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Views # | Intermediate 5

On the Move

Eli talks about having to move a lot when she was younger.
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Joel
Eli

I am totally English but I spent my whole life basically living in other countries, well, my parents spent most of my life living in other countries. I've actually been at school in England for quite a while of it. Living away from your own country is great. I guess it's really good when you're young you get to see different countries. I stopped off in Africa and Nigeria. I was actually born in England, but I went there fifteen days after I was born so, my first plane flight was 15 days old, and I can't really remember obviously that much of that but then we went to Holland for nine years, which is great and it's, you know, I'm very lucky to have grown up in a different culture, although very embarassingly I can's speak the language cause I always went to an Enlgish school, but it's kind of difficult cause you, wherever you go, you make friends. You get close to people and then suddenly you have to move, and move house, go on to somewhere else, and I found this to be the sort of hardest thing, when I was 8, I went off to boarding school in England cause my parents thought I'd get a better education that way than moving around to different schools all over the world, and this was you know, it was good it was fun, but something like I always envied was the way, all the other kids at school, there school friends were just their friends in term time, but their real friends were friends that, you know, they had known since they were little, since you know, since they had been born or, you know their early school friends and they still knew them and you know even when I was 18 years old, still, my friend's from school had their real friends at home who they'd known all there lives, and I've kind of always envied that because we've always been moving around and as I say, you know, I'm very lucky, we've been in Holland, Scotland, and Africa, and I've very lucky to have seen all of these places but it's kind of hard as well, not having a root, not having a place where you can actually call your home, somewhere to go back to at the end of the day and have all of your family and friends around you.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

stop off

I stopped off in Africa and Nigeria.

When you 'stop off' somewhere it means you spend short period of time there on your way to another place.

Notice the following:

  1. On the way to town we will stop off and get some lunch.
  2. I think she plans on stopping off at the nearest town before she arrives at your house.

close to people

You get close to people and then suddenly you have to move.

When you 'get close to someone' it means that you form an emotional attachment with them and have struck up a friendship.

Notice the following:


1. I get close to people very easily.
2. In my job you have to be careful not to get too close to people as it can be very upsetting.

I went off

When I was 8, I went off to boarding school in England.

'I went off' means that you leave the place where you are to go somewhere else.

Notice the following:

  1. I went off on my own as I needed some space.
  2. They asked if we had any cookies so I went off and got some.

envy

I've kind of always envied that because we've always been moving around.

When you 'envy' someone it means that you are jealous of something that person has or can do.

Notice the following:

  1. Envy can be very destructive. You have to watch the green eyed monster!
  2. She envies your beautiful hair.

root

It's kind of hard as well, not having a root, not having a place where you can actually call your home.

Your 'roots' are where you come from or belong. This can refer to a place of your family history.

Notice the following:

  1. I want to study my family history and explore my roots.
  2. I went back to England to discover my roots.

Vocabulary Quiz

stop off • close • went off
envies • roots
  1. I was very to her when we were children.
  2. She was adopted and she's trying to learn more about her .
  3. Do we need and get anything on the way home?
  4. She was really frustrated so she on a walk alone.
  5. He his brother in a lot of ways.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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