think this is the
way they call it uh like yoga designed
for pregnant women um so it was really
relaxing a lot of time dedicated to the
breathing practice you know and then
there was this as and as but here today
it was super hard physically challenging
and I believe they focus more on the
physical aspect of it so no breathing
practice
only those asinas and really challenging
you know I'm a person who try always to
give
100% and today it was so hard to I don't
know push myself to the limits with
certain asness it's just because I was
physically not prepared to do so but I
bet the next class you go to it's going
to be I wouldn't say a piece of cake but
it'll be easier you know it'll get
easier because it's a lot of not just
strength but it's new weird positions as
well that your body's not used but you
have to be really good at balancing
because many times today I was just like
falling or leaning you know I I couldn't
keep straight and one of the funniest
exercise but actually one of my favorite
I guess because it was funny and
challenging and still like somehow you
want to do that so this is a tree
position when you have to I think you
know it we did it in Peru right there
you go uh in our Master Class as we had
there so you have to um lift off the
ground your left uh foot right and place
a sole of your left foot to the inner
right thigh and stand in a position like
really straight like with your arms in a
Praying position right or maybe uh
extended I really like that position but
it was challenging to stand like that
more than 30 seconds especially if you
want to take it to the next level you
close your eyes eyes are really
important for balance so if you start
getting really good at holding it then
you can try closing your eyes and see if
you can still maintain your balance so
this is something I started today and
really enjoyed it waiting for the next
session that's so awesome what about you
what have you been digging this week I
thought I just mentioned this I just got
back from Brazil on Monday so what I've
been digging is living my Portuguese the
last couple weeks and I thought it would
actually be nice to share because I
think that there are lessons here too
for Learners so
I lived in Brazil for about a year and a
half between split between two different
times and so I used to speak pretty
fluent Portuguese I probably got to like
B1 B2 level but then when I moved back
here to Barcelona I sort of left it
forgot it for a long time and even had
some trips to Brazil but was just barely
using it when I went and it was very
easy too because our team usually when I
go we're meeting up with the team and
everyone speaks incredible English so
it's easy to use that as a crutch right
I started taking up my Portuguese again
about a year ago before we were going to
have uh our leadership team meeting
there in in
quba and so I've been since then
especially like the last six months more
living my English more and more so I've
made some friends here and I'll you know
speak on WhatsApp do like the voice
memos to practice my speaking uh and I
something that was really important too
was like starting to listen to more
music Spotify is great because it
suggests me always new new music in
Portuguese and watching some series I've
watched several different series read a
book that I just recently finished uh
and listen to podcasts when I go to the
gym in Port so you were using our real
life way method you were leaving your
Portuguese right I was making it fun
natural convenient and when I went to
Brazil so I first went for I was going
to meet up with Justin uh and some other
team members
but first I went to ban where I used to
live for Carnival which was my first
I've just only been to like a couple
very small carnivals this was my first
big carnival and it was amazing but it
was like an intensive because there's
five days that I pretty much just spoke
Portuguese night and day and so it was
all of a sudden being thrown into the
mouth of the Beast you know but it was
an amazing experience because I was like
oh you know I was really able to do it I
was really able to like reactivate my
Portuguese and have conversations and
connect with people and for me something
that was particularly meaningful was
when I went to Florianopolis like being
able to connect with a lot of the
partners of some of our colleagues who
don't speak much English and if I didn't
speak Portuguese I I would not be able
to speak with them so much so that was
really nice to be able to have uh more
conversations and connect on a deeper
level with them that's so nice great
experience you Ed such a great phrase um
to be thrown in the mouth of a beast in
in which context can you say something
like that it it's something like that
right like you're thrown right into the
difficult situation without too much
preparation I think a good lesson here
too because many people may be saying a
you know you got to go to Brazil and
like of course it's easier but even if
you can't travel to the country that
helps right if you travel and you can
use it and maybe some of you that might
be the case like maybe you could start
looking into can you save up some money
can you start investing even just like a
little bit of your paycheck each month
to be able to uh plan for that in even
if it's in a couple years right but
nevertheless we have like the real life
Engish app for example that any time
anywhere you can press a button
instantly be connected to an English
speaker in another part of the world and
it's a great way to virtually travel
meet people from all different places
make friends and so on so you really
have like no excuses not to start
practicing or speaking in it for me even
though like doing all the all of the the
listening that input's really important
of of course but if you're never
speaking then it's like you're you know
you're never actually going to be able
to develop that fluency and have that
especially that fulfilling Sensation
that fulfilling feeling of you know I
can do this I'm speaking I'm
communicating with other people which
really becomes like a a flywheel like
Rocket Fuel that helps more and more
make it then you want to study even more
so that you can get even better so like
now I'm more motivated for example to
start studying more vocabulary
because it's one of the things I'm
saying I'm sometimes missing specific
words so I want to brought in my
vocabulary that's another thing the real
life English app is great for is because
you can learn with all the best words
and expressions from each episode of the
podcast and we've done all the hard work
for you so when you learn a language and
when you get to the point when you
really understand almost everything it's
really rewarding but you feel this
stress still when you have to speak
right so that's like another Milestone
when you already uh feel comfortable
listening to English that's the point
when you have to start speaking it right
it will be stressful but this is like
coming out of your comfort zone and
getting even more rewards after the I
think it's a good stress though it's
like a stress of I'm doing something
difficult and everything and you'll come
out on the other side so just believe in
yourself uh yeah so thanks so much for
joining us for today's episode we hope
that you learn some things we hope that
you'll go out there and challenge
yourself to speak more and maybe you can
even connect with some Americans ask
them about strange things about the
culture or think twice when you see
something in a series right mhm and
remember dear listener dear Watcher if
you are enjoying these lessons then a
free way that you can support us so we
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YouTube give us a like subscribe to the
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gives you this capability cuz again it
really helps us to reach more people and
remember that no matter what divides us
which today we're discovering Cass a lot
of weird American things that might
divide us but that what unites us as
human beings is far greater than those
silly cultural differences so 1 two 3
a
yeah do you want to change the way you
speak English and speak English faster
then you need to learn word chunks word
chunks are basically about connecting
the words in a sentence think about Lego
blocks that instead of separate pieces
scattered around they are put together
to form something really special so
stick around because today we're going
to be putting connected speech and word
chunks in practice and you will see how
these connections apply in real
conversations