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  • - Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com

  • along with--

  • - Kate.

  • - And we are back with another conversation in English

  • and we, this is where we talk about various topics

  • so that you can get some good listening practice,

  • learn new words and phrases and do this in a fun way.

  • So, be sure to check out the description

  • for resources and a list of the phrases that we use today.

  • Now, we are going to talk about winter.

  • We talked about summer-- - Um hmm.

  • - Maybe two years ago.

  • And we went through various idioms

  • and just talked about some in general

  • to give you some key phrases

  • and we're going to do the same again today

  • but we're going to talk about winter.

  • My first question is: is it winter

  • at the moment?

  • - That is an excellent question.

  • Winter is actually beginning, um,

  • in the next month.

  • - Okay, so today it is, well, it's late November.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - When does winter officially start?

  • - That's a great question.

  • - I've never--

  • - I don't know off the top of my head.

  • I think it is in December.

  • - I always think that if you divide it by months,

  • then it's December, January, February.

  • - I think that this is a question that Google can answer.

  • - Um-hmm, yeah.

  • When is winter?

  • Is there an official date?

  • - Is it December 1st?

  • - I don't know.

  • Leave a comment below.

  • I do know the shortest day of the year.

  • - We're experts.

  • - Yeah.

  • We don't know the technical aspects of this.

  • - Of this season.

  • - Um, the shortest day of the year is the 21st.

  • - Oh yeah?

  • - Of December.

  • - Neat.

  • - Which is not too far away.

  • And at the moment, it goes dark at about...

  • - 5:30?

  • - Maybe a little bit before.

  • - Um-hmm.

  • - So, it goes dark quite early.

  • In the UK, I think it goes dark around 4:45.

  • - Yes.

  • - In the winter.

  • - Really early.

  • - And I want to say straight away that

  • one of the biggest differences between

  • where we live now and the UK

  • is the quality of light in winter.

  • - I agree, um-hmm.

  • - Because here, you can get some glorious days.

  • On Sunday, I was sitting outside in just a T-shirt

  • for two hours.

  • - And this Sunday, you'll be sitting outside again.

  • - Yeah.

  • - In a T-shirt probably.

  • - It's going to be a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Which, I don't know what that is in Celsius

  • but it's warm.

  • - It's warm.

  • - Yeah.

  • It's T-shirt weather.

  • - Yeah, probably around like, never mind.

  • (laughing)

  • - Thought that was a little ambitious.

  • - I know.

  • I don't work in Celsius very well.

  • - So--

  • - Even though it makes sense.

  • - That's one of the big things here though.

  • Because we're in the mountains,

  • but we're in the south,

  • it can be really warm, relatively, during the day

  • but then, it can get really cold at night.

  • - Absolutely, uh-hmm.

  • And you notice that

  • here, for example, we didn't get almost any snow yesterday

  • in our neighborhood.

  • But, when we drove 10 minutes down the road,

  • there was ice and snow on the roads.

  • So, it really changes, not only in general,

  • but in little areas.

  • - Um-hmm, yeah.

  • So, some schools were closed yesterday.

  • - Um-hmm.

  • - Yeah.

  • I made a video about this,

  • about phrases in the snow,

  • last winter.

  • - [Kate] Um-hmm.

  • - [Jack] And I called it a snow day.

  • - Oh yeah.

  • - Was it a snow day yesterday?

  • - Yesterday was a delay.

  • - Right.

  • - So, it's really typical

  • that if the roads will be icy in the morning,

  • potentially schools will be delayed by an hour or two.

  • If it starts snowing during the day,

  • often we'll have an early dismissal

  • and school's will release one or two hours early.

  • - Okay.

  • So, a delay is when school's start late.

  • And, and early release is when you have to

  • pick them up early from school.

  • - From school.

  • - Right, okay.

  • And we sometimes get really good snow days here,

  • don't we?

  • - Yes.

  • We get, we get probably several snow days a year.

  • And we'll have at least one every year,

  • usually a few,

  • where we can go sledding by our house,

  • which is really fun.

  • - Um-hmm, yeah.

  • There's some great hills around here

  • to go sledding.

  • We call that sledging.

  • - Sledging?

  • - Yeah.

  • A sledge, and to go sledging.

  • - Wow.

  • Yeah, we call it sledding, no G.

  • - No G?

  • - No G.

  • - So, a few phrases just to introduce here

  • are I really like the one, "It's freezing."

  • Like, it's freezing cold.

  • - It's freezing cold.

  • It's freezing outside.

  • It's going to be freezing tomorrow.

  • - Um-hmm.

  • - Put on your jacket, it's freezing.

  • - We say that a lot.

  • - Yeah.

  • Come on, put on your jacket.

  • It's freezing.

  • - It's freezing.

  • Now,

  • funny enough,

  • we say that all the time to our son.

  • - Um-hmm.

  • - But when you were a boy,

  • did you like to wear a jacket?

  • - Well, I wore a jacket,

  • but at school I wore shorts for the whole year.

  • I found trousers really uncomfortable.

  • - So, you would only wear shorts?

  • - Only wear shorts until I was about 10, I think,

  • or 11.

  • - And right now, I'm working in a school

  • and I have students who are about 13 and 14 years old,

  • and they do not like wearing jackets.

  • - Hmmm.

  • Even this morning?

  • - Even this morning.

  • So, yesterday was really freezing, um,

  • but even so,

  • even we had a delay for snow,

  • and students came to school in T-shirts.

  • - Wow.

  • Yeah, yesterday it was freezing.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - And I want to say it is relative,

  • but because you know, you're...

  • I have students who

  • are in certain countries

  • who always tell me, "That's not cold."

  • When I say it's minus two degrees Celsius,

  • they say, "That's not cold."

  • But it feels cold.

  • - It does feel cold.

  • - There'so other way to say it, it does feel cold.

  • And, obviously, -20 is colder,

  • but -2 is still cold.

  • - Still cold. Uh-huh.

  • Anything below freezing to me, is cold.

  • - So, what do you do and what do you wear

  • to stay warm?

  • when it's cold outside or when it's freezing?

  • - Great question.

  • And I'm so glad that you asked because I really enjoy

  • certain parts of winter.

  • And one of the things that I enjoy most about winter

  • is layering.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - So, I don't just wear one thing,

  • or one layer of clothing,

  • I wear several.

  • Um, and I think a lot about it

  • and I really enjoy putting on those layers

  • and just wrapping up and being cozy.

  • So, for example, um,

  • it is better, for me, to wear a sweater and a shirt,

  • rather than just a long sleeve shirt or a sweater

  • because I like to take the layers on and off.

  • - Okay.

  • - Throughout the day.

  • - So, you like to put on layers.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - That just means like

  • various items of clothing.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - Yeah, it's a smart thing to do.

  • - I know.

  • - Especially when it's really warm and then really cold.

  • - What is your philosophy on hats?

  • - Hats, I don't like wearing hats.

  • - You don't like wearing hats? - No.

  • - Aren't you the one who's always talking about

  • losing body heat from your head?

  • - Well, may be.

  • - Maybe so.

  • - But, I don't wear hats.

  • - Okay, but you don't like them.

  • Is that because it messes up your hair?

  • - No.

  • (laughing)

  • I just, I don't...

  • I don't like taking lots of things with me.

  • Because you take off your hat, you take off your scarf,

  • you take off you gloves.

  • And then you have to put them somewhere.

  • - True.

  • - Or carry them.

  • - Uh-huh, and sometimes, you lose them.

  • But, to me that's part of the excitement of layering.

  • - Yeah, I sometimes get into this

  • where I'll buy some base layers.

  • - Uh-huh?

  • - But, I never really wear them.

  • - Explain.

  • What are your base layers?

  • - So, base layers are,

  • well, usually have a top and some trousers.

  • And they go under your regular clothes to keep you warm.

  • - We may call this long underwear.

  • - Okay, long underwear.

  • - For example.

  • And so we...

  • It's almost like tights, right?

  • And they're really tight. - Yes.

