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  • - Hello everybody.

  • This is Jack from tofluency.com along with

  • - Kate.

  • - Today in this English lesson this English conversation

  • we are going to talk about gifts,

  • and it was your idea to do this topic.

  • - Yes.

  • - How would you like to start?

  • - Sure, well, just a little bit of background

  • about what's going on in our life right now.

  • It is almost Thanksgiving,

  • which means that after Thanksgiving

  • is kind of the official beginning

  • of the Christmas season.

  • The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday

  • because so many people go shopping for Christmas gifts,

  • and there are sales,

  • and there's just all sorts of mayhem and chaos,

  • but we have to get our gifts a little bit early this year

  • because we're gonna spend the holiday

  • with your family in the UK.

  • - Yeah.

  • - We're doing something a little bit different

  • for gift giving this year,

  • which is something that we tried last year,

  • which was really fun.

  • - Yeah, it's Secret Santa,

  • and this is where a group of people come together,

  • and everyone has to buy a gift for someone else,

  • but you don't know who is getting your gift,

  • your present.

  • - Yeah.

  • - It's like this lottery isn't it really

  • who you're going to get a gift for.

  • We did this last year when we went on vacation to Florida,

  • and we spent Christmas in Florida.

  • Who did you have to buy a present for?

  • - For your mother.

  • - Right.

  • - I really enjoyed it because I feel like

  • I've gotten to know her so well,

  • and she has spent time at our house

  • helping us take care of the kids,

  • especially when they were newborns,

  • and it was just nice to have an opportunity

  • to really think about her and think about

  • what she would like and buy all of these presents for her.

  • - What did you get her?

  • - I got her a pair of cozy slippers,

  • a book about a nurse

  • getting trained in Yorkshire

  • around the same time that your mom became a nurse,

  • so that was really neat,

  • and I think I got her some jewelry,

  • and there might have been another thing or two,

  • but I just loved being able to

  • really concentrate on one person,

  • and maybe spend a little bit more money,

  • and time thinking about it

  • versus trying to think about five, or 10, or 15 people,

  • you know, try to budget how much to spend on each of them.

  • - It was helpful, too, because everyone was traveling.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And my family came on the plane,

  • so they couldn't take a lot of things back with them.

  • - But they did try to bring a lot of presents,

  • especially for the kids for Thomas and Emma

  • because they weren't part of the gift draw,

  • but I so badly want to talk about

  • my Secret Santa from this year,

  • but it's still a secret.

  • - Yeah, that's right, you can't tell everyone.

  • - 'Cause they could be watching.

  • - Yeah, if you're watching this after Christmas

  • then check out the comments section

  • because we can leave a comment telling people

  • what we got everyone.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Yeah, and last year, I'll actually just show this.

  • Last year my mum got me,

  • and she got this.

  • - This is amazing.

  • - This is really cool.

  • - I don't know can you see the logo in there?

  • That's the To Fluency logo and that's Jack.

  • - Yeah,

  • so she had somebody make that,

  • an artist near where she lives and it's really cool.

  • - Is that your favorite present that you've gotten recently?

  • - I think so, yeah, well, we just decided

  • to do this conversation,

  • and I'm a little bit worried

  • that I'm going to forget what people got me,

  • and the questions are going to come up.

  • - Jack, you remember all the presents that I've gotten you.

  • - Of course, of course.

  • So I think it's evident that you really like getting gifts.

  • - I do.

  • - And you like that whole process.

  • - I love it.

  • - This year you got real excited about getting gifts again.

  • - Yeah, and about the Secret Santa draw

  • because you were the one person

  • who hadn't put their name in,

  • so I was texting you constantly

  • from just different rooms in the house

  • while we were home together,

  • and I was putting the baby down,

  • or doing some laundry or something,

  • and "Jack did you enter the drawing yet?

  • "Did you enter the drawing?"

  • - Yeah.

  • It got a little bit too much,

  • but it was my fault because I should have done that earlier.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But then I couldn't find the email,

  • but anyway, we're gonna do it again this year.

  • You're real excited about it.

  • - Yes.

  • - I, on the other hand, I'm excited,

  • but I like to leave things to the last minute,

  • which means wait until just before the deadline

  • to get something.

  • - But you do really amazing presents.

  • - Thank you.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Yeah, I think I'm, but I need that immediate deadline

  • to give me the motivation and the excitement to get gifts.

  • - Yeah, I'm the same way when it's something

  • that I'm not really excited about,

  • but when it's something that I'm really excited about

  • I can't do it fast enough,

  • and I just love going shopping for other people

  • that I love, yeah.

  • - You do most of it online now, right?

  • - Yes, I do, and I like shopping in person better

  • because I like to wander through a shop,

  • and, you know, I like to feel things,

  • and talk to people and to come up with it,

  • but that's just not so practical with a kid.

  • - Yeah, it's a lot easier online.

  • - It is, yeah.

  • - I tend to do online, although, I might do,

  • this year I might get the gift in Manchester.

  • - Oh, yeah, that's a really good idea

  • because you could also discreetly ask

  • about the person that you have.

  • - You were going to say the name.

  • - And what the person might like.

  • This is gonna be dangerous.

  • - I know it is, it is.

  • - Do you like shopping for other people?

  • - I do. - You do?

  • - Yeah, I do.

  • - This surprises me, go on.

  • - The problem is I like to get people,

  • and I like to receive gifts that are practical.

  • - Right.

  • - You're more whimsical.

  • - I am. - Which means?

  • - Anything that's like delightful and a little bit strange,

  • and not necessarily practical I love that.

  • - What's an example of a whimsical gift?

  • - Just anything that's not strictly necessary.

  • I feel like that tray

  • is on the border of something whimsical,

  • even though you really like it

  • because, I mean, it's hand-painted, it's artistic,

  • it's not something that you need to have.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But also things that have

  • like imaginary quality to them are interesting,

  • and I love this time of year

  • because it is so full of things that are whimsical.

  • - Definitely.

  • - Like houses made out of cookies.

  • There's no other time of year that you see that,

  • and I love it.

  • - Yeah, that an interesting thing.

  • I'll leave a link in the description,

  • so you know what we're talking about.

  • You can explain briefly the houses made out of.

  • - Yeah, gingerbread houses.

  • - Gingerbread houses.

  • - We actually live in a town here in Nashville

  • where they have a huge gingerbread display,

  • and contest at a local hotel,

  • and it is just incredibly elaborate.

  • I think we went one year.

  • - I've never been.

  • - Maybe we should make it a goal to go this year.

  • - Yeah, well, I just went to the holiday parade,

  • which was yesterday, you were sick.

  • - I was, yeah, feeling under the weather.

  • - It was great it was so much fun.

  • The different floats that go down the road,

  • marching bands play music,

  • and a lot of local businesses do this.

  • - That's amazing, and I feel like we're at an age too

  • where our son is four and he's starting

  • to understand the excitement and the anticipation.

  • Last year you could tell him that something was happening,

  • and you'd say in two weeks it's gonna be this holiday,

  • or this is gonna happen and he would think

  • that it would be happening in the next minute,

  • so it was hard to build that anticipation,

  • and hard to kind of explain the traditions,

  • and what would happen and this year

  • I think he's really gonna get it.

  • He and his friends have been

  • talking a lot about Santa Clause,

  • which is a big tradition

  • that we are gonna keep doing with him.

  • - Yeah, because

  • you just don't know if you're going to do that,

  • but then it's impossible to ignore it.

  • In the UK people tend to say Father Christmas.

  • - Okay.

  • - Yeah, over Santa Claus.

  • When did you realize and for children that are watching

  • maybe turn this off.

  • - Don't watch, yeah.

  • - When did you realize Santa Clause wasn't real?

  • - I think it was probably when I was

  • around six or seven maybe,

  • or I had a strong suspicion that he wasn't real,

  • but I remember as a kid coming to this realization,

  • and then thinking hold on a second.

  • I have a really good thing going here.

  • I just put out a plate of cookies and a stocking,

  • and it gets filled with presents.

  • I don't need to tell my parents

  • that I don't believe in Santa Clause anymore.

  • - Yeah, it was just a really cool thing.

  • - Yeah, this is a great thing.

  • I think that my mother actually really struggled

  • to shop as Santa Clause for us when we were little

  • because you know my mother she is very practical.

  • - Yeah, she is.

  • - She's very practical and so our stockings

  • would be filled with like pencils and socks.

  • - We always had a tangerine in our stocking.

  • - That's interesting.

  • - Yeah, always.

  • - That seems to classic and old-fashioned.

  • I feel like now there's a lot of pressure

  • to really go way over the top like a tangerine

  • is not something that you go,

  • oh, wow, this is such a special treat.

  • - Going back to Santa I remember one year

  • my cousins always came to our house for Christmas.

  • I knew Santa wasn't real, you know,

  • I was like I'm getting older now.

  • - How old were you?

  • - I can't remember, but anyway, so my mum said,

  • "Don't ruin it for Patrick."

  • Patrick is my cousin who is about two years younger,

  • so Patrick came in and I said to him like,

  • "So what's Santa going to get you this year?"

  • And Patrick just said, "He's not real."

  • He was like, well, okay.

  • - My mom told this story.

  • I have cousins that are older than me

  • maybe like 10 years older or so.

  • It was actually at my parent's house

  • where my cousin Nathan

  • found out that Santa Claus wasn't real

  • because his family had always done this elaborate thing

  • with a plate of cookies,

  • and Santa would leave a lot of crumbs,

  • and, you know, a smudge on the milk glass,

  • or something like that so my parents,

  • this was before they had kids were so eager

  • to keep that magic alive,

  • and have this wonderful experience

  • where Santa Clause would find him at their house

  • while they were visiting and bring him presents,

  • so they set everything up all perfectly

  • with the crumbs on the plate,

  • and the milk exactly the way that it should be

  • so that he would know that Santa had found him,

  • and it was the same Santa and Santa was real,

  • and Santa goes all over the world and all of that,

  • and then we had a Golden Retriever

  • at the time named Misty.

  • Of course, a plate of cookie crumbs and a milk glass

  • Misty came and cleaned it completely,

  • and the next morning when my cousin woke up

  • he saw that there were presents in the stocking from Santa,

  • but that the plate was completely clean,

  • and he burst into tears and said,

  • "I knew it, Santa wasn't real.

  • "It's not the same as it would be at home."

  • The ironic thing was that they had left all the crumbs,

  • and done all the work, but Misty got to it.

  • - Wow.

  • Wow.

  • - I know, I know.

  • - It's quite upsetting isn't it?

  • - It is, you just want them to have

  • that magical experience of believing that

  • the universe will just bring them presents.

  • - Only if they're good though.

  • - Well, that's theoretically what happens.

  • I couldn't imagine

  • our son at four years' old

  • doing something so naughty that we wouldn't.

  • - Well, you use it for leverage don't you?

  • - Yeah, you're like it's Christmas season, listen.

  • - Exactly, yeah, and one more story about Santa.

  • I remember being in the school playground,

  • and we were all talking about Santa,

  • and we were lining up to go inside.

  • There was one kid who just said Santa wasn't real,

  • but no one believed him,

  • We were just arguing with him and saying,

  • of course he's real, of course he's real.

  • - How else would this happen?

  • - Yeah, but he said he overhead

  • his parents talking about it.

  • - Oh, now that we're parents the pressure is on.

  • - Yeah, I know because you have to keep up that whole thing.

  • Going back to gifts

  • when it was your birthday

  • did you prefer a gift or money?

  • - I think a gift every time because

  • I grew up in a way that was a little bit sheltered.

  • I didn't have that many things

  • that I could practically spend money on,

  • and there was a lot of pressure, too, to save the money.

  • - Right, yeah, that's interesting.

  • - I never felt that when I got money

  • that it was mine to spend,

  • so if I had a gift than it would be more.

  • - Yeah, I preferred the money, definitely.

  • - What did you like to do with it?

  • - Well, it depended on the age,

  • but at times it was like wrestling stickers,

  • football stickers.

  • - I would not want any of those things, no.

  • - No? - Shockingly.

  • - You didn't get wrestling stickers.

  • - I didn't get wrestling stickers.

  • - Yeah, football stickers, wrestling stickers.

  • I can't really remember what else I got.

  • I went through a stage of saving money, too.

  • I used to like saving money.

  • My sister and I had these little piggy banks,

  • which were actual piggies.

  • We got into a little bit of a debate,

  • an argument when we were older because

  • they came from the bank and they became collector's items,

  • and they were worth a little bit of money,

  • so we used to argue about who had which one.

  • I swear I had that little piggy,

  • but Rebecca thought that she had it.

  • Yeah, I went through a stage of saving money,

  • and then looking back I probably just spent it

  • on whatever was popular back then.

  • - At the time, you were very trendy.

  • - Computer games.

  • Trendy? - Yeah, you were.

  • You were into all the trends.

  • - Yeah, I think looking back you wouldn't call me trendy,

  • but that was what was popular at the time.

  • - Yeah, I mean, would you be trendy by today's standards?

  • No, I feel like right now people who were that age

  • would have, you know, brightly colored hair,

  • and really fashionable kind of cutting edge clothes,

  • and we definitely didn't have any of that.

