Advanced English Conversation | Listening Practice

Practise your listening skills and learn some new vocabulary! In this video I talk with my mother about her experiences living in different places around Australia. This is unscripted, natural conversation, so sometimes we talk over the top of one another (at the same time) and we don’t always speak perfectly. Yes, even native speakers make mistakes! Some interesting vocabulary: 1) 0:46 - born and bred: born and brought up (in a place) 2) 0:50 - in your twenties: between the ages of 20 and 29 3) 1:14 - (you can) do the math: you can do the calculations 4) 1:22 - back then: at that time (in the past) 5) 1:28 - it’s a big deal: it’s important, significant or special 6) 1:56 - girlfriend: (here) a female friend 7) 1:56 - trunk: (here) a large, strong container used for storing personal possessions People used to travel a lot with these in the past. 8) 2:25 - it’s hard going: (here) difficult to do and requiring a lot of effort 9) 3:04 - we went on to (place): (here) we continued to 10) 3:15 - the Nullarbor (Plain): an area of flat and dry country in the south of Australia We often just called it “the Nullarbor“. 11) 3:25 - cheapish: relatively cheap 12) 3:34 - two-bar heater: a heater with two bars that heat up (YOU DON’T NEED TO LEARN THIS. 😉) 13) 4:18 - newly opened: recently opened 14) 4:20 - the trouble was... : the problem was... 15) 4:39 - the Indian Pacific: a train that goes from Sydney to Perth The train my mum caught from Adelaide to Perth wouldn’t have actually been called the Indian Pacific at the time, but if you say “the Indian Pacific“ in Australia, people will know that you are talking about a train that travels from east to west or west to east. 16) 4:46 - to pick up (a train/bus): to get on (a train or bus, etc.) and travel on it 17) 5:10 - compartment: (here) one of the separate areas into which a plane, ship or train is divided 18) 6:33 - blind: (here) a cover for a window made of a single piece or strips of cloth, paper, or plastic 19) 6:45 - workmen: plural of workman. A workman is a person who does physical work like building or repairing things. 20) 6:51 - you made their day: you made them happy for the rest of the day 21) 7:09 - to pick up and drop: (here) to start and quit 22) 7:18 - off an on: intermittently; for only some of the time 23) 7:29 - a one-horse town: a small place with few facilities 24) 8:18 - to have (a bit of) a temper: said of someone who gets angry easily 25) 8:27 - medium rare steak: a steak that still has a red centre 26) 9:04 - oil rig: a structure with equipment above an oil well on land or in the sea 27) 9:13 - to go bush: to leave one’s normal surroundings and live in the bush (commonly used in Australia and New Zealand) 28) 9:17 - the bush: rural, undeveloped areas with lots of trees and very few people (commonly used in Australia and New Zealand) 29) 9:24 - fellow: (here) an informal word for a man 30) 9:26 - to wander off: to leave a place (normally a place where one is supposed to stay) 31) 9:48 - the rainy season: another term for “the wet season“ which is the period in a tropical place during which there is a lot of rain 32) 9:53 - build-up: (here) a progressive development (also written as “buildup“) 33) 10:15 - oppressive: (here) unpleasantly hot with no movement of air 34) 10:58 - to catch up with somebody: (here) to reach somebody who was ahead of you 35) 11:23 - sealed road: a term used in Australia and New Zealand for “paved road“, which is a road that is covered with a hard smooth surface like tar, concrete or asphalt 36) 11:35 - reddish: slightly red in colour 37) 11:40 - compacted: firmly pressed together 38) 11:51 - to get going: (here) to start to move or leave 39) 12:04 - feral: living in the wild. It’s especially used to describe animals that were previously kept by people. 40) 12:40 - trader: a person who buys and sells things 41) 12:44 - outback Australia: the dry and desert regions in central Australia (also often just referred to as “the outback“) 42) 13:02 - to build up: (here) to increase gradually 43) 13:11 - breeding stock: a group of animals used for planned breeding 44) 14:02 - flat tyre: a tyre that does not have enough air in it 45) 14:55 - bowser: an Australian word for a petrol pump (YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEARN THIS. Just learn “petrol/gas pump“. 😉) 46) 15:02 - tied up: (here) attached to something like a tree or a fence with a rope, chain etc. 47) 15:05 - to hang around: (here) to wait or spend time somewhere, normally for no particular reason 48) 15:45 - dam: (here) a wall built across a river or stream to stop the water from flowing 49) 16:41 - the Wild West: the western part of the United States during the period when Europeans were first settling there 50) 16:44 - floating population: a part of the population that does not permanently live in a place 🎈 FREE ADVANCED ENGLISH EMAIL LESSONS: