Irish Life
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Simon
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Joel
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Joel: I'm sorry, what was your name again?
Ruth: My name is Ruth Archibald.
Joel: Ruth. OK, where are you from?
Ruth: I'm from Ireland.
Joel: Ireland. OK. I can notice your accent a little bit. I've never been to Ireland before. What's famous about Ireland that you can tell me about?
Ruth: Probably the most famous things are Guinness and whiskey, they're alcoholic drinks from
Joel: I've heard that it's a pretty rough crowd in Ireland too. Is that true for women as well?
Ruth: No, I don't think so. I think it depends on where you go in Ireland. In the capitol, yes, maybe people are a bit more rough, but in the countryside they're very friendly.
Joel: OK, but for men, so if I went to a bar in Ireland, would I be in trouble?
Ruth: I don't think so. I don't think so. No. No. It's really good.
Joel: And where are you from?
Ruth: I'm from a place called Bray, which is maybe one hours drive from the capitol of Dublin.
Joel: OK, one-hours drive so what is the geography like?
Ruth: It's pretty flat. There are some mountains but none of them are very high and the area around the city is very, it's very built up but once you get outside the city it's mainly countryside. There's a lot of farming and country, particularly beef and dairy products and also sheep. There's lots of sheep.
Joel: When are you going to be going back?
Ruth: I've just gone back. I went back in December for three weeks, so at the moment I have no plans to go home in the near future, but maybe sometime in September so maybe in another six or seven weeks.
Joel: I'm going to have to go out and visit sometime.
Ruth: Definitely. It's really good. It's a really nice place to visit.
Joel: Alright. Thanks.
Ruth: You're welcome.
accent
I've never been to Ireland, but I can notice your accent a little bit.
Your 'accent' is the sound of your voice when you speak. An accent is what makes an English speaker from Canada and an English speaker from England sound very different. Notice the following:
- He learned English when he was so young that he has almost no accent when he speaks it now.
- I love your accent. Where are you from?
rough crowd
Because Ireland is famous for whiskey, people assume it's a pretty rough crowd there.
'Rough crowd' can refer to people who like to get into fights or cause problems. It can also be used to refer to people who are not well educated and don't know how to behave with others. Notice the following:
- This bar always has kind of a rough crowd.
- His band always attracts a rough crowd.
landscape
I'm from a place called Bray, which very flat in terms of landscape.
The 'landscape' of a place is how large areas of the land appear when you are looking at them. We usually use landscape for areas that do not have many buildings. Notice the following:
- The landscape in this state is really boring.
- The window in the hotel has a beautiful view of the landscape.
one-hours drive
Bray is one-hours drive from the capitol of Dublin.
'One-hours drive' is used to show the amount of time it takes to get from one place to another if you are driving. This is commonly used when the actual distance between two places is not far, but it takes longer than you would expect to get there, or when it makes more sense to use time as a measurement than distance. Notice the following:
- Where he lives now is a two-hours drive from where he grew up.
- She lives about an eight-hours drive from here.
built up
The area around Bray is very built up, but outside the city it's mainly countryside.
Here, 'built up' refers to a place that has been developed and has buildings and shopping centers. Notice the following:
- Once they started development in this area, it was built up very quickly.
- This town has gotten very built up since the last time I was here.
Vocabulary Quiz
five-hours • build up
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