A Teenager in the US

 
 
 

Vocabulary

enjoy	vacation	work hard
stuff	random	record (2)
hit (2)	consume	discovery
ghetto	grow up	replenish
global	designer	environment
thing	sunlight	successful
power	basically	environment
focus	science	I think so
roof	at least	solar panel

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

I’m happy because I worked really hard in school. And now, it’s summer vacation. And I can enjoy what I’ve done so far.

What’s your name?

My name is Matia, and I live in Menlo Park, in California, in the United States.

Here’s just some random stuff I haven’t heard like I’ve only heard a few of these.

What music do you like?

I have a few records and I listen to those records and it’s really nice to listen to the older music from the 60s and 70s, and also use my radio to listen to the newest hits of this day.

I like science because it helps people to get a better understanding of the world. And it helps people out if you eventually make your own discoveries.

What do your parents do for work?

My dad grew up basically in the ghettos of Serbia. And now he’s here as a designer. My mom is Sunchitsa and my dad is Branko. And I really love them so much — they mean everything to me.

My parents actually moved here to America from Europe. And then they became successful or at least I think so.

What are the big global problem?

Well, I think that the big problem in the world that we have right now is that we’re not really replenishing our environment as fast as we are consuming everything.

And we should focus on getting power from the Sun because there’s so much sunlight coming from the Sun.

And if we all had solar panels on our roofs, we would have so much energy that electric cars and things that need a lot of energy would be really easy to have.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. He is going to school tomorrow. True or false?

2. What’s his name? Where does he live?

3. Does he only like and listen to the newest hit songs?

4. His favorite school subjects are probably literature, history and social studies. Yes or no?

5. Is Matia an immigrant or was he born in the US?

6. Do you think his family is poor, working class, middle-class, upper-middle class or rich?

7. He thinks the biggest problem in the world is crime. Is this correct or incorrect?

8. What is a solution to this problem?

 
 

A. Are you a student? What is or was your favorite school subject?

B. Who are some successful people that you know?

C. Are you from the United States? Do you live in the US? Have you ever been to the US?

D. Have you met anyone from the US? Who were they? What were they doing?

E. Describe the climate and geography of California.

F. Describe the economy of California. What does it produce, import and export?

G. Do you think California has any problems or challenges?

H. What is the food of California like? Describe the cuisine of California.

I. What are some tourists attractions (cultural, historical, natural) in California?

J. What comes to mind when you think of California? What do you associate with California?