Challenge. One video a day, every day, for 30  days. We're crushing it, learning 105 words from  

the academic word list. Words you'll need to know  if you're preparing for the IELTS or TOEFL exam,  

but also if you read or watch the news in  English or have conversations in English.  

These are intermediate words, very much  so a part of everyday conversation.  

We're going to study them in real situations,  so your understanding will go beyond just  

memorizing a definition. So grab your friends have  them join you in this challenge and let's do this!  

As always, if you like this video  or you learned something new,  

please like and subscribe with notifications,  I'd love to have you as my student.

During these 30 days, we're learning 105 words  together. I do have a download for you a list  

of all the words with definitions and sample  sentences, as well as quizzes to make sure  

you're really getting and remembering these  words. You can get that download by following  

this link or the link in the video description. Our first word today is CULTURAL.  

Be careful, the dark L in the first syllable  does change that vowel a little bit.  

It's the UH as in butter vowel,  uh-- but the word isn't pronounced  

cuh-- cuhl-- but cuhll-- uhll-- It's a little  bit darker, that vowel sound, than a pure UH as in  

butter vowel. So the back part of the tongue does  a little bit of the work, pressing down and back,  

for the dark L, mixing in with the vowel.  Cul— cultural. It's an adjective and it means  

related to a particular group of people and  their habits, beliefs, traditions, and so on.  

There are some cultural differences between  us. It also means related to the fine arts. The  

city is the cultural center of the state.  Let's watch up close and in slow motion. 

And now we'll go to Youglish to see  five examples of this word in context. 

Denver Zoo is one of Colorado's  top cultural attractions. 

Think about any big city you've ever visited.  A quick online search will pull up the most  

popular places for tourists to visit. Cultural  attractions, places like museums, parks, theatres,  

zoos, monuments, local restaurants, and more. Denver Zoo is one of Colorado's top  

cultural attractions. Here's another example. 

And they actually have a  whole cultural system for it. 

A cultural system is the way a group  of people who are similar in some way,  

work together. Think about how a couple decides to  get married. In some cultural systems, they date,  

in others, their parents choose a spouse for them. And they actually have a whole  

cultural system for it. Let's see another example. 

It's kind of a cultural joke about  how nobody wants to talk about it. 

Humor is very closely tied to culture, and so  jokes that make sense in a culture you know little  

about, might not make sense to you. Have you  ever been listening to somebody, from a different  

country, telling a joke and at the end, you were  the only one not laughing? You didn't get it. Yep.  

I've been there too. But be careful here, what's  funny or okay to joke about in your culture,  

might come across as rude or offensive  from someone from another culture. 

It's kind of a cultural joke about  how nobody wants to talk about it. 

Let's look at another example. So I'm curious what's the cultural and  

historical significance of the river in town. The cultural significance. He's asking  

why do people find the river a meaningful  place? What is its history? What famous or  

interesting things have happened on the river  or because of the river? Why is it important? 

So I'm curious what's the cultural and  historical significance of the river in town.

Our last example. Play sold out,  

got standing ovations, multicultural audience. This man is talking about his success from leaving  

one career and becoming a playwright, someone  who writes plays for actors to perform on stage.  

His play sold out, so all the tickets were bought.  He got standing ovations so the entire audience  

was on its feet, standing, applauding at the  end. And even more impressive, the audience was  

multicultural, so he was able to entertain people  from lots of different backgrounds or cultures. 

Play sold out, got standing  ovations, multicultural audience. 

Our next word is COMMUNITY. Community. It's a  four syllable word with second syllable stress,  

and that is a flap T. Community.  Dadadada. Community. It's a noun,  

a group of people who live in the same area or who  share similar interests. The festival was a great  

way for the local community to get together.  Let's look again up close and in slow motion. 

And now we'll go to Youglish to see  five examples of this word in context. 

It was hard to get policy makers  to listen to our community. 

Policy makers are leaders in government who  create ideas and plan policies that will affect  

everyone. Policy, that's a word we learned  back on day 8 of our vocabulary challenge.  

Here, this man's community is a group of  people who are all recovering from drug abuse.  

He says it was difficult to get  policy makers to listen to them. 

It was hard to get policy makers  to listen to our community. 

Here's another example. Citizens in our communities  

serve as jurors on criminal trials. Citizen is a word for someone who legally lives  

in a place. I'm an American citizen, and I'm also  a citizen of the state of Pennsylvania, and I'm a  

citizen of the city of Philadelphia. All three of  these places are communities. Throughout the US, a  

citizen who is at least 18 years old can be called  as a juror to help decide cases in a courtroom. 

Citizens in our communities serve  as jurors on criminal trials. 

Let's see another example. I'm going to talk to  

the community to find out why. This man works to solve problems about racism.  

Part of his work is talking to different  groups of people. Here, he probably means  

different racial groups. I'm going to talk to the  

community to find out why. Let's look at another example. 

If the artistic community is failing, we all fail. By now you can see that community can mean  

lots of different things. The main idea, a  community is a group of people who share or  

want something similar. The artistic community  includes people like musicians, visual artists,  

and cinematographers, people who create art.  If they're failing, if they're not able to  

make a living creating their art, enriching the  community as a whole, then the community fails,  

because art is an important part  of the culture of a community. 

If the artistic community is failing, we all fail. Our last example. 

At least for our community health center,  we have to stay within the same zip code. 

Another type of community in the US is  determined by address. Where you live  

determines what kind of public services you can  get, like which public school your kids can go to.  

A zip code is a five digit number that our  postal service uses to deliver mail within  

a local area. This woman is saying that her  center's free health care is available for  

people who live within the same zip code. At least for our community health center,  

we have to stay within the same zip code. Our next word is TRADITIONAL.  

This word begins with a TR cluster and sometimes  you'll hear that pronounced as a CHR instead,  

so it can be traditional, tt-- with a T, or  traditional, ch-- with a CH. It's an adjective,  

a way of doing or thinking about something  that has been used by a particular group of  

people for a long time based on old-fashioned  ideas. She wore a traditional Japanese kimono.  

His views on marriage are quite traditional.  This is great, it really relates to community,  

a particular group of people, and also culture,  the traditions of a community are often tied  

to cultural aspects like local arts and foods.  Let's see this word up close and in slow motion.

And now we'll go to Youglish to see  five examples of this word in context. 

We did this in places where traditional  gender roles are a little more pronounced. 

So traditional gender roles, this means  expectations from the past that might still  

apply how you should be according to your gender. We did this in places where traditional gender  

roles are a little more pronounced. Here's another example. 

Even the script that they use in  Taiwan is a traditional script. 

Here a traditional script ,or style of writing,  has a very long history in a place like Taiwan.  

He means that the characters are  detailed and complex, not simplified. 

Even the script that they use in  Taiwan is a traditional script. 

Let's see another example. Many people in traditional  

energy industries worry they will be left behind. Traditional energy here is a synonym for fossil  

fuels. Some traditional sources include petroleum,  coal, natural gas. She's saying that these  

traditional sources may be replaced by clean power  such as wind energy, solar energy, and so on,  

So, traditional here, meaning the kind  of energy sources we've used in the past. 

Many people in traditional energy  industries worry they'll be left behind. 

Let's look at another example. It's a traditional stew. 

A stew from long ago. A recipe that's been  passed on from generation to generation,  

linked to the culture of the community. We just  had thanksgiving at the end of November with lots  

of traditional thanksgiving foods. The food that  you would see again and again every thanksgiving. 

It's a traditional stew. Our last example. 

And everybody dresses up in  their traditional outfits. 

He's talking about a style of dress that men  and women wear in Switzerland during their  

independence celebration. So lots of things  can be tied to tradition, to a way of doing  

something that's old, or from long ago. Behaviors,  ideas, writing, energy, food, and even clothes. 

And everybody dresses up in  their traditional outfits. 

Our last word today is REGION. A two-syllable  word with first syllable stress. It's an area or  

place that's separate, or different than other  parts. The plant grows in tropical regions.  

As we've already studied, a community might  be defined by the region that they live in,  

and people in different regions might have their  own unique cultures and traditions. Let's look at  

this word up close and in slow motion.

And now we'll go to Youglish to see  

five examples of this word in context. And it was in the driest region of Zimbabwe  

that I got to meet the water farmer. The driest region, he means the area of  

the country that gets the least amount of rainfall  every year. A water farmer collects rainfall and  

stores rain water to use for growing plants. And it was in the driest region of Zimbabwe  

that I got to meet the water farmer. Here's another example. 

It's 25 people on the average on a tour  that we offer, in 48-passenger bus,  

traveling from region to region. Region to region. He's using this  

structure to explain how this business takes  tourists to multiple areas within the country. 

It's 25 people on the average on a tour  that we offer, in 48-passenger bus,  

traveling from region to region. Let's see another example. 

This is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag from the  University Of Miami who's been studying  

tiger sharks in this region. We typically think about  

region being a place on land, but it can  also describe different areas of the ocean. 

This is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag from the  University Of Miami who's been studying  

tiger sharks in this region. Let's look at another example. 

Because in region after region, again and again,  parents have wanted to have smaller families. 

This woman studies family  planning and birth control.  

In one place, where she collected data, she says  that across the map, meaning almost everywhere,  

parents have wanted to have fewer children. Because in region after region, again and again,  

parents have wanted to have smaller families. Our last example. 

How many New York airports  serve the New York city region? 

The New York city region. That is the area of land  defined by the city and proximity to the city. 

How many New York airports  serve the New York city region? 

Seeing their real-life examples can really help  you understand how to use these words, can't it?  

I have a challenge for you now. Make  up a sentence with one of these words,  

make a video of yourself saying it,

and post it to social media, tag me, and use  the hashtag #rachelsenglish30daychallenge

Don't be shy, you can do this. Our next video  comes out tomorrow at 10AM Philadelphia time, come  

back to learn four more vocabulary words. In the  meantime, keep your studies going with this video,  

and check out my online courses  at Rachel's English Academy.

You'll become a more confident English speaker.  And please do remember to subscribe. I love being  

your English teacher. That's it and thanks  so much for using Rachel's English.