Learn English meaning of ‘stomping ground’

Intro

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

Go Super to Listen

• coffee shop
• stomping ground
• hometown
• first things first

• neighborhood
• gossip
• regular
• shoot

• crew
• without further ado

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

Go Super to Listen

Where do you go the most? Do you visit the same places you visited when you were younger? Your favorite places change over time, but you probably have one or two important places that you visit almost every day. For example, you might go to work each day in the same place. Or you might stop at the same coffee shop every morning. These places are your stomping grounds.

A person spends a lot of time in their stomping grounds, and they usually enjoy these places. It can be a lot of fun to return to your old stomping grounds, too. You might visit your hometown and see old friends from a past neighborhood. You may even visit an old favorite restaurant, where you used to share gossip with the other regulars. Your past stomping grounds will probably give you many happy memories.

Kelsey is getting ready to record a music video about her old stomping grounds, but she’s very nervous. Find out if the director can help her in today’s video English lesson.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

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

Log in to Listen

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

Kate

Jordin

Dominique

Kelsey

Kate:  My old stomping grounds! I haven’t been in this studio for a while! How’s everyone doing?

Jordin:  Great!

Kate:  Great! I am Kate. I’m Sara’s assistant, and I’ll be directing Kelsey’s music video.

Dominique:  Great to meet you. We’re all excited for the shoot!

Kate:  Nice to meet you, too. The crew will be arriving shortly, and I just wanted to talk about the process before we get started. So, first things first… where’s Kelsey?

Jordin:  She needed a moment. She was feeling super nervous.

Kate:  I see. OK! I’ll be right back.

Kelsey:  I don’t know if I can do this. The director is going to be here soon.

Kate:  You can, and you will, and she’s already here.

Kelsey:  Oh!

Kate:  Feeling nervous, Kelsey?

Kelsey:  What if I forget the lyrics? What if it doesn’t sound good?

Kate:  OK, OK… relax. Now, what is your song about?

Kelsey:  I mean, I guess it’s about my old stomping grounds… my hometown, the house I grew up in, my old neighborhood.

Kate:  Excellent. And how did you write the song?

Kelsey:  I just kind of closed my eyes and imagined how it was there… how I felt then.

Kate:  Perfect. Then, that’s all you have to do today. Just imagine yourself there. Imagine it, and sing. Can you do that?

Kelsey:  I can do that.

Kate:  Let’s make this happen.

Jordin:  Wait! So, you’re thinking about selling Travel Bug?

Dominique:  Well, nothing is final yet, so I don’t think we should tell Kelsey today. She already has enough to think about right now. We’ll set up a meeting next week to go over things.

Jordin:  Tell me more. What made you want to sell, suddenly?

Dominique:  Well, I was in my old stomping grounds last week, and I ran into an old neighbor. She’s selling her coffee shop, and I thought it might be fun to run a coffee shop. I really like my old neighborhood. It might be fun to hang out there again. Instead of working in an office, I would be able to talk to the regulars and hear all the gossip.

Jordin:  That does sound pretty fun. You’d need employees, right? I love coffee!

Dominique:  Definitely! I mean, if this all happens.

Kate:  All right everyone, our star is back, and she is ready! So, without further ado... let’s get started.

 

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "Imperative Form" from this lesson

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

 

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3