transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:05] Hi everybody, my name is Shana, and this is The American English Podcast. My goal here is to teach you the English spoken in the United States. Through common expressions, pronunciation tips, and interesting cultural snippets or stories, I hope to keep this fun, useful, and interesting. Let's do it. Hey everyone, welcome back. Today, we're going to do another preposition episode with my husband, Lucas.

Speaker 2:
[00:36] Hello everyone. Good to be back.

Speaker 1:
[00:39] So glad to have you here.

Speaker 2:
[00:40] Thank you.

Speaker 1:
[00:41] I'm excited about this episode today. We've got a lot of fun words we're going over here, and I have a feeling the conversation that follows will be really interesting.

Speaker 2:
[00:52] Let's do it.

Speaker 1:
[00:53] Let's do it. Before we get started though, I want to quickly go over the format and also review the terms from last time. Is that cool?

Speaker 2:
[01:04] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[01:04] Yeah. So do you remember what the format was like?

Speaker 2:
[01:08] Yeah. You would present a situation that needs a specific preposition, and then I need you filling the gap.

Speaker 1:
[01:18] Right. And you guys have a little bit of time to guess that preposition before Lucas. So put your thinking caps on. After that, we go over one or two questions using that prepositional phrase or that collocation. And then I'll share a fun fact about the United States, where you'll hear it once again. Sound good?

Speaker 2:
[01:45] Sounds great.

Speaker 1:
[01:46] Great. Okay, so let's go through the terms we covered in episode 205, starting with afraid. You mentioned in that episode that you are afraid of snakes.

Speaker 2:
[02:02] That one is of, afraid of snakes.

Speaker 1:
[02:05] Or scared of snakes too.

Speaker 2:
[02:08] Yeah, scared of, afraid of, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[02:12] Good. Then we had, to get used.

Speaker 2:
[02:17] To get used to. I never got used to swimming in cold water.

Speaker 1:
[02:22] Good. Next, we had, to care. So for example, I care a lot, my daughters.

Speaker 2:
[02:33] That one is about, I care a lot about my daughters.

Speaker 1:
[02:37] Good. I worry my future.

Speaker 2:
[02:43] Same thing. I don't worry about my future.

Speaker 1:
[02:48] I don't worry about my future either. Just an example here.

Speaker 2:
[02:50] It is what it is.

Speaker 1:
[02:52] God, I just put up with it. Then we had, to fall in love. I fell in love Milo, the day we adopted him.

Speaker 2:
[03:06] That one is with. I fell in love with Milo when we adopted him too.

Speaker 1:
[03:12] Yeah. Yeah. He's such a cute dog. So sweet. Let's move on to the words of the day. And yeah, the first one, let's just jump right into this. Famous. So Nashville is in Tennessee. We love Nashville. And it's famous. It's music scene.

Speaker 2:
[03:37] All right. So that one is four. Nashville is famous for its music and its fried chicken, hot fried chicken.

Speaker 1:
[03:48] Have you guys tried the fried chicken from Nashville? It's burning hot.

Speaker 2:
[03:54] And it's fun. It feels like you're going on a roller coaster.

Speaker 1:
[03:57] Yeah. We went to a very famous place called Hattie B's. Last time we were there, and you go inside and they have the different levels from mild, medium, hot, and then just screaming, burning hot. And yeah, it was getting my blood pumping.

Speaker 2:
[04:16] Yeah, it was quiet and experience for sure.

Speaker 1:
[04:18] Yeah. Okay. So Nashville is famous for its music scene and fried chicken. We could also say it's known for that, right?

Speaker 2:
[04:28] Yeah. Known for, yeah, its music.

Speaker 1:
[04:31] So Lucas, what is your hometown famous for? And first off, where did you grow up?

Speaker 2:
[04:38] So I grew up in a little tiny city in Brazil called Primavera, which translates to spring or spring field. And that city is known for having a giant river right next to it.

Speaker 1:
[04:53] I remember when we visited, there was a big dam in the river, and I'm sure they produce electricity from that, right?

Speaker 2:
[05:02] Exactly.

Speaker 1:
[05:03] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[05:03] Cool. How about you? How about what's Fairfield known for?

Speaker 1:
[05:08] Hmm, Fairfield. So Fairfield is in California. It's right next to Napa Valley, and it's famous for jelly bellies.

Speaker 2:
[05:19] Well, is it those little tiny candy?

Speaker 1:
[05:23] Yeah. So they produce pretty much all of the jelly beans, all the jelly bellies in the world. So I remember traveling to Germany and to France and seeing on the back of their package, Fairfield, California. And man, I do not need to go to that factory ever again.

Speaker 2:
[05:43] How many times did you go?

Speaker 1:
[05:45] Probably, honestly, 50.

Speaker 2:
[05:47] Oh, God.

Speaker 1:
[05:48] I know.

Speaker 2:
[05:49] Every person that would visit you, you would take them there. That's the thing to do. How about the Budweiser factory?

Speaker 1:
[05:55] The Budweiser factory too. If you're underage, they give you pretzels to taste. When you go to the Jelly Belly factory, at least back in the day, you got belly flops, which are misshapen ed jelly beans.

Speaker 2:
[06:10] Oh, like the ones that went wrong and then you can go and eat them.

Speaker 1:
[06:15] Exactly.

Speaker 2:
[06:16] That's cool.

Speaker 1:
[06:17] Good stuff. Famous for, known for, and the fact I have is Roswell, New Mexico is famous for aliens.

Speaker 2:
[06:28] What?

Speaker 1:
[06:30] Yeah, it's one of the big mysteries in US pop culture. And the story is kind of crazy. So in 1947, something crashed on a ranch near the town, and early reports from the military said that they recovered a flying disk.

Speaker 2:
[06:48] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[06:50] So that statement quickly changed, and officials later said it was a weather balloon. But by then, it, like, of course, sparked all this suspicion.

Speaker 2:
[07:02] Yeah, and then people are like, oh, they're trying to cover it up with a balloon story.

Speaker 1:
[07:06] Exactly. They were, that they were trying to hide evidence of a UFO.

Speaker 2:
[07:10] That's a classic.

Speaker 1:
[07:11] Yeah. Do you know what UFO stands for?

Speaker 2:
[07:14] I guess it's unidentified flying object.

Speaker 1:
[07:20] Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So actually, one additional fun fact to add to that, I just learned this today, is that Roswell now fully embraces this culture, this alien culture, and so there's alien museums there.

Speaker 2:
[07:36] Souvenirs.

Speaker 1:
[07:37] Themed shops, and they actually have an annual UFO festival. And thousands of people come to it dressed as aliens and creatures from other planets.

Speaker 2:
[07:49] That's too good. Maybe that's what we gotta do for our next trip.

Speaker 1:
[07:52] I know. So not Coachella, not Burning Man, but the UFO festival.

Speaker 2:
[07:59] That's great.

Speaker 1:
[08:00] The next one we have is similar. So I would say that Julia is similar, your sister.

Speaker 2:
[08:15] Okay. So that one is similar to.

Speaker 1:
[08:20] Yep.

Speaker 2:
[08:22] My daughter Julia is similar to my sister.

Speaker 1:
[08:25] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[08:25] That's true.

Speaker 1:
[08:26] Yeah, they're both energetic. They laugh a lot. Everything's about fun and games.

Speaker 2:
[08:33] Same bone structure.

Speaker 1:
[08:34] Same bone structure. Yeah. Yeah, from the physical to the emotional side. So my question for you is, do you look similar to anyone in your family?

Speaker 2:
[08:47] In my family, I don't think so, but people say I look similar to Mark Anthony. I don't know if that's true. But that's the thing that I heard the most in my life.

Speaker 1:
[08:59] And what features are similar?

Speaker 2:
[09:02] I mean, we're both skinny, and I think the face lines and this light white slash Hispanic look.

Speaker 1:
[09:15] Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2:
[09:17] How about you? Do you look similar to anyone in your family?

Speaker 1:
[09:21] Yeah, I actually think I look like a younger version of my dad. As odd as that sounds.

Speaker 2:
[09:27] Yeah, I can see that. Especially the eyes and the eyebrows.

Speaker 1:
[09:32] The eyes and the eyebrows. His eyes are blue and his eyebrows are way overgrown.

Speaker 2:
[09:37] No, I express myself wrong. It's the eye socket.

Speaker 1:
[09:41] Oh.

Speaker 2:
[09:42] Sorry. Wait, I can do this. I can do this. It's the eyes, what's around the eye, the lines and the structure of what encompasses the eye. But also, also.

Speaker 1:
[09:59] The shape of their eyes, maybe.

Speaker 2:
[10:01] Right. And you look a lot like your aunt Sonia too, and your mom. So yeah, it's a mix of those three.

Speaker 1:
[10:10] Okay. That's interesting. I was talking to Elise the other day, and she goes, Oh, Clara looks so much like Lucas.

Speaker 2:
[10:18] That's what my Brazilian friends say.

Speaker 1:
[10:20] Yes. Okay. So I see that. But I also think she looks very similar to my mom.

Speaker 2:
[10:26] Oh, she's a copy.

Speaker 1:
[10:27] A copy of my mom. And then Elise goes, Oh yeah, how does that feel knowing that Lucas and your mom look a lot alike?

Speaker 2:
[10:35] So that makes no sense. Elise was just trolling you.

Speaker 1:
[10:41] Okay. So the fun fact I have here, many American foods or what's considered American foods are similar to dishes brought by immigrants to the US, and then changed over time into something new. According to the US Census Bureau, the foreign born population in the United States was 46.2 million people in 2022, which is 13.9% of the population. So if you think of foods like pizza, bagels, tacos, hot dogs, and hamburgers, they all have roots abroad, but then evolved into their own distinct style.

Speaker 2:
[11:22] Interesting.

Speaker 1:
[11:24] The next one we have is to suffer.

Speaker 2:
[11:29] Okay. That one's a little tricky.

Speaker 1:
[11:31] All right. Let me give you an example. So, Felipe came over the other day, and wow, we talked about him suffering seasonal allergies.

Speaker 2:
[11:43] Right.

Speaker 1:
[11:43] Nose was running, he had an itchy throat or something. I don't know.

Speaker 2:
[11:49] I think if it was five years ago, I would answer, he's suffering for, which is wrong, but he's suffering from. I know that one took me a while to learn, but he's suffering from seasonal allergies.

Speaker 1:
[12:07] Yeah. And if it's something that's habitual, if it happens every year, we can say just straight up, he suffers from seasonal allergies every spring.

Speaker 2:
[12:15] Right.

Speaker 1:
[12:16] What are some other things people suffer from?

Speaker 2:
[12:19] Oh, people suffer from so much.

Speaker 1:
[12:23] Everything.

Speaker 2:
[12:24] Depression, anxiety, stomach ache, headaches.

Speaker 1:
[12:30] Yeah. Yeah, it's true. The case of the Mondays.

Speaker 2:
[12:33] Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[12:34] Oh, yes. Some teenagers, well, actually anyone can suffer from low self-esteem if they don't think highly of themselves.

Speaker 2:
[12:43] And then also some serious stuff like hunger and-

Speaker 1:
[12:48] Cancer.

Speaker 2:
[12:49] Cancer and unfortunate things.

Speaker 1:
[12:52] It can be pretty light too. People can joke and say, I suffer from laziness or procrastination.

Speaker 2:
[13:02] Bad memory.

Speaker 1:
[13:03] Yeah. So my question for you is, what helps you when you're suffering from stress? Do you suffer from stress?

Speaker 2:
[13:13] Yes. I think anyone that works independently and doesn't have a fixed thing, is always dealing with some stress in some sort or shape. When we got Milo, our dog, and then I started going outside with him, he needs to go outside every day for an hour. And I started going outside, throwing him the ball, stepping on grass, getting sunlight, and just seeing him stress free. Like dogs really, they only care about like three things in their life and it's so simple. And just watching that has a calming effect for me.

Speaker 1:
[13:52] Yeah. Yeah, I like how Milo just is so easily happy when he's running around and chasing a ball.

Speaker 2:
[14:02] Right. And it makes you think as a human, like do I need all these things and all the situations and all these things that I'm trying to do or deal with when this dog, all he needs is like a tennis ball and some attention and a friend. That's it.

Speaker 1:
[14:17] Do you think you would be satisfied with a ball and attention?

Speaker 2:
[14:21] Maybe you should try just throw me a tennis ball and see what happens.

Speaker 1:
[14:25] Yeah, become super minimalist and just have simple things in life.

Speaker 2:
[14:31] How about you? What's your stress relief mechanism?

Speaker 1:
[14:37] Well, if I'm suffering from stress, my first thing that I usually do is I start cleaning. I feel like when I can't deal with whatever it is I'm working on, seeing another situation improve, it releases stress. So that might be cleaning the kitchen or doing laundry or completing a different task so I don't feel ineffective and useless.

Speaker 2:
[15:07] Okay, do you need to be in silence or do you put your headphones and listen to something?

Speaker 1:
[15:13] Normally, I listen to podcasts or I'll listen to an audio book. I really like that. Sometimes I just want complete silence.

Speaker 2:
[15:23] Right, we couldn't be more different than that.

Speaker 1:
[15:27] I know.

Speaker 2:
[15:28] That would raise my stress, but that's humans, we're all different.

Speaker 1:
[15:33] Yeah, yeah, we can talk about that later. It was something very interesting in the book. I was just reading about how one of the things that evokes stress in people like me is seeing other people relaxing.

Speaker 2:
[15:47] I can attest to that.

Speaker 1:
[15:49] If I see you on the couch, I'm like, why do you get the pleasure of sitting down on the couch when it's not the hours of the day you can sit down?

Speaker 2:
[15:58] Right. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[16:00] All right, so on to the fun fact. Many people in the United States suffer from pollen allergies. In springtime, some southern cities become coated in yellow pollen dust that covers cars, sidewalks, and porches.

Speaker 2:
[16:19] That for a Brazilian is really unique because I've never even heard of that before because I think Brazil's seasons work differently. It's kind of evergreen. There's no dramatic change in seasons. And I thought it was really interesting. Like Felipe, for instance, our friend that has it, he said he never had it in Brazil.

Speaker 1:
[16:39] Wow.

Speaker 2:
[16:39] Once he moved to the US, he discovered that he has this thing.

Speaker 1:
[16:43] Wow. I did not know that about Brazil. But I've heard that if people eat honey from the place where they live, if they have seasonal allergies, then it reduces those symptoms.

Speaker 2:
[16:59] Interesting.

Speaker 1:
[17:00] So actually, more than 82 million people in the US were diagnosed with seasonal allergies in 2024, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Speaker 2:
[17:13] Wow. That's a lot.

Speaker 1:
[17:13] It's a lot, huh? The next one is believe.

Speaker 2:
[17:19] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[17:20] So she believes hard work and consistency.

Speaker 2:
[17:27] Okay. That one I know because of all the church background I have. So it's believe in.

Speaker 1:
[17:35] Right. Good.

Speaker 2:
[17:36] He believes in God. He doesn't believe in God.

Speaker 1:
[17:40] As a child, did you believe in luck?

Speaker 2:
[17:44] Yes, I did. Even though the church always preached, there's no such thing as luck. It's all God. I was like, I think there's a good amount of luck in life.

Speaker 1:
[17:56] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[17:56] And bad luck too.

Speaker 1:
[17:58] So did you look for four leaf clovers?

Speaker 2:
[18:01] No, I didn't have those concepts growing up because the church influence. But I would think of situations and be like, oh, that was pretty lucky.

Speaker 1:
[18:13] I recently heard somebody say that the harder you work, the more luck you have.

Speaker 2:
[18:18] Right.

Speaker 1:
[18:19] Do you agree with that statement?

Speaker 2:
[18:20] I do because it no-fies the luck factor. So it actually, it's contradictory way of saying that you don't need luck. But sometimes even if you put a lot of work into something, if you have a drop of luck, it goes a long way. But I think the whole concept is the more you try, the higher your chances are to have luck, eventually.

Speaker 1:
[18:50] To succeed and make things work in your favor.

Speaker 2:
[18:53] That's why you never give up. Coming from a songwriter perspective where you write, not jokingly, thousands of songs and maybe 10 or 15 of them are going to be recorded. I know that's a real thing.

Speaker 1:
[19:07] Yeah, put the time in. Yeah, although we did talk about this the other day when we were talking about the creator of the first chocolate chip cookie. And deep down, I was a little bit upset when I heard that story because maybe it's just jealousy. But I'm like, this girl cut up a chocolate bar, put it in her regular cookie dough. She created the first chocolate chip cookie, and then people raved about it. This girl ended up getting a lifetime supply of chocolate. And I'm like, all she did was cut up a chocolate bar and put it in a cookie. Like, I would do that, you know? Like, so I get it.

Speaker 2:
[19:49] I get it. You would love the chocolate every month being mailed to you. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[19:54] So, I mean, I don't know if that's necessarily luck, but I mean, all the pieces fell into place. Once she did that simple thing, you know? She had the place to market it, I guess.

Speaker 2:
[20:06] It's the classic, you were at the right place, the right time, the right situation, for something to be possible.

Speaker 1:
[20:14] Yeah. Give it another 30 years, and someone else would have done the same thing.

Speaker 2:
[20:18] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[20:18] Yeah. Not to discredit her.

Speaker 2:
[20:22] Yeah. Totally hurt to write it.

Speaker 1:
[20:25] In the US, many people claim to believe in ghosts, and haunted places are a part of folklore. For example, the Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King's The Shining, and the Stanley Hotel is in Colorado, and it's said to be filled with spirits. So people who visit, they report hearing piano music coming from empty rooms. Some people say that they see ghostly figures in the hallways. Yeah. So whether you believe in ghosts or not, there's plenty of ghost towns and ghost hotels to visit in the United States.

Speaker 2:
[21:07] Yep. I'm sure Salem probably haunted the whole thing.

Speaker 1:
[21:13] Yeah. Salem, Massachusetts is known for, it's famous for, the Salem witch trials.

Speaker 2:
[21:21] Yeah, the witches.

Speaker 1:
[21:23] Yeah, that happened in, I think, 16, when was it? 1692. The next one is Proud M. Her parents are Proud M. Her progress. I'm Proud M. The work we finished on our house.

Speaker 2:
[21:49] All right. Yes, that one is I'm Proud of You. Because we have to use that once in a while with our kids. So if I was using it wrong, you would have corrected me by now.

Speaker 1:
[22:01] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[22:02] So yeah, proud of you. I'm proud of what I've done. I'm proud of my country or not proud of my country.

Speaker 1:
[22:10] Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2:
[22:11] Et cetera.

Speaker 1:
[22:12] Yeah. Can you remember the last time you were, or well, you felt proud of yourself?

Speaker 2:
[22:18] Yes, not long ago, I started learning how to draw. Like actually trying to learn and practice. I was really, really, I'm still bad, but I got better and that made me proud of the process.

Speaker 1:
[22:34] Yeah, definitely. I mean, you've been very dedicated to your work and to studying on a regular basis.

Speaker 2:
[22:41] Yeah. Just the process made me proud just to stick with it. I think that's the main thing.

Speaker 1:
[22:47] Yeah, the consistency.

Speaker 2:
[22:49] Right.

Speaker 1:
[22:49] You do it every day, right?

Speaker 2:
[22:50] Every day, every morning.

Speaker 1:
[22:52] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[22:52] It's an hour.

Speaker 1:
[22:53] Yeah, that's great. Yeah. Pride is a little bit weird to talk about. I don't think we often say the things we're proud of, like what we're proud of in ourselves, like our own accomplishments.

Speaker 2:
[23:06] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[23:07] But I think every once in a while, it's good to raise your self-esteem, not suffer from lower self-esteem. What are you doing?

Speaker 2:
[23:16] I'm raising my hand to speak. Can I guess that you're proud of your, of learning how to make really good bread?

Speaker 1:
[23:24] Lucas, you talk about that every episode.

Speaker 2:
[23:27] She makes incredible bread.

Speaker 1:
[23:28] Okay. Thank you, Lucas. So the fun fact we have is in the-

Speaker 2:
[23:33] Wait, wait, wait, wait. You gotta answer my question.

Speaker 1:
[23:36] No, what am I proud of?

Speaker 2:
[23:38] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[23:39] Well, I am very attached to my daughters, very, very attached. And to the point where I've neglected the side of me that loves traveling and loves exploring new places. And I mean, I do it with the girls, but I haven't traveled independently in a very long time. And I recently booked a trip to Tenerife. I don't know how to pronounce it in English, actually Tenerife. How do people say that in English?

Speaker 2:
[24:10] You're asking the wrong person.

Speaker 1:
[24:12] Yeah, anyway, it's an island. Yeah, that's part of Spain, but it's actually located near Africa.

Speaker 2:
[24:20] That's too cool.

Speaker 1:
[24:21] Yeah, it looks amazing.

Speaker 2:
[24:22] Good for you.

Speaker 1:
[24:23] Volcanoes, beaches, things like that. Yeah, so I am proud of myself for booking that trip. And for the fun fact, in the US., parents often say they're proud of their children for small milestones, learning to ride a bike, performing in a school play, or tying their shoes. Americans tend to celebrate progress openly. Cool. Yeah. I think that's good. Yeah. Good. Let's keep going. We have recover. This is sort of related to suffer. Like a few months ago, we had strep throat and we got antibiotics, and we recovered it pretty quickly after having those meds.

Speaker 2:
[25:11] That's a good tip, actually. Suffering and recovery, you can pair those.

Speaker 1:
[25:15] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[25:16] From. We were recovering from a bacteria infection.

Speaker 1:
[25:22] Yep. Good. In your opinion, what helps people recover quickly from colds?

Speaker 2:
[25:31] Well, the basics, staying hydrated, lots of liquid, and a lot of rest, but letting your body deal with it.

Speaker 1:
[25:41] Can you remember a time when it took a long time for you to recover from something?

Speaker 2:
[25:45] Well, the last time, we were sick for almost over a month.

Speaker 1:
[25:50] Yeah, but I think those were three different illnesses.

Speaker 2:
[25:53] It felt like one long one.

Speaker 1:
[25:55] Yeah, I was dragged out. For the fun fact, we have, Chicago famously recovered from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Much of the city burned, but it rebuilt quickly and became a major US city.

Speaker 2:
[26:12] Wow, didn't know about that.

Speaker 1:
[26:14] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[26:16] Was it really small when it burned?

Speaker 1:
[26:18] Or was it really? No, I believe it was pretty big at that point.

Speaker 2:
[26:23] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[26:24] I'll need to look into it. I should actually probably do an episode on that.

Speaker 2:
[26:27] Yeah, that would be interesting.

Speaker 1:
[26:28] Yeah. That's it for today's episode. We went over seven different collocations that require a specific preposition, famous for, known for, similar to, proud of, suffer from, recover from, and believe in. Let me know what you think about this podcast episode. If you liked it, you can subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. And if you want to be very kind, please leave a review. I always appreciate those. As always, if you'd like to improve your language skills with this podcast episode and with me, be sure to sign up to The Academy. You'll find the link in the episode notes. Until next time, bye guys. Thank you for listening to this episode of the American English Podcast. Remember, it's my goal here to not only help you improve your listening comprehension, but to show you how to speak like someone from the states. If you want to receive the full transcript for this episode, or you just want to support this podcast, make sure to sign up to premium content on americanenglishpodcast.com. Thanks and hope to see you soon.

Speaker 3:
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