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  • Do you love summer as much as I do?

  • We'll celebrate the end of summer in this video by studying several conversations about your summer.

  • You'll study some important reductions and learn the phrasal verb, wrap-up,

  • as well as great vocabulary words like opportunity and chaotic.

  • Watch all the way to the end to learn things like what is an extended family versus a nuclear family

  • and how to use 'bookend' and 'tied to' figuratively.

  • Mom, how's your summer been?

  • It's been good.

  • We usually go out to Colorado late May, early June,

  • but this year, we had an opportunity to babysit our grandson in Philadelphia.

  • You're welcome.

  • Opportunity.

  • This is a great vocabulary word.

  • It means a set of circumstances that make something possible.

  • We had a trip and so we invited my parents to come take care of Stoney while we were gone.

  • Sample sentences: I had the opportunity to go to NYC for the weekend

  • because my friend was out of town and offered me her apartment.

  • Or, my work offered to fly me to a conference in Anaheim

  • so I took the opportunity to visit Disneyland while I was there.

  • But this year, we had an opportunity to babysit our grandson in Philadelphia.

  • You're welcome.

  • Do you know the term babysit?

  • This means to care for someone else's children.

  • It's also a noun.

  • Every month or so, David and I hire a babysitter to watch Stoney so we can go out.

  • In the US, the term has evolved and we now use the terms 'house-sitter 'and 'pet-sitter'

  • to refer to people paid to look after our houses or pets while we travel.

  • These can be used as a verb as well:

  • I'm going to house sit for my aunt and uncle for a month while they're in China.

  • But this year, we had an opportunity to babysit our grandson in Philadelphia.

  • You're welcome.

  • In late July....in late June, so we waited to go out to Colorado until we did that.

  • What are you going to do to wrap-up your summer?

  • Um, we're almost at the end here.

  • Wrap up: this phrasal verb means to end something.

  • Notice the W is silent.

  • What are you doing to wrap up your summer?

  • Another example sentence with this phrasal verb:

  • I think we covered everythingwhy don't we wrap up the meeting?

  • This verb can also mean to cover in something.

  • For example, you might wrap up a gift before giving it to someone:

  • cover it in nice paper, maybe a bow.

  • When I was at the beach this summer with Stoney, he got cold when he got out of the water.

  • I said, “come here and I'll wrap you up in a towel.”

  • Wrap up.

  • What are you going to do to wrap-up your summer?

  • Um, we're almost at the end here.

  • Well, I have a, we spent a week here in a camp with my extended family.

  • Extended family is different from your nuclear family.

  • A nuclear family is made up of just two generations:

  • a parent or parents and his or her children.

  • An extended family goes beyond that:

  • spouses of children, children of children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etcetera.

  • I have a vocabulary video that goes over the terms we use for various family members.

  • I'll be sure to link to that video at the end of this video.

  • Well, I have a, we spent a week here in a camp with my extended family.

  • And then we're going to go visit some friends in Northern Michigan,

  • and then, we're going to drive up to Isle Royale National Park

  • which is an island in Lake Superior.

  • A national park is park set aside by the national government for conservation

  • and the preservation of wildlife,

  • and the enjoyment of the people.

  • In the US, we have about 60 of these parks.

  • You're looking at some pictures that I have taken while enjoying some of the national parks of the US.

  • Then, we're going to drive up to Isle Royale National Park

  • which is an island in Lake Superior.

  • Is there anything else like kayaking or biking or is it mostly just hiking?

  • Oh, it's mostly hiking, although they do have kayaks.

  • Kayak, this word is a palindrome,

  • which means it's spelled the same way forward and backward.

  • Have you ever gone kayaking before?

  • I find it very tiring!

  • Is there anything else like kayaking or biking or is it mostly just hiking?

  • Oh, it's mostly hiking, although they do have kayaks.

  • But I don't think they have bikes out there.

  • Are you going to do any swimming or is it really chilly up there?

  • >>It's cold. >>Yeah.

  • >>It would be really cold. >>Yeah

  • Did you hear how I described the water in Lake Superior?

  • I said 'chilly'.

  • This is another way to say 'cold'.

  • You wouldn't say 'chilly' for something that was very cold or extremely cold.

  • It's cold, it's not comfortable, but it's definitely not as cold as it could be.

  • It's chilly.

  • Are you going to do any swimming or is it really chilly up there?

  • >>It's cold. >>Yeah.

  • >>It would be really cold. >>Yeah.

  • The water.

  • How's your summer been?

  • It's been great! We started out...

  • One of the things that is fun about our summers

  • is we have David's family's beach week at the beginning of the summer to get things going.

  • And then we have my family's week here at Lake Michigan at the end of the summer.

  • So we have these two really great weeks that's sort of bookend our summer and...

  • >> mark it. >>That's nice!

  • >> Yeah! >> Yeah!

  • Bookends: there are objects that you use on a bookshelf to keep your books upright,

  • often one on either side of a set of books.

  • But we can also use this term figuratively.

  • This would be anything that appears on either side of something.

  • Here, I'm talking about two vacations that bookend our summer:

  • one at the beginning with David's family,

  • and one at the end with my family.

  • We have two great vacations to bookend our summer.

  • So we have these two really great weeks that's sort of bookend our summer and...

  • >> mark it. >> That's nice.

  • >>Yeah! >>Yeah!

  • The month and a half or so in between has been pretty chaotic.

  • Chaotic. This word is spelled with a CH, but it's pronounced with a K sound.

  • Chaotic.

  • Chaos.

  • Chaotic means disorganized, in turmoil.

  • It often refers to too much going on, being too busy.

  • The month and a half or so in between has been pretty chaotic

  • with getting ready to go on a maternity leave and working extra overtime.

  • We had two terms related to work there.

  • 'Maternity leave' refers to the period of time a woman takes off from work after having or adopting a baby.

  • 'Paternity leave' is the time that a man takes off from work when welcoming a new baby to the family.

  • Maternity, paternity.

  • Notice in both of these words, the first T is a True T because it starts a stressed syllable.

  • The second T is a Flap T because it comes between two vowels but doesn't start a stressed syllable.

  • Maternity, paternity.

  • With getting ready to go on a maternity leave and working extra overtime.

  • The other term you heard was 'overtime'. This refers to working more than your usual number of hours.

  • For example, in the US, at many companies, the standard work week is 40 hours.

  • Depending on your job, if you work more than 40 hours, that's considered overtime and you might receive higher pay for those hours above 40.

  • A compound word, stress on the first word, over.

  • Overtime.

  • With getting ready to go on a maternity leave and working extra overtime

  • to get all my YouTube videos ready, to get everything for my academy ready.

  • So I've definitely been working more than normal and

  • too much, if that was my normal, something would have to change.

  • But it's not the normal. It's just to get ready for the new baby.

  • But the summer has been great! I love summer. You know, as an adult,

  • we don't have kids in school yet

  • and neither of us works in the school system or the university system.

  • So summer is sort of just like

  • every day life but it's not because you still always take vacations in the summer.

  • Summer is about, I don't know, it's something still so tied to the school schedule.

  • I've just used the term 'tied to', and I'll use it several more times here.

  • This doesn't literally mean that I am tied to an object.

  • We mean it to talk about something that is paired together, that goes together,

  • something that we must adhere to or rules that we must follow.

  • It usually implies some kind of a limit.

  • For example, I can work anytime from anywhere,

  • but I used to be tied to David's work schedule.

  • We had to be in Philly on certain days.

  • An example sentence: I like to cook all sorts of different things,

  • but I'm tied to the ingredients I can buy in my town.

  • I can't cook all the things I want, because I don't have access to certain foods

  • needed to make some international dishes.

  • Summer is about, I don't know, it's something still so tied to the school schedule.

  • The summer is where even if you're not tied to the school schedule, you're doing stuff.

  • Probably 'cause all of your other family, you know, is tied to a school schedule.

  • But yeah, we feel really lucky that we get to take advantage of it with the two weeks,

  • with one week with each of our families and...

  • Yeah, I hadn't thought about that but that they're just at the perfect time.

  • >>Um, with those space in between to... >> Right?

  • >> do other things. >> The start of summer...

  • The end of summer, and then a few:

  • want to take a trip in the middle to go do something extra exciting somewhere you can?

  • But yeah it's a fun way to sort of start and end.

  • >>Yeah. >>The summer.

  • Thank you Mom for sitting down to talk with me about this.

  • Now let's get a different perspective

  • from my cousin's 10-year-old daughter.

  • >> So Ani, how was your summer? >> Good.

  • How was your summer?