Transcript: “Listening Time” Episode 5

Welcome to the Listening Time podcast. I'm Conner from www.polyglossa.com, and
you're listening to episode five of the Listening Time podcast. If this is your first time
listening, welcome! I'm happy to have you here with me. This podcast is for English
learners who want to practice their listening skills. And more specifically, this podcast is
for English learners who still can't understand real, fast, authentic native speech. If you
have trouble understanding regular podcasts, but you can already understand a lot of
English, this podcast is perfect for you. This podcast is designed to help take you to the
next level. So, it will help you develop the skills and the vocabulary you need to
eventually understand normal native speech. So, in each episode, I talk about different
topics and I don't read a script. So, that's the key here. I'm not reading anything. I'm just
speaking as the words come to my mind. So I'm using natural language, natural words,
phrases, expressions, etc. But I'm speaking a little more slowly, and a little more clearly
than native speakers normally do. So, this should help you understand me a little bit
better, but you'll still learn new words and new phrases, and it will be good practice for
you. Also, the transcript is available for each episode, so you can access that and read
as you listen, and you can understand all the words or phrases that might be hard for
you to understand when you just listen to me the first time without reading the transcript.
So, that should be helpful for you as well. So, in this episode, we're going to talk about
barbecues and fashion... two random topics, but who cares? Let's talk about them. So,
remember to check out our website www.polyglossa.com if you want more listening
practice. You can sign up for our $1 listening practice seminars there. And if you like this
podcast, please share it with your family and friends. And if you can, rate this podcast,
and write a review for this podcast to help it grow and help more people find it so they
can also practice their listening skills. Alright, let's get started. Okay, so first we're going
to talk about barbecues. This is a great topic. I like this topic, and I'm sure many of you
do too. So first of all, let's talk about the definition of the word "barbecue". In English,
"barbecue" can mean two things. It can refer to the event of having a barbecue, we can
say for example, "come over on Saturday, we're having a barbecue in the backyard". In
that context, the barbecue is the event, really, the event of having people over at your
house, and grilling meat and other things on the barbecue, on the grill. So that's one
definition. The other definition of BBQ in English is the type of food. So we have a type
of food that's called BBQ. So, if you ask an American what their favorite type of food is,
it's possible that they might say, "my favorite type of food is BBQ", especially if they live
in the south. So that's what a barbecue is. It's an event, or it could be a type of food. So
first, let's talk about the event. So, in the United States, barbecues are fairly common.
People often have them in their backyards, and they often have them on certain
holidays. For example, it's common to have barbecues on the Fourth of July, our
Independence Day. And it's common to have barbecues on certain minor holidays such
as Labor Day and Memorial Day, where we usually have a three-day weekend to hang
out with our family and friends. So on those occasions, it's common for Americans to
have barbecues. And during each barbecue, we often grill different types of meat. For
example, we might make hamburgers. That's probably the most common type of meat
that we make during barbecues. And we might have hot dogs, we might have steak.
When I was younger, I used to have bratwurst sausages at my barbecues. So we have
a variety of different choices of meat that we might barbecue during those events. The
word "barbecue" can also be used as a verb. You can say "we're going to barbecue
some meat". It just means we're going to grill that meat. So we barbecue many types of
meat. And like I said, it's usually in the backyard. If you don't know what a "backyard" is,
this is the space behind the house, your own private property, where you might have
grass, or a patio, or maybe even a swimming pool, and other things like that. So, in the
US, all houses have backyards. So we have more space than houses in other countries,
usually. And because we have this space, it provides us the opportunity to have
barbecues there. So it's a great tradition, I think. So, in terms of BBQ as a type of food,
when people talk about BBQ in the US, they're usually referring to southern-style BBQ.
You might have seen this in movies or TV shows before, or maybe you've actually tried
this. For example, the most emblematic type of food in terms of barbecue is ribs. I'm
sure you've seen these or heard of these before. If not, look up a picture of them... type
in r-i-b-s, ribs, and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. This is probably the most
important food when it comes to BBQ, and it's very very tasty. When I was growing up, I
considered ribs to be my favorite type of food, actually. So, I really like ribs, because of
the sauce... the BBQ sauce that people put on top of the ribs. So they're really tasty. I
also really like things like macaroni and cheese and cole slaw and pulled pork. These
are other food items that are related to the BBQ style of food, right, like that southern
barbecue style. So if you ever have the chance, definitely go to a BBQ restaurant in the
US, and you'll find all these tasty foods, and especially if you're in the south of the US. If
you're in the south, you're going to have the chance to eat amazing BBQ there. I've
never been, but any American that has been will tell you just that. I hope I can try that
someday too. And lastly, talking about barbecues, around the world... barbecues are an
event that takes place in many countries. For example, in Mexico, barbecues are
common. And people call them... a barbecue is called a "carne asada", for example. Or
in Brazil, a barbecue is called "churrasco". Right. So, each country has its own style of
barbecue and maybe a different word to describe that event, but it's a common event in
many different countries. In certain countries, like in Brazil, I know that barbecues are
very, very popular. For example, I have many students from Brazil who tell me that they
have a barbecue every week. Literally every Sunday, they get together with their family
and their friends, and they have a barbecue. Right, so it's very popular there. They have
barbecues much more often than we do in the US, and I'm sure in other countries, there
are also a lot of different barbecue traditions that I'm not aware of. And I'm sure there
are many types of meat and other things that people eat during barbecues. And, of
course, there are many tasty cuts of beef and pork and chicken that people cook all
over the world, and I hope to try as many of these different cuisines as possible. So I've
eaten meat from Argentina before, and from Brazil, and it's amazing. The quality of the
beef is top notch, really. When we say the phrase "top notch", this just means that it's
very high quality. It's a very good quality meat, it's top notch meat. So let's move on to
the topic of fashion. Let's talk about fashion. This is an important topic. This is an
important element of society, of culture. It's a way that people can express themselves,
and it's a way that people can identify with certain groups, certain subcultures, or maybe
certain religions, etc. Fashion is definitely important whether or not you like it,
personally. I'm not a big fashion guy. I don't really like fashion, but I have to admit that
it's an important element of culture around the world. So let's talk a little bit about styles
and trends and fads and things like this. First of all, "style" just refers to the type of
clothing that is popular. Right, and sometimes we have styles that are new, sometimes
styles from the past come back and become popular again, but regardless of the
origins, we definitely have different styles of clothing, styles of fashion. So for example,
some people might really like the Gothic style of clothing, or other people might dress
like a skater... skater... "skater" style is also very popular... or hip hop or other types of
styles as well... formal... classical. There are many types of styles. And if you go to any
high school or college campus in the US, or maybe in other countries, you'll see
different styles represented among the people there. So, I also used the word "fad"
before. This might be a new word for you. A "fad" would be some kind of style that
becomes very popular in a short time and then it completely disappears later on. So it's
a type of style that doesn't last, and later on, people usually look back and think, "wow,
why did we wear that? Why did we do this? That was crazy". Right, so you might be
able to think of certain fads that were popular when you were in high school, or maybe
that are popular now. And you have no idea why people dress that way, or why they
think it looks good, but fads will always exist. There will always be certain really popular
trends that explode and then disappear. They fizzle out. When something "fizzles out", it
just means that it it fades away and disappears. So, fads will always exist, I think. When
I think of my style, my fashion of the past, I think it's pretty funny, because I... I didn't
dress how I dress now. Right. When I was 13, 14, around that age, I was a basketball
player, and so I dressed kind of like the other basketball players dressed at school. So I
would wear Nike shoes or Air Jordan shoes, and I would wear big T-shirts with matching
colors... colors that matched my shoes. So I was very color coordinated, and I spent a
lot of money on expensive Nikes and Jordans and Adidas shoes. I dressed like that for
maybe two years or so. And then after that, I dressed more like a skater, because I kind
of liked skating when I was in high school and middle school. And so I wore more of the
skater-type clothes, and I wore vans, like those types of shoes. And so, that didn't last
for very long, but I definitely got into that style for a while. And then after that, I kind of
stopped caring so much about fashion. And nowadays, I would say that I don't really
care at all about fashion, as I mentioned before. I tend to wear clothes that are
comfortable for me, but I also understand that it's important to try to look decent. I don't
want to look bad or really out of style. So of course, I tried to look okay, but I really don't
pay much attention to the clothes I buy. I don't go shopping very often, and so some of
my shirts are from a long time ago. I know that I still wear certain shirts that I've had for
maybe seven, eight, even nine years. I know it's kind of ridiculous, but I still wear the
same T-shirts that I wore in my last year of high school, or my first year of college. But
my wife doesn't like this. She wants me to buy new shirts... wear nicer clothes. And so
I'm trying to do this a little more now, I'm trying to pay a little more attention to the
clothes I wear. But like I said, it's not easy for me to pay much attention to fashion. I just
want to look okay and be comfortable, and that's it. So usually, if you see me now, I'm
wearing a blank t shirt, right, so a T-shirt with no writing. If I say a "blank" t shirt, it just
means no writing, no logo. It's just all white or all black or all gray. So, I usually wear
blank a T-shirt and pants. I don't like jeans that much. I know it's strange... most people
wear jeans, but I almost never wear jeans. I wear either black or brown or tan pants that
are a little different than jeans. I don't like the blue jeans look, I don't know why, but it's
it's not me. So I usually just wear a blank shirt, blank T-shirt, a pair of pants, and normal
shoes. My wife wants me to buy more shoes because the few pairs of shoes that I wear
are not very new and some of them are ripped. The word "ripped" means that the shoes
are damaged, they have holes in them. So if I say "I ripped the paper", this means that
I... I tore the paper in different pieces. I broke the paper, so to say. B we don't say "break
the paper", we say "rip the paper" or "tear the paper". So, some of my shoes are ripped
and have holes in them, and so I'll probably need to buy new shoes pretty soon. So we'll
stop there. Hopefully these topics were helpful for you to practice your listening, and
hopefully they were interesting for you. I enjoyed talking about them. So of course, if
you need the transcript, go ahead and open that and listen again and try to understand
the words and phrases that you missed the first time. And of course, check us out at
www.polyglossa.com and sign up for our $1... sorry... $1 listening seminars there, so
you can continue practicing your listening. And, of course, share this podcast with other
people who need to practice their listening skills, and give this podcast a rating and a
review. Tell the world what you think about this podcast. So thank you very much for
tuning in and listening to episode five of the Listening Time podcast. And I hope you'll
come back for our next episode: episode six of the Listening Time podcast.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai