and this is my wife Kate.

- Hi!

- Now we are back with another conversation

that will allow you to learn English

in a very natural way.

And in this conversation, we're going to talk about summer.

But before we do, be sure to go to tofluency.com/summer

to get the transcripts,

to find out how you can get the transcript

and different words and phrases

that are taken from this lesson.

So yeah, we're going to talk about summer today.

It was Kate's idea for the topic.

So why don't you lead us off.

- Sure.

So summer actually starts next week for us,

when we're making this video.

So even though the weather's hot,

it's just about to be summer.

So my question, if I can kick it off with a question,

is summer your favorite season?

- No. - Explain your answer.

- Okay, my favorite season is spring.

It used to be summer.

When I was growing up in the UK.

And that's because that's when we, potentially,

had the best weather.

Spring was always chilly,

it was never really that warm.

But then summer also used to be the time

when you had the break from school.

You had the break from whatever you were doing at that time.

Like university, college, well we call it college,

and school.

So I used to love the summer holidays.

I used to love them.

We did so many fun things.

But now I think it's spring.

Because it's a lot fresher, it's not as humid.

And you have all the period of

warm weather ahead of you.

So you start and you say, "Okay, from now on

"we're going to have so many months,

"where it's not gonna be cold.

"Where we can do things outside,

"we can go swimming, et cetera."

- So almost like the anticipation of summer

is better than summer?

- Yes.

Yeah because every week is another week where

it's going to get darker earlier.

Not really cooler, but you just have less time

of that season.

And we're getting very close

to the summer solstice, aren't we?

- Mm-hmm, yeah absolutely.

- It's gonna be in a week or so.

- Yeah, less than a week.

- Yeah and this is the time when

it's the longest day of the year.

What about you?

- To be honest, it's the same.

Summer has been my favorite season.

I would say right now, it's not my favorite season.

Because again, it's just a little bit too hot

to enjoy the days outside.

Because we live in the south of the United States,

it gets up into the mid 80s and beyond.

We have a lot of thunder showers in the afternoon.

So I think that it's not my favorite season,

but there's just something special about summer.

All of the light and the outdoor activities, and the food.

- Yeah, like what I enjoy about it,

and you have to try and make the most of it,

going swimming.

So to find an outdoor pool,

and just to feel really fresh and cool

when it's hot outside.

I also like staying out late, like outdoors.

So we don't get the opportunity to do this

as much these days, but just to sit on the porch,

have a cup of tea, or have a beer.

Listen to the insects, the noises that they make

and just relax, that's what I like about summer.

- And around here, we also have lightning bugs.

Do you have lightning bugs in the UK?

- It's very rare to see one.

I remember one time when I saw one,

but that might have been on holiday or something.

But no we don't.

Lightning bugs, they're also called fireflies?

- Yes.

- You can call them both.

And they're these little flies that,

I guess, what category of insect?

- I'm not sure. - Maybe a beetle?

- Yeah, they look like beetles.

- And they light up.

And I think about mid-July,

it's incredible isn't it?

- Yeah.

- So they start in the ground, and then they move up

into the trees.

And then they just flash don't they?

- Yeah, it's like a light show.

Not the most exciting light show,

but I think that it's still just incredible to me.

Like even as an adult.

Just to watch, it's really exciting.

And that to me, sitting on a porch after dark,

watching the fireflies is like the ultimate summer activity.

- Yeah, and listening to the crickets at the same time.

But then, what can happen is,

that's when the mosquitoes come.

- Yes.

- So I think summer is one of those times when

a lot of things improve.

You can do different things outside,

but they're also different problems,

with the heat and the mosquitoes.

It's the same for every season.

There's always going to be advantages

and disadvantages to it.

- So I was thinking too that we could talk about

what are some activities for the summer

that are really unique to where we live

to Asheville, North Carolina?

- Yeah, splashville? - Splashville.

- Yeah, that's like these fountains downtown,

you can see it in movies, don't you?

