Speaker 1: One of the things that I like about being self
employed is that I'm in the driver's seat. Being independent
like that and not having a boss is one of
the driving forces behind my motivation to do this job.
In the driver's seat. The driving force. Yeah, let's discuss.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All righty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven forty four. Driving
and road Trips. For today's podcast English Lesson, We're going
to talk about something that plays a huge, huge role
in the daily lives of Americans. Driving. Let's take a
look at the importance of driving in American culture and
the unique tradition of road trips. After that will go
over some idioms and vocabulary related to driving. Buckle up
and let's get started. In the United States, cars are
more than just a way to get from one place
to another. They're a significant part of American culture and lifestyle.
For many Americans, owning a car is considered essential, especially
in suburban and rural areas where public transportation options are limited.
The freedom and convenience that come with having a car
allow people to commute to work, run errands, and travel
long distances with ease. Getting your drivers license is one
of the driving forces that transforms teenage life. Here in
New York, you can get your driver's license at seventeen
if you take a driving course at your high school.
I was determined to get my license as soon as
I turned seventeen, because your driver's license at that age
really drives home the idea that you're becoming an adult.
Not to mention, it's the first symbol of freedom for
a teenager. I'll never forget the feeling of freedom I
had when I first drove my first car on the highway.
I was really in the driver's seat for the first
time in my life. The other thing that I remember
from when I was a kid was that my friends
and I would often talk about hitting the road on
a cross country road trip. This concept of packing up
the car and hitting the open road for a long
journey has been a part of American life for decades.
Road trips offer the freedom to explore at your own pace,
stopping whenever and wherever you like. Even though we talked
about taking a road trip. We basically drove as far
as the beach and spent the most amount of time
commuting to work in school. After all, I was just
seventeen and my parents were the ones who were really
in the driver's seat in terms of where I could drive.
The US has a vast network of highways and roads,
making it easy to drive from coast to coast. This
car centric culture has also given rise to the American
love for road trips, whether it's a quick weekend getaway
or across country drive. Road trips are a popular way
for Americans to explore the country, discover new places, and
create lasting memories. And now let's have a look at
the vocabulary in idioms from this lesson. The first word
is commute, and we use commute as a verb to
mean travel between home and work or between home and school.
We also use commute as a noun to mean the
trip itself between home and work or between home and school.
And like many other verbs, we have commuter, which means
the person who travels between home and work or between
home and school. Let's look at some examples. I used
to commute to my office by train, but now I
work from home. In those days, my commute was an
hour and a half one way. I remember I would
always see many of the same commuters on the train
every day. Up Next, we have the idiom the driving force.
A driving force is a person or thing that has
the power to cause something to happen. I mentioned in
the story that getting your driver's license is one of
the driving forces that transforms teenage life. This means that
getting your driver's license moves you from being a teenager
to being a young adult. Here are some other examples.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the late nineteen nineties,
he was the driving force that brought us the iMac,
the iPad, and eventually the iPhone. These days, social media
is the driving force behind social change and progressive thinking. Next,
we have drive home, which means to make something clear
to others by using special emphasis and trying to convince
somebody of something. In other words, drive home means to
emphasize something. For example, the professor really drove home the
importance of studying regularly to succeed in exams. The coach
use several examples to drive home the strategy the team
needed to win the game. I often drive home the
idea that reading is a great way to improve your vocabulary. Next,
when you are in the driver's seat of the car,
you are in control of the car. Right With this idea,
when we say that someone is in the driver's seat,
it means that they are in control or in charge
of a situation. Here are some examples. Since he started
working remotely, Jake is in the driver's seat of his
daily schedule, allowing him to balance work and personal activities
more effectively. With a contract signed in the project underway,
Mark is now in the driver's seat and has full
control over the project's direction, more than her husband. Lily
is usually in the driver's seat when it comes to
making decisions about family activities and vacations. The last one
for today is hit the road. And hit the road
actually has two different meanings. In the story today, I
talked about hitting the road on a cross country road trip.
Hit in this case means to begin, and hit the
road means to begin a journey or start traveling. For example,
we should hit the road early today to avoid the
traffic after saying his goodbyes, Neil hit the road for
his vacation. Let's hit the road and see where the
day takes us. We also use hit the road as
a casual way to say we want to leave, or
as a way of telling someone to leave. Here are
some examples. It's getting late, I think I should hit
the road. I am really tired because I hit the
road very early this morning. Hey, hit the road and
stop bothering me. Keep in mind, the best way to
remember this and any other word or phrase in English
is to take that word or phrase, write it in
a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. Hey, did you know that
you can get the chance to practice this kind of
English with me directly. You can get more practice using
your English when you join my podcast Learner's study group.
There you can make new friends, join us for live
group lessons every week where we practice these podcasts lessons together.
Plus you get access to the pdf, transcript and audio
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven
forty four. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journeys.
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Happy English.