Speaker 1: I really hope this podcast English lesson catches on. It
took me a while to write it because well, sports
aren't really my thing, but I stepped up to the
plate and did it. And the inspiration for this lesson, well,
it came from left field. Let's check it out.
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 right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty eight.
American Summer Sports. Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining
me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm
your English teacher Michael, and I'm so glad you're spending
part of your summer with me. It's week six of
our American Culture Summer series, and today we're talking about
summer sports, you know, the kinds of things that make
you sweat, smile, and maybe fall on your face a little.
We're talking about baseball, skateboarding, surfing, and beach volleyball. Let's
dive right in no pun intended. So first up, baseball.
Did you know that, in its modern form, the start
of baseball in America happened in the mid nineteenth century. Nowadays,
baseball is often called America's past time, and during the summer,
you'll find games going on just about everywhere, from major
league stadiums with fifty thousand fans to local parks where
kids and adults both play in the heat. Baseball is
a big part of American summer culture. And here's a
fun idiom that comes from baseball. Step up to the plate.
In baseball, the plate is where the batter stands, so
when you step up to the plate, you're getting ready
to swing the bat. But in conversational English, step up
to the plate means to take responsible or take action.
Like say your coworkers out sick and someone needs to
run the meeting. You step up to the plate and
you run the meeting, so you become responsible for that.
Or your friend forgets to bring snacks to the beach,
so you grab some at the store. Boom, you stepped
up to the plate. It's all about showing up, being
responsible and taking charge. Next up, let's roll into something
that's a little more modern, skateboarding. Skateboarding really caught on
in the US back in the eighties and nineties and
it's still super popular today, especially with teens. A lot
of towns have skate parks and you'll see kids practicing
their tricks all summer long. Speaking of which, let's talk
about that phrasal verb catch on, which works perfectly here.
When something catches on, it becomes popular. So we can
say that skateboarding first caught on in California and then
spread across the country, and now it's even an Olympic sport,
so it's caught on all over the world. We use
catch on for trans ideas slang, anything that spreads and
becomes popular, like that dance move from TikTok really caught on,
or yoga caught on in the US in the early
two thousands. See how that works. Has anything caught on
where you live these days? And next? What's summer without
a little surfing. Surf culture is huge in places like
California and Hawaii. There's something super cool about waking up early,
grabbing your board, and heading out to catch some waves.
There was even a whole generation of pop culture based
on surfing the nineteen sixties. Surfing and the surf culture
inspired everything from the surf music of the Beach Boys
to surf movies like Beach Blanket Bingo. Of course, surfing
isn't easy, and if you've ever tried it, you probably
know what it means to wipe out. That's when you
fall off the board and crash into the water. But hey,
even pro surfers wipe out sometimes, and guess what we
use wiped out when we're really tired. And you can
be wiped out or get wiped out, like after walking
the dog in the heat, I was totally wiped out,
or I stayed up all night playing Minecraft and I
got totally wiped out. To be wiped out, it's a
great way to say that you're completely exhausted. And last,
but not least, there's beach volleyball. Now that's a summer classic.
You'll find people playing beach volleyball on beaches all over
the country in California, Florida, and even at the Jersey Shore.
It's fun, fast paced, and you can play beach volleyball
with friends even if you're not a pro athlete. Sometimes
when you're watching a game, someone will come out of
nowhere and make an amazing save. When that happens, you
can say that they came out of left field. This
idiom also comes from baseball, but we use it for
anything that's surprising or unexpected, like Mandy quit her job
and moved to Alaska that totally came out of left field,
or the question that the boss asked me in the
meeting really came out of left field. I had no
idea how to answer it. Something that comes out of
left field is something surprising you didn't expect to happen. So,
whether you're surfing, skating, or just catching a baseball game
this summer, sports are a big part of American culture,
and so are the idioms and phrases from this lesson.
Let's do a quick recap. When you step up to
the plate, you take action or responsibility. When something catches
on it becomes popular. When you are or get wiped out,
you feel totally exhausted. And when something comes out of
left field, it's something surprising or unexpected. All right, that's
it for today's episode. Thanks for hanging out with me
and whatever summer sport you are into. I hope you
stay safe, cool, and keep learning and keep in mind
the best way to remember English like this in 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. And remember I set up my new AI tutor.
It's a great way to practice your English, get answers
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practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me.
To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot com and
choose podcast lesson eight forty eight. Remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
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