Views #994 | Low Intermediate 4

Farm Life

Todd and Monica discuss the allure of life on the farm.

Script
Vocab
Quiz



Monica	Todd

Todd: Monica, you mentioned a farm home stay in New Zealand. Have you ever actually ever lived on a farm?

Monica: I haven't lived on a farm as such, but I've visited family friends who have lived on farms.

Todd: Did you like it?

Monica: Yeah, I remember loving visiting my family friends on farms. Yeah, especially riding horses. I loved riding horses when I was young.

Todd: So are you good? Are you an equestrian professional?

Monica: I wouldn't say that. I do remember one time. My mother always seems to tell people this story about when I was young, and we were at her friend's farm. I was on a horse, and the horse took off, and I was only about, I think ten at the time and I was hanging off the side of this horse and my mother was really worried for me, and then when the horse finally stopped she ... you know ... she came running up and asked me if I was OK and things, and apparently I said to her, "Oh, it's OK. I wanted it to go fast."

Todd: That's cute. You're lucky you didn't get hurt though.

Monica: Yeah, well, I guess I just didn't sense the danger.

Todd: Actually, I kind of grew up on a farm. My grandfather had a ranch growing up so I spend every summer on his ranch, so I have quite the ... I don't know ... I guess I have a lot of experience on a farm. Yeah, it's good. I remember when I was young I thought the life on a farm was just the best. I mean I had it so good, and I loved everything about living on a farm and I thought when I was gonna get older, I would want to be on a farm, but now that I'm older, I couldn't image doing it every again.

Monica: What can't you imagine doing?

Todd: I don't know, I guess, I just couldn't imagine all that work, and I think I'm just so addicted to city life or suburban life and living in a house and just doing work on computers and things like that. I couldn't go back to that lifestyle, but when I was young, I have to admit, I enjoyed it a lot. So how about you? Could you see yourself moving and living on a farm?

Monica: Well, yeah, I think my thoughts are similar to yours in that I'm very used to being inside using a computer, and I'm used to a very different lifestyle to one that involves being on a farm, but yeah, I've never had a long period of time where I've stayed on a farm like you so yeah maybe it's a bit different for me.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson

as such

I haven’t lived on a farm as such.

The phrase ‘as such’ functions similarly to the word ‘but’ and can often be omitted. Notice the following:

I’m not a professional musician as such, but I’ve played drums at many school parties.
I’m not a professional musician, but I’ve played drums at many school parties.

I wouldn’t say that

An equestrian professional? I wouldn’t say that.

We use the phrase ‘I wouldn’t say that’ when something is not 100% true. Here are two samples:

I wouldn’t say I’m fluent in English as such, but most native speakers understand me.
I love History and I studied it in college, but am I an expert? I wouldn’t say that.

hanging off

I was hanging off the side.

When somebody or something is 'hanging off', it is attached from above with no support from below. Notice the samples:

As the fire raged, people were hanging off the outside of the building.
My neighbor always hangs her laundry off the balcony.

sense the danger

I just didn’t sense the danger.

When we sense something we have a feeling about it, but we don’t know exactly why. Here are some samples:

Jogging through the park at night, I didn’t sense the danger people often speak of.
Judging by her silence, he sensed his teacher was annoyed.

suburban life

I enjoy suburban life and living.

The suburbs are an area just outside the city. There are a lot of houses and small apartments, but not many tall buildings. Life there is very different from city life. Notice the sample sentences: