A2 English Listening Practice - Weddings — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hey everybody. Welcome to this A2
2. 0:03English listening practice video. You
3. 0:06can use this video to practice your
4. 0:08listening and comprehension as I speak.
5. 0:11Before we start, remember to subscribe
6. 0:14to the channel, click on the bell, and
7. 0:17follow us on Instagram. You ready? So,
8. 0:20today I'm going to talk about weddings.
9. 0:23I think that this is a fun topic because
10. 0:26there are so many customs and traditions
11. 0:29when it comes to weddings. And it's also
12. 0:31interesting because different countries'
13. 0:34weddings could be considered a
14. 0:36reflection of those countries. So, let's
15. 0:39talk about some of the most important
16. 0:41traditions involved in American
17. 0:43weddings. First, you have to understand
18. 0:46that traditionally, weddings are a big
19. 0:49deal in the US. Little girls often dream
20. 0:53about their future wedding day and about
21. 0:56wearing their beautiful wedding dress.
22. 0:58The wedding dress is one of the most
23. 1:01important parts of the American wedding,
24. 1:04so women spend a lot of time trying to
25. 1:06find the perfect gown. The bride
26. 1:09attracts most of the attention at
27. 1:11weddings, so of course, she wants to
28. 1:14look as stunning as possible. The groom
29. 1:17doesn't get quite as much attention as
30. 1:19the bride, and so the groom's suit isn't
31. 1:22quite as important as the bride's dress.
32. 1:25If you've watched American movies that
33. 1:28include wedding scenes, you've probably
34. 1:30noticed that both the bride and the
35. 1:32groom have people standing next to them
36. 1:35at the ceremony. These people are called
37. 1:38the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. The
38. 1:41most important bridesmaid is called the
39. 1:44maid of honor, and the most important
40. 1:47groomsman is called the best man. In the
41. 1:50US, it's a big honor to be asked to be
42. 1:53the best man or the maid of honor at a
43. 1:56wedding. Usually, both of these people
44. 1:59give a speech during the reception. The
45. 2:02reception is the word we use for the
46. 2:05party that comes after the ceremony. In
47. 2:08the US, both the ceremony and the
48. 2:11reception are important, but the
49. 2:13ceremony is especially important. In
50. 2:15other countries like Mexico, the
51. 2:18ceremony is not important. Many people
52. 2:21skip the ceremony and just show up for
53. 2:24the reception. In the US, nobody would
54. 2:27do that. Everyone wants to see the
55. 2:29ceremony. There are several important
56. 2:32elements to the ceremony in American
57. 2:34weddings. For example, there's usually a
58. 2:37flower girl or a ring bearer. A flower
59. 2:40girl is a young girl that walks down the
60. 2:43aisle tossing flowers on the ground. And
61. 2:46a ring bearer is a young boy that
62. 2:48carries the rings down the aisle. Then
63. 2:51there's the minister who officiates the
64. 2:54wedding and does most of the talking.
65. 2:57And one other important element is the
66. 2:59wedding vows. The vows are the promises
67. 3:02that the bride and groom make to each
68. 3:05other in front of everyone. It's often
69. 3:08an emotional experience when the bride
70. 3:10and groom read their vows. And then
71. 3:13after the ceremony, everyone goes to the
72. 3:16reception hall for the party. Sometimes,
73. 3:19the reception hall is at the same
74. 3:21location as the ceremony, but other
75. 3:23times it's not. And so people have to
76. 3:26drive there after the ceremony. During
77. 3:29the reception, there's a big catered
78. 3:32meal. When I say that the meal is
79. 3:34catered, this means that it's provided
80. 3:37by some outside company. Then after the
81. 3:40meal, there are some speeches and of
82. 3:42course dancing. Later on at some point,
83. 3:46everyone stops to eat some wedding cake
84. 3:49and to watch the bouquet toss. The
85. 3:51bouquet toss is the custom where the
86. 3:53bride throws her bouquet of flowers over
87. 3:56her head and then all of the single
88. 3:59girls who are at the wedding try to
89. 4:01catch the bouquet. It's thought that the
90. 4:04girl who catches the bouquet will be the
91. 4:06next person to get married. It's a fun
92. 4:09tradition. Lastly, let me just mention
93. 4:12the gifts. In many American weddings,
94. 4:15the bride and groom register their
95. 4:17wedding at a store like Walmart, Target,
96. 4:21or even Amazon. Then the guests can
97. 4:24choose a present from that store's items
98. 4:27that the bride and groom put on their
99. 4:29wish list. This way, the couple knows
100. 4:32that they'll get the presents that they
101. 4:33really want. All right, that's all for
102. 4:36today. Leave a comment and tell me
103. 4:38something interesting about weddings in
104. 4:41your country. And remember to subscribe
105. 4:43to the channel, click on the bell, and
106. 4:46follow us on Instagram for more English
107. 4:48tips and lessons. I'll see you next
108. 4:51time.