They're not as spectacular as movies,

but you have like a flat area with these fountains

that spring water out.

Is that the right verb to you, spring water?

- Spring water, shoot water?

- Yeah, they shoot water out of the fountains.

And the kids and some adults as well,

they just go around and enjoy it.

And it's a really good way to take your kids somewhere

that isn't a pool, but they can still get that water.

What else is there around Asheville?

- So river, river activities.

- Yeah river.

- So you mentioned going out to an out door pool?

I think what's even probably more typical around here

is to find swimming holes.

So if you go out into the woods,

and there are places where the river's a little bit deeper,

because we're in the mountains

and there's a lot of mountain rivers,

there's places where the river is deeper

and you can actually go swimming

and waterfalls to swim near too.

So it's always very cold and refreshing.

And it's just exciting to kind of be out there

in the middle of nature

and explore.

- Yeah, no that's another one yeah,

the swimming holes.

So it's basically like why the river is very quiet

it's kind of like a swimming pool within the river system.

Yeah, they are god fun.

And also tubing as well.

- Yes, tubing.

- Which is where you float down the river.

Are you gonna talk about the last time you did it?

- No, well we can just say in one sentence.

I got a terrible, terrible sun burn.

So always remember sun screen when you're tubing.

All over.

- Yeah, we were rushing and Kate missed a bit.

It was really bad, wasn't it?

But, it was a lot of fun while we were on the river.

And my sister was here.

And usually it's between two and five hours, I'd say.

You can get into the river at different points

and you can use any kind of like flotation device,

what's it called, a tube?

- A tube, yeah.

- But there were different kind of things you can have.

But the most basic one is like a rubber ring

where it's like round, it's like a donut.

And you sit in it.

But then they realized I think that,

"Hey let's make this more comfortable."

So they'll put something at the bottom, so you can sit on.

Like a back support as well.

And then usually people will take another tube

and fill it with things to drink and eat

while you're floating down the river.

And then there are these different bars and restaurants

that you can stop at, get out the river and just go there.

And it creates a very

like a really fun atmosphere, doesn't it?

Because people, they've been on the river for hours,

then they come into a bar and they're happy.

They're really happy.

- And there's other sports too.

Like paddle boarding is really popular now.

Kayaking, and people going canoes.

So it's just nice, it always has a little bit of

that festive atmosphere

of people really enjoying getting out

in the sun on the river.

- Another thing that people do as well

is they go on hikes to higher altitudes

so that you can escape the heat a little bit.

So there is one, Mount Mitchell,

which I think is the highest peak

in the eastern United States.

Did you know that?

- I didn't know that.

I'm sorry, I didn't hide my surprise very well.

- So you can go there and it's a lot cooler.

You also got incredible views too.

- Oh yeah, there's some really beautiful views.

So there's a road called The Parkway

that goes through our town

and you can take it up really far into the mountains

and just see these incredible vistas

of mountains all the way around.

- And there are different stop off points where you can

go and take in the view.

What are they called?

Like they call them observation?

A look out. - look outs, yeah.

- Yeah, look outs.

Which just means that you look out

at everything that you see.

But that's a lot of fun to do as well.

- And in some of our favorite look outs

and places to stop, there are wild blueberries

that grow in the summer.

So I think also going out and getting to eat wild berries,

there's blueberries and black berries.

It's just that extra little bit of fun.

So we can't wait.

We've only been on one big hike

with our son since he was born.

But that's something that's on my summer bucket list.

What's on your summer bucket list?

- I mean just to try and take advantage of things

and to get out earlier.

Because if you wait until 11,

it's usually a little bit too hot then.

- Yeah, definitely.

- To get outside and to do things.

But we also really enjoy going to

different, mainly breweries.

Ironically, I think we might have talked about this before

but one of the best places to go to with kids

is to the place where they make beer.

When you tell people,

they get a little bit confused sometimes.