字幕 (225)
0:00Hello, Michelle. How's it going today? Hey,
Lindsay. I'm good. How are you? Good. Feeling
0:05good. I heard we were talking about cars today.
Is that right? We are. Lindsay, do you know a lot
0:10about cars? Cars? No, I don't know anything about
cars. Michelle, I don't know anything. No, I don't
0:17know. I don't know anything. Yeah. Nope. Not my
thing. Not Not my interest, but people I mean,
0:23many people really really have this love for
cars. Um, they really do. Yeah. Yes, huge. Um,
0:31so I'm excited. We're going to be starting
actually a whole series. Today is going to be
0:36part one and I'm really looking forward to this.
So, we're going to have part one over here. Part
0:41two is actually going to be on our other show,
the Business English podcast. So, go on over there
0:46and hit follow so you don't miss that episode.
And then we're going to have part three back on
0:52All Ears English. So, guys, get excited. Um, and
this this whole series was inspired by a listener
1:00question. So, we're gonna get back to that in just
a second. But we also wanted to share because we
1:06have some Spotify poll results, right, Lindsay?
Yeah. We love this guys. Every day we have a poll
1:12in Spotify and sometimes we choose a key poll to
go ahead and announce the results, right? Because
1:17we want to learn about you all as a community, the
Allers English audience. So the question we asked
1:22in this poll was which kind of show or movie
would you rather watch, right? And Michelle,
1:29what were the results? Well, also just to give the
title of that episode if you want to listen to it,
1:34it was how to connect over a twist in a movie.
Okay. Really, really good episode. Check that
1:41one out. But yeah. Okay. So, what kind of show
or movie would you rather watch? The options
1:46were a comedy, a thriller, or a romcom. And I was
surprised by these results. Yeah, I was surprising
1:53because I actually thought thriller was kind of a
small niche. I I just didn't think as many people
1:58like thrillers as they do. So the answer, so the
results were 28% said comedy, 37% said thriller,
2:06and only 34% said romcom. I figured it would be
comedy first. Same. I was really surprised. I I
2:14did not think thriller would be the winner here.
Um, but I'm I'm definitely comedy. Are you? Which
2:20one are you? Um, I like thrillers. Oh my gosh,
I like them all. Romcom. I'm romcom. I love I
2:27love the old romcoms from the 2000s. Like I just
love them. Such such a soft comfort feeling. Yeah,
2:33there's a comfort there. A nostalgia
for sure. Yes, exactly. So guys, um,
2:40that that's really fun to get to learn about all
of you. And so today's question starting off this
2:46series is coming to us from YouTube. If you're
not over on YouTube, that's another way you can
2:51consume this podcast. Uh Lindsay and I are right
now you can actually see us talking about um yeah
2:59on YouTube. So go on over if you're interested in
watching us and um you can also hit the subscribe
3:04button there. So um could you read us the question
Lindsay? Yeah, this question comes from Usuzo
3:10Bazour 2500 and they asked, "Hi, your podcast is
very good. I'm learning a lot of expressions from
3:17it. Could you please make podcast about cars or
stuff like that?" Oh, by the way, that reminds me,
3:22Michelle, we need to have an episode on and stuff
like that. That expression. Yes, that is. That'll
3:28be another day. That'll be another day, right?
Absolutely. Yeah. So, this is a great question.
3:33I mean, what a broad topic to talk about cars, but
there's so much there. We can't do it all in one
3:39episode. Even we could do more than this series,
but we're going to give it a start over here. Um,
3:45there's so much to say. So, today for part one,
what we're going to do is share how to connect
3:51with people over cars. Um, so because this is
a huge connection topic, um, so again guys,
3:59hit follow so you don't miss any of this series.
um hit follow here and on business English. Um
4:05and yeah, stay tuned for the rest of them. But
we're going to go through some questions right
4:10now and we're going to talk through them that you
can ask people to get them to talk about cars or
4:14driving. Yeah. And and it's interesting to note
you can also connect with people over your lack
4:20of interest in cars. Like just last night I was
in someone's car. We went uh for dinner and then
4:26we got a ride home from a friend and she has a
night like a like a luxury car. It's like a BMW
4:31or a Mercedes, but it was a handme-down from a
family member, right? And she said was telling
4:37us a story about how it's crazy that she sees
lots of people like like gesturing to her to
4:43talk about her car. Like at lights, she'll stop
and like usually it's like u middle-aged men that
4:48will like roll down the window and try to talk
to her like nerdy people and try to talk about
4:53her car like like pointing out aspects of her
car and she'll be like mortified and just try to
4:58like face forward. That's funny. That's a really
funny story and we connect over the fact that we
5:03don't care about cars or know much about cars.
So that's funny. Yeah. Yeah. Um so all right,
5:12let's talk let's go through this. Um some things
that you can ask. So the first one is oh what kind
5:18of car do you have? Um so just asking them the
type and you know just be careful not to sound
5:24like you're bragging about your car. Um, fun
fact, Dan and I actually have the same car.
5:30You do? And the same color. Se Oh my gosh. I've
never seen that in a family before. Interesting.
5:35His or hers. It's because he bought his So my dad
um we only when we lived in the city, we only used
5:41one car. I didn't have a car. Um and so he um he
bought his car and he was he got the same car that
5:49my dad had and the same color because he said
it was good and we like that color. It's blue.
5:55And then when we moved to the suburbs, my
parents were actually kind enough to gift us
6:01their car. So then we also got another blue one
of the same kind. So funny. Interesting. Yeah,
6:09it's it's pretty funny. I've never seen that. I've
seen that in families that like, you know, like
6:15someone's adult like sister or brother with their
family and their kids would have the same car as
6:21the other sibling and their family. But I've never
seen a husband and wife having the same car. Yeah,
6:26that's pretty funny. Yeah, that's pretty funny.
Um, or you could say, "What was your first car
6:30like?" Now, I think we do have to like preface
this whole series, Michelle, and just talk about
6:34how big cars are in the US. I think our listeners
know this already. It's not just the fact that we
6:40have so much highway in the US, so many miles of
highway. Um, it's also in our movies, right? I
6:47mean, think about the movie Greece. Um, and I'm
sure we could come up with a huge list of movies
6:52that kind of focus on the American obsession
with Oh my gosh, there's so much here. So,
6:58I just want to start that context out right here
with cars really matter to people in the US. It's
7:03kind of like a second home for a lot of people,
especially if you if you don't live in the city
7:08or if you live in a place like Los Angeles. I feel
like people often will sit in their cars a lot
7:13or spend a lot of time in their cars. It's just a
huge deal. Yeah. people take pride in their cars,
7:18you know, they're um you know, but some
people then don't know anything about cars
7:23and it's just a a totally just a vehicle and you
just, you know, um so so everybody's different,
7:29but it it definitely in American culture it's a
it's a huge thing because we just don't have the
7:33train infrastructure. I mean, we have Amtrak, but
Amtrak is not that good. Sorry to say. It's just
7:41it's nothing like the European rails or in Japan
or Korea. So the default is just driving places.
7:48Yeah. Right. Yeah. Exactly. That's true. So when
you ask someone, "What was your first car like?"
7:53It really touches on this nostalgic aspect, right?
It like it may cause people to tell a story of
8:00when they got their first car. Like when I got my
first car, I I I said, "Oh, I really want a pink
8:05or a purple car." And my parents are like, "Uh,
okay." You know, that's not that easy to find. So,
8:13even to this day, my parents, if they see a pink
or purple car, they'll send me a picture and say,
8:18"Oh, here's your pink or purple car." Yeah. The
only one I see is like the makeup salespeople,
8:23but they the car pink. Yeah. Yeah. That's
so No, it's true. My first car was a Volvo
8:301984 Volvo. Very old even when I got it.
Um, and it was But I loved it. You know,
8:38I would take it to the car wash every weekend
and I would wax it three times a year and I
8:42would take really good care of it even though
it was not in great shape because it was so old,
8:46right? Yeah. Yeah. We all have named a car. Oh,
yeah. Yeah. I name Yeah. My car had names in high
8:54school and my friends cars had names. We called my
friend's car. It was so funny. My friend Christina
9:01in high school had a really ugly boxy green van
and we would call it the moldy loaf because it
9:08looked like a moldy loaf of bread. We still just
this summer when I saw her at my mom's funeral,
9:15we just we talked about that. So that was a
connection moment. We remembered what we called
9:19her car in high school and we laughed about it.
Love that. Is hilarious. Yeah. So again like look
9:26I mean that these bring back about real memories.
I mean, totally. Um, so this is this is really
9:32really a huge connection topic. Another question
you could just ask someone is um just more about
9:38driving in general. Do you like to drive or are
you a distance driver? Now, what does that mean?
9:45I don't know. I I'm not sure if I've ever asked
anyone this. Are you a distance driver? Like,
9:50do you drive long distances or do you have a long
commute? Is that really what we're asking here?
9:55Well, a distance driver in my understanding of it
is like someone who like okay if so for example my
10:02parents go from Maryland to Florida every winter
but there my dad has zero patience for driving
10:10long distances. I mean my dad can drive like two
hours before he stops. Um and then some people
10:16we know will drive that whole drive. I mean what
is it 18 hours? I don't know like in one go. Um,
10:23and so, so that like that would be like a
distance driver as far as I understand it. So,
10:29like are you someone, Lindsay, if you have a long
road trip, I mean, you had a huge road trip. Um,
10:34if you had a long way to go, like how how long can
you drive before you're like, I need to stay at a
10:40hotel. Really? I've driven across the country
four or five times across the US. And we just
10:44took a trip to from Denver to Los Angeles. It
was I guess like 18 I want to say it was like
10:51um I think 18 hours maybe. Not exactly sure. It
took a day and a half. But I actually enjoy road
10:58trips. We stayed overnight in Utah and New Mexico.
But yeah, I actually enjoy it. I love being on the
11:04road especially in the American West. Um I mean
this is what we built our entire course connected
11:08communicator based on a road trip because it's
so American. It's just so nostalgic. I don't
11:14know. You just I just love it. I think it's the
cool. It's I mean not for every trip. I will fly
11:19sometimes, but I think it's a unique experience
sometimes. Yeah. I got I got to take a big road
11:24trip one day. You should. Yeah, for sure. It would
be fun. Okay. So, what else could you ask someone
11:30if you just want to get a conversation going about
driving, especially in a place that has a lot of
11:34driving like the US? Well, this is a fun one. Have
you ever gotten a speeding ticket? Yeah. Have you,
11:41Michelle? I've I got a warning once in high school
and then just recently I did I not tell you this?
11:51I might have read this before. I think I did.
I I got a ticket for going too slow. Too slow?
11:56Yes. Yeah, you told us. Um because I was in the
left lane and apparently you're not supposed to
12:01do that in the left lane and I was going too slow
for that. And I couldn't believe it. I was shocked
12:06because I thought I was going too fast and I
was driving around my daughter to get her to
12:10take a nap and I got pulled over and the police
officer was like like talked to me like I had
12:16done something really bad and he's like, "Do you
know that you were going 10 to 15 miles below the
12:22speed limit and I was shocked. I thought Yeah.
And um Oh man. So that's my new claim to fame.
12:30Um it was that's pretty funny. That's pretty
funny. Have you ever gotten to know one? Never,
12:36shockingly. I just I don't drive that much now.
I drove a lot in high school, maybe college,
12:40but I don't have like we share a car between my
partner and I, so I don't end up driving that
12:44much. But um but I will say that like left lane
is very contested, right? So in the west, uh in
12:51the e on the northeast, I feel like people drive
in the left lane because you have these two-lane
12:55highways, like double lanes. Yeah. Um and they
they'll drive in the left lane, but in the west,
13:00you you shouldn't drive in the left lane. It's
just a passing lane or it's a fast lane. Do you
13:04know what I mean? And well, yeah, that's Yes, it
should be, but that's not what I use it for. So,
13:09that's why I got in trouble. That's not what
you That's funny. Lap on the wrist. Yeah. Um,
13:15okay. Good stuff. So, what else can we ask
here? All right, we're going to do one more
13:20fun uh question. So, how how much is gas in your
area? Because that's a big connection topic, too,
13:26because people are always comparing gas prices.
That's a huge conversation topic as well, right?
13:32So, people might actually be talking about or
like if somebody's visiting you. So, sometimes my
13:36parents if they're visiting me, they'll say, "Oh,
I saw that gas was so much cheaper." You know,
13:43things like that. So, that is definitely a huge
topic is gas prices. Yes, absolutely. This is
13:48always talked about. Uh right now it's pretty
high in the US and might change, might go up,
13:52might go down. Going to California and you look
at the gas prices will blow your mind, right?
13:57compared to the rest of the US. It might be high
in in New Jersey and New York as well or equally
14:02high. I don't know. Um, and the other thing that's
weird is in certain states you're not allowed to
14:07pump your own gas. And I always thought that
was really weird. Like in New Jersey, uh, is
14:12New Jersey. Yes. So I always thought when I first
whenever I heard about New Jersey where you can't
14:18pump your own gas, I thought it was absolutely
ridiculous and like come on. Yeah. Okay. But I
14:24cannot tell you what a luxury it is. I absolutely
love that. Do you are you expected to tip or these
14:31days? How does that work? Is there tipping going
on or what? No, there's not tipping. Um, I mean,
14:36you just go I mean, so think about when it's cold
outside and, you know, it's so nice and I have
14:43my kids in the car and I just What's funny is my
daughter one time we went to get uh we went to get
14:51gas and I roll down the window to tell the guy,
you know, how to fill it up and she just yells
14:56out the window, "Fill it up regular, please."
That's so cute. Oh my god. I love Very cute.
15:03Yeah. Wow. So, that's so cute. Oh, so funny. Well,
this is a really important thing for our listeners
15:08to know. I'm not sure which other states are one
more. It's pretty rare, but yeah. What What So,
15:16you would say like fill it up, but I think when
I was a kid, I remember that you could have the
15:20full service option at many gas stations, but
or you could have the self-service option,
15:25but I think the full ser meaning someone would
pump it for you. I think that's gone away in a lot
15:30of states. So most of the time you're just getting
out of the car no matter what the weather is and
15:35pumping your own gas. Right. But it's funny then
because you know kids who grow up in New Jersey,
15:39they don't know how to pump their own gas. And so
I grew up in Maryland so I always knew and and it
15:44was just so funny for me in the beginning when
dating Dan. I'd be like, "Wait, you don't know
15:47what?" Like he like roll into gas stations where
it was self-service and start saying to people,
15:52"Fill it up regular, please." Yeah. No.
So, it was a it was a funny it was a funny
15:59uh way to tease him because he didn't know how to
do it. So, that's pretty. Um yeah, another f Yeah,
16:04that is definitely a fun topic. And then of
course, we already touched on this one was do
16:09you know a lot about cars or we already kind of
touched about this, but Lindsay, I mean any other
16:15ways that you like to connect with people about
this? I mean, you can talk about your your first
16:19driving test. So, it's a big milestone in the
US. When you turn 16, your sweet 16 birthday,
16:25that is when you get your driver's test. In most
states, sometimes certain states are a little
16:29different. Most states, 16 is when you take your
driver's test. And when I was a kid, everyone did
16:34it on that day. They did it on their birthday.
They were ready. They wanted their license. Um,
16:39but nowadays, things are really changing. Like, I
think from what I've heard, Gen Zers don't want to
16:44drive. Like, it's not a thing. Um, so things
are changing a lot. But in our generation,
16:48we were all about getting that independence,
right? Yeah. So, you could talk about your
16:52driver's tests. Did you have to parallel park?
That's another thing that will come up a lot,
16:57right? Oh my gosh. This is just like a neverending
connection topic. Huge connection topic. Yeah. So,
17:03we could have made this a 10-p part series
honestly and you know, one day we'll revisit
17:08it again and get into all of this, but yeah,
for today we're giving you a start on some
17:12of the basic ones. Um, so I mean again it's not
that you need to be a mechanic or a car expert or
17:18a car enthusiast. It's just about these are just
daytoday topics to connect with pretty much anyone
17:24over and pretty and I would say specifically
Americans. So I don't know how you I mean this
17:29I I I can't say the same thing necessarily in
England or Australia. I don't really know if they
17:34have as much of a car culture. I don't think so.
So this is kind of unique knowledge to American
17:38culture. how to connect with an American between
the ages of like 30 and you know and and 60 70.
17:44Um but really good stuff. So let's do a role
play, Michelle, and then we'll jump off the mic,
17:48right? Okay. So here we are. We are new friends
and I just pulled up to a restaurant to meet you
17:54and I saw your Oh. Oh, and you saw my car. Okay,
here we go. Wow, nice wheels. Love the color. Oh,
18:02thanks. What kind of car do you have? I
have a Chevy. Do you know a lot about cars?
18:07I know nothing. I just care about the color, to be
honest. For my first car, I tried so hard to find
18:13a purple one. That's too funny. Yeah. What was
your first car like? It was a station wagon. It
18:20was so old. But I actually have a lot of positive
memories of it. Driving to high school, going out
18:24with friends, all that. Even speeding tickets. Oh
boy. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? Just
18:32two. But honestly, I don't drive that much.
Do you like to drive? Oh, I love driving. Oh,
18:38okay. I don't love it. Also, gas is so expensive.
Yeah. How much is gas in your area? Yeah,
18:44this is a very common, very typical conversation.
You might take any one of these threads in a, you
18:51know, deeper, right? Yep. Or you might just keep
bouncing around from thread to thread. And that is
18:56natural conversation and connection right there.
So, let's just recap real quick uh what we said.
19:01So Michelle, you said I said nice wheels, which is
another way of saying nice car. And you said, "Oh,
19:08thanks. What kind of car do you have?" Right. So
now we're talking about each other's cars. Right.
19:13Yep. And you said, "I have a Chevy." Do you know
a lot about cars? Yeah. And Chevy, by the way,
19:18is Chevrolet. We call Chevrolet Chevy. I think our
listeners probably know that, but just in case.
19:23Um, and then you said you wanted a purple car,
and I said, "That's funny." And he said, "Yeah,
19:28what was your first car like?" And now we're going
down memory lane, which is always a good way to
19:32connect. Yes. Exactly. So then, um, you said you
have a lot of positive memories of your station
19:39wagon, even speeding tickets. And then you said
to me, have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
19:46Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? And then
you said you've gotten two, but you don't really
19:51drive. And I say, do you like to drive? And it's
nice here how what I like about the way we're
19:55having this conversation is we're flipping back to
each other. Like we're not M neither one of us is
20:00talking too long, right? The other one's coming
back to the other quickly to ask a follow-up
20:05question. That's really good. Mhm. That's true.
Um and then I said, "Gas is so expensive." And you
20:10said, "Yes, how much is gas in your area?" And
that's how we ended it. Another great and this
20:15could go into a topic on the economy, politics.
I mean, there's so geopolitics. There's so much
20:21we could do here. Okay. So, it does open kind
of a gateway to other connections here. Really
20:26good stuff. Um, Michelle, any final takeaway?
Yeah, this has been a this has been a really fun
20:32one to talk about all of these topics with each
other and share with you guys some ideas. Guys,
20:38listen out because again, next episode will be
on over at the Business English podcast. So,
20:43definitely hit follow on that so you don't miss
it. And then look out for part three over here
20:48um coming up after that. All right. Can't wait to
talk more car talk here. And there's also a funny
20:53show. There's also a funny radio show called Car
Talk and it's hosted by two Bostononians from so
20:58the Katac right the with the accents. There's
just so much about cars in American culture.
21:04So we've sort of scratched the surface today,
Michelle. Oh, yeah. I can't wait to get to the
21:07other episodes. All right. All right. This was
fun, Lindsay. Thanks for chatting about this
21:11with me today. And everyone, thank you so much
for listening. All right. Take care. Bye. Bye.