  • - Tight, thin layer?

  • - Yeah.

  • - But what's that made out of?

  • - Um, sometimes cotton.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - And then performance apparel.

  • I don't know what the materials are.

  • I feel like you're asking me some trick questions.

  • - I don't know, I'm wondering.

  • Because, okay...

  • Because, this is, this is my...

  • This is my area.

  • I really like layering and so,

  • I think a lot about like, what is the base layer?

  • And there's synthetic base layers like Capilene

  • and then there's silk and wool, um...

  • - You don't like wool.

  • - I am allergic to wool, unfortunately, um,

  • because I know it is so cozy and natural.

  • But, the other ones, silk especially is meant to be

  • really warm.

  • - Uh-hmm, yeah.

  • Yeah, I sometimes I wear them for soccer,

  • when it's really cold.

  • But, it's funny when you play soccer

  • and I've got to say football here as well.

  • - Okay say football, that's fine.

  • - So when you play football, and I'm on a team

  • and if we're playing and it's quite cold,

  • everyone wears these base layers.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - But within two or three minutes

  • of playing, everyone's taking them off.

  • - Taking them off.

  • How do you take off a base layer though?

  • Isn't that like...

  • - Well, the top you can.

  • - Okay.

  • - So, they'll take off the jersey,

  • and then they'll take off the base layer.

  • - The base layer and put on the jersey,

  • - Yeah, and the same with gloves, as well.

  • So, you see everyone taking their gloves off,

  • just throw it away because it gets too warm.

  • - I have a question.

  • - Uh-hmm?

  • - Are you a person who runs hot

  • or do you run cold?

  • - I think I run hot.

  • - You run hot?

  • - Except for my hands and feet.

  • - So, you're always feeling warm?

  • - Yeah.

  • - I am generally a person who runs cold.

  • - Uh-hmm, yeah.

  • - My feet especially and sometimes my hands

  • get like ice cold.

  • - Yeah.

  • No, they do, hands and feet especially,

  • I think because of the circulation.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Yeah, but we were just talking before

  • about Wim Hof.

  • - Oh yeah.

  • - The ice man who is just incredible

  • because he's trained himself to

  • resist the cold

  • and some of the things he's done, like,

  • he has all these world records

  • for swimming underwater in ice water

  • and staying in a block of ice, or a block of ice...

  • Or like an ice bath.

  • He's got the world record for that.

  • - What, do you know off the top of your head,

  • like is it minutes, hours?

  • - Oh, it's hours.

  • - It's hours.

  • - Yeah, I think it's one and a half hours

  • in ice.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - But then he's...

  • It might be more, I can't remember.

  • But he's also,

  • he's done these marathons

  • in Finland where it's been like -25 Fahrenheit

  • in just his shorts and some boots.

  • Run a marathon.

  • - That's incredible.

  • - Yeah. So we has trained himself,

  • I think mainly through breathing exercises,

  • but also cold exposure.

  • - Wow.

  • - To resist the cold.

  • It's pretty impressive, actually.

  • - Uh-hmm, and does he have any like take-aways

  • that other people can do?

  • Is it like an exercise that anyone can do?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Or can only he do?

  • - No, he's trained people to do it as well.

  • - Really?

  • - Yeah.

  • And, he's really charismatic.

  • He's good to listen to.

  • Check out, I think he did a really long pod cast

  • Joe Rogan.

  • - Okay. - I'll leave the link to it.

  • - Nice.

  • - But, he, um...

  • Go on.

  • - And I just have one question.

  • - Uh-hmm?

  • - As a perpetually cold person,

  • who doesn't like being cold, why?

  • - Why what?

  • - Why put yourself in an ice bath for hours?

  • - Oh, well, I think that's more of the test.

  • - Okay.

  • - To show how much you can resist the cold.

  • The idea is that you can train yourself

  • so that you just don't feel cold in the winter.

  • And it's through breathing exercises

  • and cold showers and just steadily getting used to.

  • You know, I take cold showers.

  • - Do you?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Wow.

  • - Well, I finish on a cold shower, 30 seconds.

  • - Is that good for your pores?

  • - I think it, well, mainly for circulation.

  • - Yeah.

  • - This isn't in 4K so you can't see the pores.

  • - Yeah, they're very, they're very...

  • - Porish? - Small.

  • (laughing)

  • - Yeah, but having a cold shower is great.

  • It feels every energizing.

  • - Invigorating?

  • - Yeah.

  • - I don't know,

  • I don't know if I can get on board with that.

  • I wish that it was cooler to wear all of the layers

  • because I feel like there's this, you know,

  • it's seems like it's very daring

  • or very cool to be the person that's out in the cold

  • without the layers.

  • But I want to make it cool to put on all the layers.

  • - I think that's pretty cool, isn't it?

  • - Yeah, you think so?

  • - It's fashionable to put on scarves and hats

  • and gloves.

  • - Hats called beanies are really in right now.

  • - Are they?

  • - They're kind of...

  • They're knit and they look at little bit...

  • - What are they big?

  • - Slouching in the back?

  • They're a little bit bigger.

  • - Yeah, I just can't get into hats.

  • - Sometimes they have a pom-pom on the top.

  • - Uh-hmm, yeah.

  • You just got a new one, didn't you?

  • - Yes, uh-hmm.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I got one that matches one that I got

  • for our daughter, but it's a little bit small.

  • So, not only when I take it off, do I have hat hair,

  • so my hair's everywhere,

  • but also, my forehead is ridged.

  • I look like I belong on Star Trek.

  • - So, that's fashionable?

  • - Well, it's fashionable before I take it off.

  • - Oh, so it leaves like an impression?

  • - It leaves an indent.

  • It looks like my forehead is made out of, um,

  • my hat.

  • (laughing)

  • - Well, that's, ah...

  • Maybe you need to get a new one.

  • - Maybe I do.

  • Maybe I have to get one, for you know?

  • - Yeah.

  • Well, if you do any kind of winter sports,

  • then hats are important.

  • And, I have a question.

  • - Uh-hmm? - Do you like winter sports?

  • - I love winter sports.

  • I do.

  • - Do you? - Yeah.

  • - Like skiing?

  • - Yes.

  • - And, didn't you do cross country skiing?

  • - Yeah, absolutely.

  • When I was in high school,

  • I was on a cross country skiing team.

  • Um, I was not the best.

  • - But you enjoyed it.

  • - But I loved it.

  • And actually, speaking of layers,

  • when I would cross country ski,

  • all that I would wear is like a Spandex suit.

  • We had like a Spandex racing suit.

  • - Is that kind od like a wet suit?

  • - Kind of like a wet suit, but it's more breathable.

  • - How thick was that?

  • - It's not meant to keep you warm. Very thin.

  • - How did you stay warm?

  • - So, because Nordic skiing, or cross country skiing

  • is so, so cardiovascular?

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - Um, and you get really heated doing it.

  • I was always too hot.

  • - Right, that makes sense.

  • - Sometimes I had a hat too, though.

  • - That makes sense, okay. - Yeah.

  • - Yeah, that's like a very physical activity, isn't it?

  • - Uh-huh, so there's that.

  • And I grew up in New England,

  • where could go ice skating, um,

  • not always on, out in nature because sometimes the ice was

  • a little bit thin to be safe,

  • although sometimes.

  • But, there were a lot of ice skating rinks.

  • Um, there were ski slopes near where we lived.

  • And there's actually one not too far from where we are now

  • that I want to check out this year.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Have you been skiing a lot?

  • - I've only been twice.

  • Once, indoors.

  • - Uh-hmm, what?

  • - On a, like, fake snow.

  • - There's an indoor ski slope?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Tell me about this.

  • - In Manchester.

  • - Okay.

  • - Yeah, it's just...

  • It's a small ski slope inside.

  • And then before that, there's also a dry ski slope

  • near where I lived in Pendle.

  • I think it was Pendle.

  • - Hold on.

  • What is a dry...

  • How does that work? - This is a long time ago.

  • - Okay.

  • - It's...

  • I think I was about 10.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - Maybe 11.

  • And, um,

  • it's just like a slope.

  • It's all...

  • It's not like snow at all.

  • It's just like these small squares.

  • - Uh-huh?

  • - That mimic snow.

  • - Okay.

  • But you can use, like, regular skis on it?

  • - I think so.

  • - Have you ever tried snow boarding?

  • - No.

  • But I have done...

  • I have got...

  • I don't know what it's called

  • where you go down a sand dune

  • on like a snow board.

  • - Oh wow.

  • - I've done that.

  • - Sand boarding?

  • - Might be sand boarding.

  • Down a dune.

  • - A dune?

  • - Yeah, a do-on.

  • (laughing)

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - But, yeah, we don't get snow growing up.

  • There's no mountain really big enough

  • to have any kind of ski slope

  • or with a high enough altitude, so.

  • Yeah, we don't grow up with winter sports.

  • And I think that's why people in the UK

  • aren't into the winter Olympics.

  • - Oh really?

  • - Because you don't grow up doing these things.

  • And, therefore, we're not very good at them.

  • But, we did have an ice skating rink nearby

  • which we used to go to quite often.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - That was, that was fun.

  • And one of my friends, as well, who I went to college with,

  • she was a figure skater for a while.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • So, I used to follow what she did.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - But apart from that,

  • yeah, winter sports just aren't popular.

  • - No.

  • - We're on these fake snow slopes.

  • - That makes sense.

  • I feel like...

  • I feel like the snow is part of the experience.

  • And, it's more accessible when there's mountains everywhere

  • covered in snow.

  • - Is ice skating in the summer or winter Olympics?

  • May sound like a sill question.

  • - It is.

  • - It's in the winter Olympics.

  • - It's in the winter Olympics, yeah.

  • - Because there were a couple from the UK

  • called Torvill and Dean.

  • - Okay.

  • - And they, everybody knew Torvill and Dean.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - Because they were a figure skating pair.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So everyone was interested in that.

  • But, generally speaking, they weren't interested

  • in the winter Olympics.

  • - In the winter Olympics.

  • It's so funny how when you're watching the Olympics,

  • you get so much information

  • and so much coverage about your country.

  • - Uh-hmm.

  • - And, you don't necessarily know

  • what's going on with other countries.

  • Unless there's a stand out.

  • Like, everyone knows Usain Bolt.

  • - Exactly.

  • - But, other than than, you're really focused on

  • your Olympic heroes.

  • - Yeah, cause I've watched the Olympics in the UK

  • and in America and that's...

  • Yeah, you're right.

  • It's just focused on the country

  • and how many medals they're winning and who they have

  • and the popular people

  • that are taking part.

  • - I'm really interested to hear

  • what other people, um,

  • whether other people watch the summer and winter Olympics

  • and if they have a particular athlete

  • that they follow or know about.

  • - Kate's question.

  • - My question.

  • It's a little early, though, isn't it?

  • - No, it's right on time. - Right on time.

  • That is my question for you all, um,

  • is if you prefer summer or winter sports.

  • And, if you have a particular athlete or sport

  • that you follow.

  • - Yeah.

  • - In that season.

  • - Yeah, that's great.

  • And, yeah, like I said,

  • check out the description for some of the phrases

  • that we've used.

  • While Kate was talking, I was thinking

  • oh, that's a good phrase that we're gonna put in there.

  • - We'll put it in.

  • Oh, and one more thing.

  • Can I ask two questions?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Okay!

  • Um, so, is it more,

  • I want to say cool,

  • but that can be confusing

  • because cool can also be a temperature.

  • - Oh, people know what cool is.

  • - People know what cool means.

  • Is it cooler to be the person

  • in a T-shirt

  • on a freezing cold day or shorts?

  • Or is it cooler to have a lot of fashionable layers?

  • - Oh, very cool.

  • Leave your comments below.

  • And if you've enjoyed this, please like and share.

  • Okay, bye for now.

  • (lively music)

- Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com

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