  • I think that probably when I was younger

  • they just started coming out with nail polish

  • that wasn't like red and pink,

  • and that was a really big deal,

  • and everybody wanted to have blue nail polish

  • that was like the trendiest thing

  • that you could possibly have.

  • I actually sent my dad to get "cool" nail polish

  • for a friend's birthday party,

  • and he got like a brown color,

  • and it was so disappointing

  • because it's like, here have this nail polish it's so cool,

  • but it was brown,

  • and her big brother made fun of me.

  • - I was thinking about the color brown the other day

  • because no one says, oh, brown's my favorite color.

  • Wrapping gifts.

  • - Yes.

  • - Wow, can you sense the excitement?

  • I don't like wrapping presents.

  • I used to love it, I used to love it,

  • but now I just don't like doing it, but you really.

  • - I don't really like wrapping gifts either.

  • Just kidding, I love it.

  • - Yeah, you do.

  • - I do, yeah.

  • - What is the process for you

  • of having a present and giving it to someone?

  • What do you do to that present?

  • - To that present?

  • - To that gift or present?

  • - What do I do to it?

  • I have a closet and a shelf with wrapping paper as you know.

  • The supplies dwindled down a lot when we moved,

  • so we had to give some presents

  • that were not ideally wrapped for the last year,

  • you know, I would like wrap them up in newspaper

  • like an old paper bag, but that is changing.

  • We're back to where we should be

  • so I have a book of patterned paper,

  • and I have the rolls of wrapping paper.

  • I have gift bags, I have sparkly tissue paper,

  • I have bows, so it just depends on the shape of the present.

  • A lot of times we go with the gift bag

  • because it's easier,

  • but there's something very pleasing

  • about perfectly wrapping something

  • that's rectangular and folding in the edges.

  • - Yeah.

  • That type of thing I do like.

  • - You do?

  • - Well, tolerate.

  • I think when it comes down to

  • when you say putting tissue paper in as well,

  • wrapping it with a ribbon,

  • and then attaching the card in the right way

  • I just get it wrong every time,

  • therefore, I don't really like doing it.

  • - There is this really funny scene in Love Actually

  • where Rowan Atkinson is wrapping up a present

  • in the department store,

  • and he's sprinkling in confetti.

  • It's really awkward because the character

  • doesn't want him to be spending time

  • he's trying to do it subtly

  • because he shouldn't be buying this present,

  • and instead he's just going all out.

  • I feel like that is me every time

  • that we're late to go to a birthday party,

  • and I want to wrap the present,

  • and you're saying, "Come on let's go."

  • - Yeah, definitely.

  • - And I'm throwing in glitter and tissue paper,

  • and trying to find the perfect thing,

  • and the right card, but yeah, I don't know,

  • it does get discouraging sometimes because you know

  • it's all just gonna go in the trash, but, yeah.

  • - Cool, shall we wrap it up?

  • - Oh, yeah, sure, like I could wrap it up?

  • - Okay, well, we've talk about a lot in this one.

  • - Yeah, and I could still talk about this all day.

  • - Yeah, so I was making mental notes throughout,

  • but I'm gonna go through this video,

  • and leave all the words and phrases that we used below.

  • You'll find all those words,

  • and phrases in the description,

  • and, oh, time for Kate's question.

  • - Yes, and you might have some too.

  • My question is

  • hold on, let me think,

  • what is your favorite gift

  • that you have given or received,

  • and do you have any interesting

  • holiday traditions where you are?

  • - Very cool, yeah, so a favorite gift

  • that you have given someone or received,

  • and holiday traditions.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Fantastic, okay, well, thank you so much for watching.

  • If you have enjoyed this then please like and share,

  • and also be sure to check out my free book

  • The 5-Step Plan for English Fluency.

  • - There's also something that I would like to mention

  • because it has been so amazing.

  • Sometimes you'll get presents from people

  • who are in your community,

  • or who you've worked with through your programs.

  • It just means so much to us.

  • We're not asking for presents.

  • Please don't feel that you have to send anything,

  • but for the people who have taken the time and effort

  • to send something thoughtful

  • like that's really touched our hearts in a big way.

  • - Oh, definitely, yeah, yeah, well, good, okay, bye for now.

  • (upbeat music)

- Hello everybody.

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A2 初級 英國腔

高級英語會話課程#8: Gifts (學習真正的英語/字幕) (Advanced English Conversation Lesson #8: Gifts (learn real English w/ subtitles))

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    洪子雯 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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