Study Options
Video Response
- Transcript
- Audio Slide Show
- Vocabulary
Martin, The United States
The one country I would most like to visit would have to be New Zealand. Mnay reasons, the number one being it looks like an absolutely gorgeous country, especially having seen Lord of the Rings and that is one of my favorite movies. Another reason is, I've never been south of the equator and I'd really like to see if the water flushes in reverse, but on the, by and large New Zealand looks like the most amazing country and I've met a lot of nice people from there.
Akane, Canada
One country that I would like to visit is France. I've never been to France before but I've heard many things about it because my father and my mother went to France on their honeymoon and so they have very good memories about France and I can also speak some French so it would be nice to get some practice.
Todd, The United States
If I could visit any country in the world, believe it or not, I'd go to Canada. I'm from America and Canada is our neighbor to the north and I've never been there and I live overseas. I've been to many countries, probably 25 at least, Japan, France, Italy, Thailand, many, many places, but I've never been to Canada and I have so many Canadian friends that I would really like to go to Canada and see their country for the first time.
Naomi, Australia
One country that I would really like to visit is Vietnam. I've never been anywhere in that area of Asia actually but I've seen a lot of footage of Vietnam on television and it looks really beautiful. I think you can take relaxing boat cruises through the lagoons and small islands and also I heard that the food there is really tasty so I would like to visit there one day.
Ruth, England
One country I'd really like to visit is actually Malawi. Now I would like to go to Malawi because my mom used to work there. She lived there for two years, and I've seen some of her photos and it looks amazing, so I'd like to go there. I'd like to go there with my mum so that I can learn more about the places that she went to and see some of the things that she saw. That's where I'd like to go.
Simon, Canada
Yeah, one country where I'd like to visit again would be Cuba. Cuba is great. It has tropical weather, interesting Latin culture and music, a strange government system that has made 1950's cars common and behive haircuts mixed with hip-hop gear, fashions, yeah, really, really cool, plus the architecture.
flush
Water flushes in reverse in New Zealand.
Here, the speaker is talking about the water in a western style toilet. 'Flush' is an action verb that describes what happens when old toilet water empties and new water comes in. Notice the following:
- In Singapore, it's a crime not to flush in a public toilet.
- The modern flush toilet developed over many centuries.
by and large
By and large, New Zealand looks like the most interesting place to visit.
The phrase 'by and large' is similar in meaning to 'mostly' or 'in general'. Notice the following:
- By and large, Asian consumers prefer smaller cars.
- Thailand is by and large a Buddhist country.
footage
There’s a lot of footage of Vietnam.
'Footage' is a word we use to talk about the length of the movie or of particular scenes in a movie. In a travel movie for example, a lot of footage of Vietnam would mean there are many scenes about Vietnam. Notice the following:
- The war movie contained a lot of violent footage.
- I'm an architect, so my vacation video has a lot of
footage of old buildings.
beehive haircuts
She has beehive haircuts mixed with hip hop gear.
A 'beehive' is a hairstyle that women wore in the 1960's. It had the same shape as a large beehive. Here, Simon is impressed by how an old hairstyle and modern hip hop can mix so easily. Notice the following:
- My grandmother still wears a beehive.
- I love cartoon mom Marge Simpson's big blue beehive.
plus
It’s really cool, plus the architecture.
Here, 'plus' is similar in usage to the conjunction 'and'. Plus can be used when you are talking about a list of things or when you want to add additional important information about something. Notice the following:
- I love to go hiking. It's outside, I can listen to my mp3 player, plus it’s exercise!
- The meal was delicious, plus we got to eat right next to
the ocean.