Beginners.
Father's Day is celebrated here in the United States on the twenty first of June. It is a day when special attention is given to fathers. Shops are filled with cards of all sorts, thanking the fathers and grandfathers for being great people. Young children especially celebrate this day. Just as with Mother's Day, in school, the children will read about families, make cards, pictures, paintings, and small gifts for their parent. Sometimes songs will be learned and sung in a special assembly for the parents. As with any holiday here, the commercial side of it is huge. You can see this reflected in the advertisements in the newspapers and on television. "Father's Day sale at your local hardware store. All drills 50% off!" Fathers are supposed to like and use drills more than anyone else, so it is a good time to advertise and encourage gift buying. Restaurants, hairdressers, clothing stores, and even golf courses advertise special discounts on gifts or services for these special guys. My husband gets hand made cards from our children, usually with a gift of milk chocolate, his favorite. The words of appreciation in the cards are very cute. They range anything from, "I love you dad for playing baseball with me," to "When I grow up, I want to mow the lawn just like you do."
Grammar notes.
Useful words: assembly, commercial, hardware, drill, discount.
Exs:
The children put on a special assembly for the end of school. They sang songs, danced, and read about what they had learned.
This national holiday has become so commercial that I don't like it any more. It's all about spending money!
I need to make a trip to the hardware store. I need a lot of tools.
I need to make some holes in the wall to hang the curtains. Get the drill, would you please?
There is a wonderful sale in the local clothing store. All the clothes are at a 50% discount.
Advanced.
Warning: the next section of this podcast is fast and crazy. Don't panic, I will slow it down the second time so you can pick up some of the slang and humor. This dialogue is actually taken from the Father's Day card that my children bought for my husband. The two characters are called Yo-yo and Hoops. They are reading a checklist of the father's good qualities. Try to read the text while you listen, especially the second time when I slow it down. Good luck!
"Okay, fertilize lawn in a timely manner." "Check!"
"Sees to our plumbing needs." "Check!"
"Expert bug squasher." "Check!"
"Master griller of all manners of meat." "Check!"
"Most loving, caring, do anything for us dad in the whole wide world?"
"Check!"
"Duh! Man! Oh-ho! Checkarooni! Was that even a question? I don't know. Check waiter!"
Grammar notes.
Yo-yo and Hoops' vocabulary: fertilize, timely, plumbing, squash, to grill, the whole wide world, duh.
Exs:
Our lawn is looking very yellow. I think we need to fertilize it.
They arrived at work everyday in a timely manner.
Our tap is leaking. Honestly, the plumbing in this house is terrible.
She accidentally dropped the bananas as she was walking. She squashed two of them.
Put the barbecuer on please. I want to grill some hot dogs.
Even if I travelled the whole wide world, I would never find someone who I love as much as you.
Person 1: "Is the weather nice?"
Person 2: " Duh! It's July. Of course it's nice!"