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  • (brisk music)

  • - Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com.

  • Now, today we are going to have a conversation in English

  • giving you an English lesson on the election,

  • the U.S. election, which is happening in-

  • - November.

  • - November, just over a month.

  • Now, what we're going to do in this video is

  • give you some of the key terms

  • so that you can talk about this election in English

  • and learn some vocabulary, such as left wing,

  • right wing, polls, polling station,

  • debates, campaigns, news cycles.

  • And we're going to just have a discussion on this election

  • but, more importantly, give you the vocabulary

  • so that you can talk about it yourself.

  • Okay, so-

  • - It's also important to note that,

  • while we are gonna be talking about the election

  • and we do have our own opinions

  • and beliefs about the candidates involved,

  • that we're gonna try to keep those

  • out of the conversation as much as possible.

  • - Yeah, so it's not our opinion

  • on who we are going to vote for

  • or who we want to win, but it's more of a discussion

  • about the election in general.

  • And you can have a discussion below,

  • so please leave some comments.

  • So what we're going to do first,

  • before we get into a lot of the nitty gritty,

  • a lot of the details about everything,

  • is we're just going to lay out the foundation

  • of the election and talk briefly about what it's all about,

  • because it can be confusing

  • and it's different to what I'm used to from the UK.

  • So, the election is every four years.

  • - Correct.

  • - And who are we voting for in this election?

  • Not which candidate,

  • but what type of things are we voting for?

  • - Which roles or positions?

  • - Yes.

  • - So obviously there are more elections that happen

  • in between those four years,

  • but every four years

  • is when we have a presidential election.

  • And so that's gonna be one of the biggest

  • and definitely one of the most talked about positions

  • that is up for election this year.

  • Also we have senators, depending on where you live,

  • who are up for election, House of Representatives,

  • and then a lot of other government positions too

  • at the state and local level.

  • - There's a lot of research to be done

  • if you want to know who to vote for.

  • Because the president, that's the big one,

  • that's the one everyone talks about.

  • And I'm sure you know it's Donald Trump versus Joe Biden.

  • Those are the two main candidates.

  • There are also third-party candidates.

  • - This is true.

  • - But in the U.S.,

  • it's really overtaken by the Democratic candidate

  • and the Republican candidate.

  • And we'll talk more about those two parties later

  • and what they more or less represent.

  • But this is the big one, the presidential election,

  • and people are saying it's the biggest election

  • of our lifetimes.

  • - (exhales) Yeah.

  • - But they say that every time.

  • - I mean, yes, there is always a lot of hype,

  • but I think that this time

  • there is a lot of different opinions

  • between people who are considering voting Republican

  • and people who are considering voting Democratic,

  • or have historically voted that way.

  • And so it's definitely an election year

  • that feels more important.

  • It feels like there's more at stake.

  • - Yeah, more at stake, which means...

  • How would you explain that?

  • - Oh, good question.

  • So kind of that there's more

  • that people are deciding on than usual.

  • - Yeah, or the outcome is going to be more important

  • and it's gonna change.

  • So, yeah, there were different kinds of elections,

  • the big one, the president, but then you also have,

  • you say it depends where you live, the senators,

  • the representatives, everyone voting for representatives.

  • And these two are both, they represent Congress.

  • Now, we're not gonna go into what that all means

  • 'cause it is complicated.

  • We're not probably the best at explaining this,

  • but just know that these are people

  • who represent everyone who lives in a certain area.

  • - Oh, but by the way,

  • Jack actually has had a recent refresher

  • because you became an American citizen last year.

  • - Last year, so I know a little bit about it

  • 'cause on the test I had to answer some questions.

  • - Was the test hard?

  • - Well, there were 100 questions

  • and they gave you the 100 questions ahead of time

  • and the answers that they want to hear,

  • so if you can memorize it, it makes it a lot easier.

  • But things like 100 senators.

  • I think 435 representatives?

  • - That sounds right.

  • - Something like that.

  • But, yeah, there are also local elections.

  • So there are also state elections.

  • So you vote for representatives in the state

  • and governors and treasures

  • and then there are city elections too.

  • So there are a lot of things to think about

  • when you're voting.

  • Now, one term that I want to bring up is party line,

  • to vote, how would you say it, to vote by party line?

  • - Yeah or to vote down the party line.

  • - Which means that if you are a Democrat,

  • then you just vote for the Democrats,

  • no matter what position it is.

  • And vice-versa, if you're a Republican,

  • then you might want to do that as well.

