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Speaker 1: I want you to know that I didn't just throw

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this lesson together. And please, if you're driving, feel free

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to turn it up, and if you're home, kick back

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and enjoy as we dive into backyard Fun.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty five

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Backyard Fun. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining me for

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another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm your English

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teacher Michael, and I'm so glad you're listening today. Before

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we die into today's lesson, I wanted to let you

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know that I have set up my all new AI

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English Tutor. It's a great way to practice your English,

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get answers to your English learning questions and more twenty

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four to seven and it's all free. There's a link

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in the description where you are listening to this podcast

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right now. Check it out and if you like it,

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leave me a thumbs up there. Every week, all summer long,

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we've been looking at how Americans live, relax, and celebrate

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the season. This is part of my This Week in

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American Life series, and today we're talking about something simple

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but super common, backyard fun. I'm talking about lawn games,

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grilling iced tea, lemonade, and just hanging out with friends

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and family right outside your back door. The backyard is

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a summer hub. Let me explain. In the US, the

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backyard is more than just grass and a grill. It's

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like a second living room. In the summer, a lot

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of people have lawn chairs, picnic tables, and even outdoor

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string lights and bluetooth speakers. It's the perfect spot to

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host a barbecue or just enjoy the evening. Sometimes people

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plan ahead, but honestly, most of the time they just

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throw something together. When you throw something together, it means

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you organize a social event or make something quickly and casually.

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Like the weather was so nice yesterday, we threw together

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a little get together with my neighbors. Some snacks, a

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few drinks, good music, and a lot of laughs all evening.

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That casual style is part of the charm. No stress,

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no formal plans, just good food, drinks and good company.

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That's throwing something together. And by the way, we also

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use the phrase throw something together when we make a meal,

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usually a simple meal with whatever ingredients we happen to

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have in the kitchen. Like last night, I had some

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cherry tomatoes and basil, so I threw together a simple

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summer pasta. It was awesome. Of course, the best part

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of backyard life is just relaxing, sitting in a lawn chair,

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sipping a cold drink, maybe chatting with friends or listening

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to music. You might hear someone say, let's just kick

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back and enjoy the day. I know that kick is

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a powerful word, but when you kick back, it just

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means to relax and take it easy. Like it was

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a long week, so I'm just gonna kick back in

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the backyard with my dog Max. And last weekend we

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kicked back in the shade with some lemonade and good conversation.

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You know, when I think about all the times I

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spent in my backyard and friends' backyards in the summer,

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three words come to mind. Food, drinks, and playlists. You

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probably know that I'm a musician, but even for my

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friends who are just music fans, the one thing you

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can almost always find in a backyard in the summer

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is music, whether it's classic rock, country or just a

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summer playlist on Spotify. Music sets the vibe, and of course,

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whenever there's music playing, someone always wants to either turn

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it up or turn it down. This set of phrasal

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verbs has a pretty basic meaning. Turn up means to

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increase the volume, and turn down yep means to lower

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the volume. So like whenever I hear a good song,

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I instinctively want to turn it up. Of course, you

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don't want to bother your neighbors too much, so before

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they yell over the fence for you to turn it down,

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you should probably keep the music volume at a reasonable level.

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When I was growing up, way before the Internet, we

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had things called radios and new hits that came out

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in the summer became the soundtrack of that particular summer

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Sun of the takes big deal time. Yeah, that's how

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important music is to backyard fun. Another backyard classic is

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lawn games. Have you ever played lawn darts or frisbee? These

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are easy to set up games that almost anyone can play,

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no matter their age, and some watermelon or ice cream

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at the end. And that's just the icing on the cake.

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The icing on the cake, this idiot means a little

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extra thing that makes something even better when you have

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that sugary sweet layer of chocolate on top of a cake.

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That's called the icing on the cake, that little extra

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thing that makes a good thing better. And it's not

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just about food. Like we were already having fun and

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then someone brought out water balloons. That was totally the

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icing on the cake. The food they cooked on the

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barbecued was great, but the fruit salad they had for

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dessert was the icing on the cake. And for some

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lucky folks, relaxing in the summer means jumping into a backyard.

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Swimming pool pools are pretty common in many parts of

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the US, especially in warmer states like Florida, Texas, and California.

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Even my neighbor in New York had won. Some homes

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have small in ground or above the ground pools, but

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even if you don't have one, most towns have commune

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unity pools where families go to swim and cool off.

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It's a great place for kids to play and for

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adults to relax without going too far from home. So

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that's what backyard fun looks like for a lot of Americans,

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kicking back with good food, good music, lawn chairs, swimming pools,

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and something cold to drink. You don't need a big

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vacation to have a good time. Sometimes the best summer

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moments happen right at home in the backyard. How about you.

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Do you have a favorite way to relax outside in

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the summer. Would you rather jump in a pool or

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kick back with a cool drink and some music. Let

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me know I'd love to hear about your version of

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backyard fun. Well that's it for this week's episode of

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This Week in American Life. Next time we'll talk about

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summer sports baseball, skateboarding, surfing, and everything in between. Until then,

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stay cool and keep in mind. The best way to

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remember English like this and any other word or phrase

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in English, is to take that word or phrase, write

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it in a sentence that's true for you or true

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in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey, do

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you want to get more practice using your English? Then

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you really need to join my podcast Learner's Study Group.

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There you can make new international friends. Join us for

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live group lessons every week where we practice these podcasts

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and audio download for every Happy English podcast in the

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past and in the future, and on top of that.

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Each episode has exercises where you can practice this in

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English point with speaking and writing checked by me. To

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learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose

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podcasts Lesson eight forty five. Remember learning another language is

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not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here to

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help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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