English, baby!

California Vacation

Date: Jun 04 2002

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Hi Friends!
When people talk about the United States, one of the places that everyone has heard of is California! Last week Brett went down to California for a vist. Listen below as he tells John about it!

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

John

Brett

John: What did you do last weekend Brett?

Brett: Uh, actually my wife and I went down to California to visit some family.

John: Oh, how was that?

Brett: It was great! You know, it was the stereotypical California weather. It was blue skies, like, seventy degrees… it was perfect!

John: What was the coolest part?

Brett: We went out to Ocean Beach and uh, watched the surfers out there and uh, you know, the weather was good and the surf was high so it was alot of fun to watch them out in the water.

John: Were you down in Southern California or Northern?

Brett: We were in Northern California, in uh, Silicon Valley area. So, that’s where we used to live and where, uh, we have alot of family, so…

John: That’s where the big Internet, Dot Com business all started, right?

Brett: Yeah, it is. It’s right by uh, Stanford University and some other major universities, and that’s where, you know, it all kind of began!

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

It sounds like Brett had a very fun weekend down in warm and sunny California. Have any of you ever been to Ocean Beach? Who has heard of Silicon Valley before?
You may notice that during the conversation, Brett often says, “you know” or “so.” Another common word that is used in this way is, “like.” These interjections are very common when two friends are speaking casually to each other, but can be tricky to catch onto, as they are not usually studied. If you have any questions about how they are used, please go to the Ask A Pal Message Board, and we will be more than happy to answer them!
Have a wonderful week!
Tanis