  • But there are also a lot of independent voters

  • who are undecided and they don't know which to vote for.

  • And they might vote for some Republicans

  • and some Democrats, dependent on the candidate.

  • But let's just talk about the Democratic party

  • and Republican party 'cause I want to bring up some terms

  • to describe those two parties.

  • Firstly, there are some nicknames for the parties.

  • What are those?

  • - Well, I can talk about the kind of mascot

  • or animal that represents those parties.

  • So the animal that represents the Republican party

  • is the elephant

  • and the animal that represents the Democratic party

  • is the mule.

  • - The mule.

  • And Republican is represented by the red color.

  • Democratic party, blue.

  • Now we can also talk about left wing

  • versus right wing here,

  • which is not always easy to explain.

  • - It is difficult to.

  • - But I'm sure you have the same term

  • in your own native language too,

  • where policies are or parties or either left wing,

  • right wing, or somewhere in the middle.

  • And you have things like far left, far right,

  • center left, center right, center.

  • But a good way to explain it is to talk

  • about some of the important issues

  • and what those parties represent.

  • - True, and also another word that we often use

  • as an adjective for describing that divide

  • is that people who are more right wing are conservative

  • and people who are more left wing are liberal.

  • - Yeah and that term can be a little confusing sometimes,

  • liberal, because there's also the classic liberal,

  • who is someone a bit different than the modern liberal.

  • - Same for conservative.

  • - Yes. - Yes.

  • - So issues, whenever there is an election,

  • there are certain issues that come up

  • that people want to talk about.

  • Now, this year, the coronavirus is a big issue,

  • but we also have other things like the economy,

  • foreign policy, healthcare, and immigration.

  • So those are four issues

  • that both parties want to put their side forward.

  • So let's just take the economy.

  • I think one of the big differences between the two parties

  • is that the Democratic party, when it comes to the economy,

  • they want to tax the rich and give that money to the poor.

  • It's very simplistic.

  • - Or use that taxation to fund public programs.

  • - Yes and welfare.

  • And the Democratic party like to talk

  • about increasing taxes on certain people.

  • The Republican party,

  • they talk about no or less taxes, fewer taxes,

  • and more of a free market economy.

  • Very simplistic.

  • There's a lot of nuance and subtlety here,

  • but that's a good way to describe it.

  • How would you describe healthcare as well

  • and the differences between the two parties generally?

  • - In healthcare, it's hard to completely summarize

  • because we have a very different opinions

  • even among, for example, the Democratic party.

  • If you're more left wing, you are probably wanting some form

  • of more socialized healthcare.

  • So that would be kind of the far left by American standards.

  • And then the center left is in support

  • of what was called Obamacare,

  • which made certain rules about insurance companies,

  • that everyone had to be insured,

  • and also funded more people to get insurance

  • in various ways.

  • And then on the more conservative side

  • or right wing side, Republican side,

  • there's a push to repeal, or take away, Obamacare

  • and have a free healthcare market

  • without the expansion of socialized healthcare

  • or the kind of protections and funding from the government

  • for insurance that came in with Obamacare.

  • - So this is quite a complicated topic.

  • We have a lot of words there, things like insurance.

  • And also it's important to have a good overview

  • of what the American healthcare system is.

  • Now, if you're from Europe,

  • then you won't pay for health care,

  • in most cases, when you go to the hospital, to the doctors.

  • This is funded through taxes,

  • whereas in the U.S. you buy insurance

  • or you get insurance through your workplace,

  • through your employer,

  • and then if something happens to you,

  • you have to go through a very sometimes complicated process

  • to make sure that the insurance company pays

  • for the health care.

  • And, again, here, it's very complicated in how it works,

  • but I think Kate summarized it really well.

  • And a good way to say it is nationalized healthcare

  • versus privatized healthcare.

  • And there's a big debate in America about this.

  • But generally speaking,

  • that nationalized health care is never really put forward

  • or introduced as a policy.

  • It doesn't really have the backing

  • or people don't put it forward as much.

  • (brisk music)

  • Moving on to some fun stuff now.

  • Election season is crazy.

  • - Is it?

  • 'Cause this is actually your first election season.

  • This is the first time you're going to be able to vote

  • in a presidential election.

  • You've been in the United States for a past election.

  • - Yes, that was the Trump versus Clinton election.

  • - But because you weren't a citizen,

  • you weren't able to vote.

  • - No, but last time it was so interesting

  • because no one thought that Donald Trump had a chance

  • of winning and little by little,

  • it became more apparent that maybe he's going to win.

  • But even on election night,

  • people thought no way, this is not gonna happen.

  • - I think a lot of people were shocked,

  • a lot of people didn't believe the results,

  • and a lot of people are still kind of confused.

  • - Yeah, but it's election season again

  • and there are certain things

  • that happen around this time of year.

  • For example, I've written down some things.

  • You have campaigns, debates, polls, the news cycle, and ads.

  • So let's just start with debates.

  • And we're not gonna talk a lot about this,

  • but there was a debate two nights ago.

  • Do you think that this would be beneficial

  • for people who are learning English to watch that debate?

  • - No. (laughs)

  • - I agree 'cause the reason is,

  • well, you can watch,

  • I think it's a good idea to watch highlights of it,

  • where somebody has taken certain clips.

  • But a lot of the time, they were talking over each other.

  • A lot of the time, both Donald Trump, Joe Biden,

  • and the moderator, the person who was interviewing them

  • and asking the questions,

  • they were all talking at the same time.

  • And just as a side note, I talk about when learning English,

  • it's a good idea to find podcasts and conversations

  • where people don't talk over each other.

  • - This is true.

  • It's hard to understand,

  • it was hard to understand for native English speakers

  • to really kind of even hear the words.

  • - No, it was,

  • just to hear the words and what they're saying.

  • Now, something interesting.

  • I saw somebody tweet that in the 19th century,

  • I think it was Lincoln, their debate,

  • what they did was one candidate spoke

  • for 60 minutes without interruption

  • and then the next one spoke for 90

  • and then it was something like 40 and then 10.

  • So there was no interruption,

  • they just put that argument forward,

  • and the other person did it.

  • And I think over the years, it's just become more

  • where people are interrupting all the time.

  • - And the last debate format was two-minute responses,

  • so you only had two minutes-

  • - You have two minutes-

  • - To talk about these big policies

  • about healthcare and justice.

  • - And so they're going to have more debates

  • and I think they're going to change the format.

  • - I heard on the news that the debate commission

  • was definitely considering a change in format

  • for the upcoming debate at the end of the month.

  • - To mute the microphones maybe, which I never do to you.

  • - Thank you.

  • - So we also have polls,

  • where they ask people who they are going to vote for

  • in certain states, certain cities, or across the U.S.

  • You'll hear things like

  • "Biden has a lead over Trump in Arizona"

  • or "Trump is catching up to Biden in Florida" for example.

  • But in 2016,

  • those polls said Hillary was definitely going to win.

  • And she didn't.

  • - And another thing that's a little bit different

  • about American elections

  • versus elections in other countries is that

  • even though Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote,

  • so if every vote is counted, how many more people was it?

  • - 3 million.

  • - 3 more people voted for Hillary Clinton,

  • but because we have something called the Electoral College-

  • - Very confusing.

  • - It is a little bit confusing.

  • So states have different kind of,

  • is it delegates or seats?

  • - Delegates or seats, I can't remember.

  • - We'll look it up and leave it in the bio.

  • And so even though she had won the popular vote,

  • a lot of those votes came from urban areas

  • in more densely populated states,

  • which had a different number of electoral votes.

  • And so in the Electoral College,

  • that was how she had lost the vote.

  • - It's a good way to explain it that if you win a state,

  • you get all of those delegates or seats.

  • They're not seats are they?

  • Are they delegates?

  • I can't remember- - Let me see.

  • - Yeah, have a look up. - I'll look.

  • - But let's say, I think there are 52 in California,

  • so if you win California

  • then you get all of those 52 votes, let's say,

  • and then if you win Florida, then you get so many as well.

  • But if you win Maine,

  • is it two or three because it's a smaller state?

  • So what they have are things called battleground states,

  • where they can go either way.

  • Very important states: Ohio, Florida,

  • not California, but I remember Florida and Ohio.

  • Kate's looking up "what is the Electoral College?"

  • Electors.

  • So these are the important states to win

  • and this was very confusing for me at first.

  • Have you found what they are called?

  • - Yes.

  • I think that they are called electors.

  • - Electors.

  • Okay.

  • So that is a little breakdown of that.

  • We were talking about polls, the news cycle.

  • The news cycle is dominated by the election.

  • - Right now it is.

  • - Everything about the news is, well,

  • either coronavirus or the election.

  • - Or also natural disasters.

  • - Yeah, but you know what I'm saying.

  • This is dominating.

  • So the news just talk about the election all the time

  • and go to what Trump said or Biden said or this person said

  • and then they bring on talking heads to analyze it.

  • What is a talking head?

  • - A talking head is an expert on whatever subject,

  • but they're called a talking head

  • because in a news program,

  • you will often have them cut away to this person,

  • usually from here on up,

  • and they were just talking about the topic.

  • - Yeah and giving their analysis on the topic.

  • We also have a lot of ads, don't we, at this time.

  • So what I find astonishing here

  • is that most of the ads are attack ads.

  • And how would you explain an attack ad?

  • - So an attack ad, rather than promoting the candidate

  • that is paying for the ad

  • or whatever group is paying for the ad,

  • it's usually something along the lines

  • of why the the candidate that they're running against

  • is not good, is not making the right choice.

  • So to say so and so didn't do this or did do that.

  • - In 2016, Joe Biden said this.

  • And it's the music and the color of the ad as well.

  • - We could say the tone.

  • The tone of the ad is very dark.

  • - And at the end they say

  • "I am Joe Biden and I approve this message."

  • What is that about?

  • Why did they have to say that at the end?

  • - I guess so that you don't have rogue people

  • taking out ads.

  • - Oh, right!

  • And you know it's from that candidate.

  • - Or that the candidate's campaign approved that ad.

  • - Yeah, that makes sense.

  • - Yeah, we have the new cycle and they also have campaigns.

  • So what do you call it when they go

  • to a big crowd of people?

  • A rally.

  • - Yeah, so we have rallies.

  • Also they might have something called a town hall,

  • which is in smaller towns,

  • a lot of the meetings of the government

  • are called town hall meetings.

  • And so the town hall's that election

  • or that candidates for election go to

  • are kind of a recreation of that,

  • where they might go to a smaller town or city

  • and then have kind of like a meeting

  • where they put out their platform.

  • So that's another great word.

  • - Platform.

  • - The platform is what the candidate is running on,

  • what they're promising to do if and when they're elected.

  • - Yeah, and so that goes back to the issues.

  • You have a platform.

  • You say I'm going to do this with the economy,

  • I'm going to do this with health care, et cetera.

  • That's great.

  • So we have rallies, we have town hall meetings,

  • and then let's talk about the election itself.

  • - Can't wait. I'm so excited.

  • You are too.

  • It's your first time getting to vote.

  • - Yeah, well, yeah, it's happening.

  • It's soon.

  • - Yes. Very soon.

  • I think early voting starts,

  • even though the election is more than a month from now,

  • just a little bit more than a month

  • from when we make this conversation,

  • early voting starts in a couple of weeks.

  • - You have election day, when you go into the,

  • do you call them a polling station?

  • - A polling station or a polling place.

  • - Okay, so you go into a polling station,

  • you tell them your name, you get your ballot,

  • and then you write in your ballot

  • and then it goes into a machine.

  • So that's how you can vote, one way,

  • but there's also early voting.

  • What does that mean?

  • - I think that early voting is similar to the other ways.

  • You don't have an assigned polling place.

  • So if we wait to vote to election day,

  • we have to go to a certain place.

  • And this is more there's different polling locations

  • that you can go to to vote.

  • And also there's a third option,

  • which is one that people are talking about a lot this year,

  • especially with the virus and with different conditions,

  • which is the mail-in ballot.

  • And oftentimes that's the absentee ballot

  • because if you're not going to be

  • at your polling place for election day,

  • you can request these absentee ballots to mail in.

  • - A good example is people who are in the army

  • and they're stationed abroad or not in their home state.

  • So then they can still vote by mail,

  • but then it's becoming an issue

  • in this presidential race as well.

  • Now results come in.

  • So you vote on election day and, more or less,

  • the election is decided in most cases that night

  • or in the early hours of the morning, right?

  • - Yeah, so they'll say something like,

  • "we call the election."

  • - Oh yeah, call the election,

  • which means by the results that have come in so far

  • and what we expect to happen,

  • the election is called in this person's favor.

  • And again, election night, it's all about the president.

  • - It's all about the president.

  • And also people even have watch parties

  • to watch the election results coming in.

  • And they'll see as different states count the ballots,

  • there will reach a tipping point

  • where a certain person is going to win,

  • even though they're still counting,

  • and they call that state and you can kind of see it happen.

  • And because the United States is in different times zones,

  • you actually have states

  • on the west coast calling the election later

  • than the states on the east coast.

