This is an All Ears English podcast episode 1669.
The thrill of getting to know someone through theme park talk.
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Did your friend or coworker just visit an amusement park?
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All right, Michelle, how's it going today?
Good, good.
How are you?
Oh my gosh, I'm feeling good.
You know, it's a beautiful sunny day here in Denver, Colorado.
Is it?
That's good.
Yeah, it's pretty nice out.
You guys are going to get some rain there today.
Isn't that right?
A lot of rain.
But I'm like, still like have my fingers crossed that it'll just be like a false alarm.
I really hope so.
I really hope so.
We'll see what happens.
We'll see what happens.
But take care.
But when it's not raining, do you like to go to amusement parks?
Yes, I'm much better than when it's raining.
Did you go to amusement parks growing up?
Or maybe not like an amusement park, but maybe just like a beach with a big boardwalk or anything like that.
Totally.
I have a memory that my dad still talks about today.
You know how dads they get their memories with their kids and they just keep talking about them your whole life.
Yeah.
When we were kids, we used to drive out to this place called the Great Escape in upstate New York.
We would drive there from New Hampshire.
So it was like a three hour drive.
And there was one time when it actually was raining.
It was rainy and cold and we were in writing that you know that ride where you're in a, an inner tube and you go down in the raging river ride yeah yeah, that kind of stuff.
Yep yeah, we would just like we'd get off, then we'd run back up, get back on, because no one was there.
It was an awful day and we just we were kids, so we just loved it.
We didn't care that it was raining.
You know yeah, Good memories.
So he always talks about that.
Yeah, it's really nice.
What about you?
Did you go to the boardwalk?
Yeah, growing up, I went to Ocean City, Maryland, pretty much every year.
And that was always fun.
And, you know, now all sometimes I've gone to the Jersey Shore.
Yes, yes.
And then, of course, I went to Disney a couple times.
And then I also think of, like the county fair, like all those kinds of things where there's rides and Oh my gosh, so fun.
Cotton candy, funnel cakes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
All that stuff that's so bad for you.
Oh, yeah.
But guys, we're going to talk more about amusement parks, this kind of thing in a second and like how you can really connect with someone by asking them questions about it.
But before we do that, Lindsay, what do we want to tell our listeners?
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Yes.
Exactly.
Exactly.
All right.
Awesome.
So I mean Lindsay as an adult.
I mean when's the last time you went to an amusement park or something like that?
Well, I was just telling Aubrey we were recording another episode of All Ears English and I was telling her on that that the cyclone at Coney Island is, of course, the famous one which everyone knows.
That that one is crazy.
It's a good way to get brain damage really quickly, right?
Because your head, it's an old wooden.
Have you been on the cyclone before?
No no no, no.
Okay, because you don't.
You don't really do roller coasters, right?
Okay, all right.
Well, have you been to coney island?
Don't tell me.
You know, of course, of course i would.
I i couldn't call myself a new yorker i, i would be very, very disappointed if you said no, of course, of course.
Get a hot dog at coney island, so that that's the one that i've been on, that that ride the, the cyclone.
What about you?
So that's like the most recent one you've been to.
Probably, yeah, a couple years ago.
Uh, I don't know like about official amusement park, but this I mean.
Actually, a couple of weeks ago I went to just like a, a small thing with family, a town in New Jersey, and they were just having like a you know, you know how they have those days.
Yeah.
They roll it in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So they had different rides and I uh, my son was just riding a little train all the way around and that was cute.
Okay.
But yeah, there's amusement parks.
There's the boardwalk at the beach.
There's the fair.
You know, you could also call an amusement park a theme park, right?
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
And there's the big ones in the US like Six Flags.
Those are famous.
We never used to go to those, but I had friends that would go to Six Flags sometime.
It sounds incredible.
Yeah.
Lindsay, let's just go over first a couple phrases or words that you might hear at the amusement park.
What's the first one?
Well, thrill rides.
So these are things that really give you a thrill, like a physical thrill, a roller coaster, the ships that spin.
You know that big one, the ship that goes up and then it goes down.
That's what you have to look at.
Yeah, this one.
Oh, hold on.
I don't know what you're, yeah, yeah.
That's crazy.
Cause you feel like you're almost upside down.
Yes, completely.
Yes.
That's the only one that I would agree to, to ride.
Um, Okay, you will go on that one, but not the roller coaster where you go.
Is the issue with the roller coasters, Michelle, that you go upside down for you?
I think that's what it is.
I mean, I'm still not thrilled about doing that, this motion, but like what, what would happen would be that I would go and I would have to watch the ride, because some of those do go all the way around.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's so crazy.
So I would always watch and like ask.
Like you know, I didn't want it to be.
You didn't want to fall out.
No, I didn't want to do that.
So I would.
But if it was just like I was watching and you know, then I would do it and it was kind of okay with that.
But it's been years and I don't know, maybe I'm not.
So I'm trying to figure out if I'm just super neurotic or if this is normal.
When you if you do end up on a roller coaster, do you envision that you could fall out?
Do you do you like hope?
Oh, my God, I hope I don't fall out because that's what goes through my head.
Every time I'm on a roller coaster, I think that I'm going to be the one.
You hear about this once in a while.
I do.
No, it's true.
It does happen, right?
It does happen.
So I think I'm going to be the one.
Do you have that thought or am I just crazy?
No, you're not crazy.
I mean, of course, like in deciding whether or not to go on those things like I think about it.
But I'm more so just think about, like that, that adrenaline feeling, that just it's not like my favorite.
It's incredible the feeling of adrenaline pumping through your body when you've gone through a roller coaster right.
Like you just feel it.
It's like energy.
It's pure energy that these rides are trying to make that happen, create that response in your body.
Not my favorite.
Not my favorite feeling in the world.
I can think of things.
I would rather feel than that thrill of the adrenaline.
I don't know, not my favorite feeling, but yeah, I know.
It is exciting, but yeah.
Or what about this?
You ever see?
I mean, of course, I mean I'm asking you, but I'm sure that you know what I'm talking about.
Those signs where it says like, you must be this tall to ride.
Yeah, of course.
Usually it's like... four foot five or something, right?
They always have that for kids.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
So guys, you might see those signs at amusement park.
Now let's talk about some conversation, question starters, because this is super great for connection.
I mean usually I think what it is is Lindsay.
We're already talking about like memories and things like that.
And I think amusement parks boardwalks, things with rides kind of remind people of their childhood or of their current children.
So I think it's a big connection topic.
What do you think?
It's such a good connect because right when we started the episode, I was telling you about the ride that my dad and I used to ride with my brother, and I'm thinking about my family.
I'm thinking about being a kid.
I mean, this is the way to get close to people.
Guys in English is to bring up topics that evoke happiness and nostalgia in people, right?
This is the ultimate hack to life, right?
Bring up things they want to talk about.
Yeah.
Right, right, right.
So this is definitely, you know, something to pay attention to.
You know it's good to talk about this.
Maybe at work I would come up, you know, talking about your weekends, because these things are pretty common, especially in the summer.
So many people connect on that.
So, Lindsay, let's imagine that you just found out your coworker went to an amusement park.
Okay.
All right.
Let's go through some conversation questions that you could ask them.
Lindsay, what are some things you could ask?
Well, I mean, I've asked you this, Michelle, before on the podcast, right?
We've had this conversation.
So do you like roller coasters or do you like thrill rides?
And you told me, no, you don't like them.
You like them, right?
Yeah, I know.
And it's always like that kind of an attitude.
No.
And you said no?
Well, I...
Like I said, I'm always afraid I'm going to fall out.
But then I don't want to be the wimp that sits on the ground when all my friends go.
So I go.
I go for peer pressure.
But if I had a choice, I'd probably just skip it.
I don't think I need to feel that kind of fear.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
So yeah, do you like roller coasters or thrill rides, you could say?
Another thing you could say, and we haven't talked about this yet, prizes, right?
The games.
So did you win any prizes, right?
Like the other day there was a festival like very close to my apartment and we wanted my son like a little stuffed animal, like with the water gun game and Oh fun.
He must have been happy.
Yeah, yeah.
Then he dragged it all around town and it was filthy.
But yeah, so I mean, talking to people, that's another, that's what I like.
I like the games, but they're very expensive.
They're expensive.
Do you like to play the... What is it?
Ski ball?
Ski ball where you roll the... It's like bowling.
Oh, it's fun though, isn't it?
I do... Oh, no, no, no.
I do, but I have to find it sometime and like send you a video of it.
There's a video of me because i'm a terrible bowler and i was.
They should have known i was going to be terrible because i'm also terrible at skeeball.
There's a video that my dad took of me playing skeeball and i'm like throwing it in other people's And like it's like all over the place.
And my dad, my dad at one point, he just goes, she's great.
And it was just like, so funny.
And it's like, it was like, it's like one of my favorite childhood videos of myself.
That's so like, Oh my gosh, Michelle, that's bad.
Wow.
I do like those things, but there's something with my arm.
It's the bowling and the skee-ball.
Is it like an eye-hand coordination thing that's going on with you?
I don't know.
I should take you out on the tennis court someday.
Let's see what we can do here.
Oh boy, yeah.
You could see...
See if you could help me.
But anyway, but yeah, guys, you see, this is a connection question, like to talk about these things.
Like, I just told you a story about my childhood.
It made me feel, you know, excited and nostalgic.
So that's an example.
Like, we didn't plan for that to happen.
That's just what happens with people.
And then we naturally branched into other things like our skills, your eye-hand coordination.
I'm trying to learn more about you.
Like, what's the problem?
What's going on?
What's wrong with you?
And that's just fun.
You can tease each other.
You can have fun, go back and forth.
Again, this is real connection.
So another one you could ask, right, Michelle, just go into it here.
All right.
So were there any fun characters to take pictures with?
That's a great one, because you go to Disney, there's always Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, all those characters, Donald Duck, I don't know they're there.
And it's common to get photos.
Yeah, yeah.
Even adults.
I know a lot of adults who have gotten engaged at Disney World, right?
It's very common.
Yeah, it's very common.
So this is this is a thing that people love all throughout their lives.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
And then what was your favorite ride?
So, you know, asking people about the rides they went on.
And then the last one is, and this is, you know, you mentioned the hot dogs at Coney Island.
So the food, the food is famous when you go to these things.
I mean, just fried junk, basically, and candy.
It's fried junk.
Fried junk with a little powdered sugar on the top is basically what you're going to get there.
And don't forget the ice cream, usually soft serve.
You'll find soft serve at these kinds of places.
But I want to eat it all when I'm there.
I just want the full experience, Michelle.
I want to live it up.
It's true.
You do just kind of want to take it in.
It's like kind of a special thing.
It's not something you do every day unless you work there, but yeah, like you know.
So to talk about the food.
So these are all just like I mean, when you ask these questions, like you're bringing people like these, like nostalgic feelings, like the smells, the sounds, the you know the feelings, the actual feeling in your body and the taste.
You know people I think like have just like this general picture of yeah, growing up and what it looked like for them.
It's like right now i can smell the smell of the, the funnel cake truck, like i can smell it's like a mix of sugar and fried and i can just like imagine myself there.
Guys, so good for connections, So good.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So let's do just another little role play to give another example of how this might go.
We might not ask.
We're not going to ask every question, but we'll ask.
Great.
OK, here we go.
All right.
So I just went to an amusement park.
Maybe I've come back to work, for example, the next day.
OK.
OK.
All right.
So, yes, actually, your first line is.
Oh, Michelle, I just went to an amusement park.
No, I see.
I messed that up.
But anyway, yes.
Oh, that's so fun.
How was it?
It was really fun.
So what was your favorite ride?
Oh, there was this crazy roller coaster.
It was huge.
It was so fun.
Oh, so you like thrill rides.
I love them.
So were there any fun characters to take pictures with?
Yeah, there were a ton, but I didn't get pictures.
Did you win any prizes?
Yes, I won this giant puppy for my niece.
Oh, she's gonna love it.
That's awesome.
And I also think the question of do you like thrill rides?
Is kind of a are you this or that kind of question, right?
It's like you're one kind of person or another kind of person that likes thrill rides and doesn't like them.
So that's why that's kind of fun.
You're putting yourself into a category, which is kind of fun sometimes, right?
It's like your team.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
It's your team.
Yeah.
It definitely is.
Yeah.
All right.
So yeah, I said, what was your favorite ride?
And you talked about the roller coaster.
And then I didn't say, do you like thrill rides?
You told me you started the thrill ride.
So what did I say?
You said, oh, so you like thrill rides.
So now you're saying, oh, I see what kind of person you are, right?
You're opening up that conversation more to what kind of person am I?
That's the interesting part about this.
It's not really about the amusement park, right, Michelle?
Right, right.
It's true.
Yeah, exactly.
And then you said where Oh, no, I said, were there any fun characters to take pictures with?
So yeah, some some of these places do have them.
Some don't like at the county fair, maybe not so much.
But at like, it's like usually like the bigger places, I think.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then here you could know like, if you know, I don't know.
I feel like some adults still love Disney.
They love Disney.
They just love everything about it.
And you would know if I'm that kind of person if I said, yeah, I got a picture with Mickey Mouse.
So exciting.
I'm not that kind of person.
Yeah yeah yeah um okay yeah, i mean, and then, and then let's see.
Uh, i said, did you want any prizes?
So you said you want a puppy for your niece.
So we really like had this connection there.
Yeah, It's like a little bit different, because I'm asking you specifically.
I'm not really talking to you about like your childhood or asking you in general about it.
But those are two separate like conversations you can have.
And I still think it evokes those emotions.
Exactly, Michelle.
That's why this is this is really all about.
Yeah, you're asking someone about their experience at a theme park or Disney World, but you're really asking them about who they are.
That's why I can learn a lot about the person from this.
That's the good part.
That's why we want to encourage you guys to have these kinds of conversations.
And I think that's the takeaway today.
This is how we learn about people is by taking these fun, nostalgic topics and going deep.
Don't shy away from it.
When someone says they went to an amusement park over the weekend, dig into it.
Okay.
Yeah.
Don't just say, oh, that's cool.
And then like, yeah.
You would be missing out.
Like you would be really, really missing out.
That's a very specific, interesting, fun topic that I think people would like to talk about.
Yeah, it's a goldmine for connection.
Let's just say that.
Good stuff, Michelle.
All right.
Well, thanks for hanging out today.
And it's good to be on YouTube.
Guys, if you want to catch this episode, don't forget you can find it on YouTube.
And we are publishing two videos a week over there now.
So go and find it, check it out, and hang out with All Ears English over there.
All right.
This was fun.
All right, Michelle.
Talk to you later.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
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