  • It's exciting in a way.

  • - So in the UK,

  • there's always a rush for certain cities to be first.

  • I think it's Sunderland and New Castle in the UK,

  • where they always want to be the first one to say

  • "here are our results."

  • Do they have that here, do you know?

  • I don't think so.

  • I think that what happens a lot

  • is that in battleground states,

  • I keep on doing air quotes, but in states where-

  • - The election.

  • (both laughing silently)

  • - In states where the results are very close,

  • so battleground states,

  • another word that people will use for them is swing states,

  • 'cause they could swing either way.

  • - Yeah, so it might swing this way or swing that way.

  • And then that also swings the election.

  • - I kinda imagined it more as a pendulum.

  • - I always see it at the top.

  • - Yeah, like a little odometer.

  • - Yeah. - Okay.

  • - Are they called swing states

  • because also they can swing the election?

  • - Possibly, yes, yes.

  • - Which means that they decide the election.

  • So a lot of people focus on those, don't they?

  • - Yeah, so when candidates are campaigning,

  • they will often go

  • to those states more often or exclusively.

  • - Florida is always one of the biggest ones.

  • And I think a good thing to do as well

  • is to watch some of the election coverage.

  • So while it's in the news cycle,

  • you can watch this live or on YouTube or anywhere else,

  • just to watch some of the news coverage,

  • not too much 'cause it makes you go crazy,

  • but watch some of it in English

  • and just listen to some of the words they're using.

  • And then on election night, which,

  • depending on where you are,

  • you might be able to watch live.

  • It'd be great if then you learned the vocabulary here

  • and then you can understand a lot more

  • when you're watching it.

  • What I'll do is I'll leave a lot of these terms

  • in the description below

  • because that way you'll be able to read the terms

  • that we use and just learn more about it.

  • But I think we've covered quite a lot there.

  • So, just in summary, we have an election

  • for the president, for Congress, local elections.

  • We have two main parties,

  • the Democratic party, Republican party,

  • and this is a conservative versus liberal thing.

  • There are different issues

  • or the parties and candidates run on tickets.

  • Things like the economy,

  • foreign affairs, healthcare, immigration.

  • Election season dominated by the campaigns that they run,

  • the ads, polls, the news cycle, and ads.

  • And then on election night, you go your polling station,

  • you fill out your ballot, and then results start coming in

  • and people are very happy the next day,

  • very sad, or indifferent.

  • - Yeah, that is a possibility.

  • I think with this election,

  • it's much more people are much more invested in the outcome.

  • - One thing I will say about this election

  • and just in general, it's very divisive,

  • which means that people are on one side or the other

  • and they're very strong about it.

  • - I think particularly our current president,

  • Donald Trump, is just proven to be somebody

  • that people feel strongly about one way or another.

  • - He divides opinion with a lot of people.

  • And also the media has played a role in it.

  • There's a lot of division between everyone at the moment.

  • But it's going to be interesting.

  • Oh, one last thing I wanted to talk about!

  • So they decide the election

  • but then the current president continues

  • for four more months, three?

  • - Until January. - Until January.

  • And then what's it called when they have that big event

  • and the new president comes into power?

  • - That's the inauguration. - Inauguration, that's right.

  • And that happens in Washington, D.C.

  • and the president has to swear to uphold the constitution

  • and then we have a new president.

  • - Yeah, or the same president again.

  • - Or the same president again.

  • Do they do the inauguration the second time

  • if they win again?

  • - Yeah, I think so.

  • Obviously we are experts in this topic.

  • But yeah, I hope you found this useful.

  • This might have been a bit more of a difficult lesson

  • but what I recommend you do is go to the description,

  • look up those key words and phrases,

  • read them and then watch this again,

  • because if you repeat the lesson

  • and you've read the phrases that we've used,

  • you will just better understand it.

  • And then, like we said,

  • go to the different YouTube channels from CNN,

  • ABC, Fox News, all the different ones,

  • and just watch some of the election coverage

  • and learn some new things.

  • And also just notice the types of things that they're saying

  • and the issues that we've discussed here.

  • And when you're in the description, get my book,

  • "The Five Step Plan for English Fluency".

  • Like and share this video.

  • Subscribe with your name.

  • Click on the notification bell.

  • Okay, so thank you so much for being here

  • and we'll speak to you soon.

  • Bye bye.

  • (hypnotic EDM music)

(brisk music)

Subtitles and vocabulary

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