Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.
Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 94 of the Listening Time Podcast.
I hope you're all doing well.
But when you listen to this episode, it will actually be the first day of spring.
So I'm excited that spring is coming.
And I hope you're excited for this new season as well.
And actually, in this episode, we're going to talk about spring today.
This is the topic of today's episode.
So I chose a relevant one. for today.
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Alright, as I mentioned, we're going to talk about spring today.
This episode will put you in the spring mindset and get you ready for this new season.
Remember that you have the transcript available for this episode.
That's also in the description, so go down and click on that if you need it.
And if you like this podcast, please give it a five-star rating and a review and share it with anyone else you know who's learning English.
All right, let's get started.
Are your ears ready?
You know what time it is.
It's listening time.
Okay, let's talk about spring.
So this year, spring begins on March 20th, 2023, which is today.
Not for me, because I'm recording this in February, but it will be today when you actually listen to this podcast episode.
So let's first talk about what spring represents, okay?
So I think the first thing that comes to mind for me when I think of spring is I think of life, right.
And it's very apparent when you look outside during spring that there's a lot of life and vitality and new things right in terms of nature and things like that.
So, for example, the flowers bloom in spring.
In English, when we say that something blooms, this means that a flower we usually use this with flowers actually becomes a flower, if you know what I mean.
It actually becomes the full image of a flower that we have in our minds.
I'm not great at describing things related to flowers or plants, because I don't know much about this.
But you get my point, right?
Flowers bloom in the spring.
So we see that life in the flowers, of course.
And the leaves return to the trees, because usually during winter a lot of leaves fall off the trees.
So the trees are bare trees.
As we might say, this means that they don't have anything on them.
They're bare.
So during the winter, the trees can become bare.
And for some people, it might look a little bit ugly, right?
Because there's nothing on them.
But during spring, the leaves return and the trees look alive again.
Right, they start to regain their normal appearance, and one of the coolest things about spring is the colors.
Right, the colors, depending on where you live, can be very different in the spring than they are in other seasons.
So a lot of times you can see pink and yellow and orange and purple, and all kinds of interesting colors start to appear all around you during this season.
And I personally think this is really cool.
I like to see all the different colors.
I like that image.
This is a very nice time of year for that reason alone, I think.
And all of these things like flowers and leaves and the colors and all of that, they all kind of make you think of life, right?
When you look outside the window during this season.
And this also makes sense, that we attribute this characteristic of life to the season of spring because Because, of course, this is also the season when we have Easter right.
In many countries, Easter is celebrated.
And the reason for Easter is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, right?
Coming back to life.
And so the whole season itself is related to life.
It's related to rejuvenation, right?
It's related to renewal, all of those things.
And I think that spring also represents new beginnings for a lot of people.
I think when people see all of the changes outside they see the colors become bright and the leaves return and the flowers bloom people kind of feel like they have another beginning, another opportunity that year.
Things are new and fresh.
So I think that a lot of people associate spring with new beginnings, because we tend to think of it as the first season of the year as well.
We usually say spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Of course, if you live in the southern hemisphere, then this will be the opposite right, but I live in the northern hemisphere.
And for us, we usually think of spring as the first season, even though in January it's still winter, right.
But yeah, people associate spring with new beginnings.
And I think some people think of spring as as the point after the hardest time, because winter is usually the time when people struggle the most in terms of their physical environment.
If you live in a place that has extreme weather, then winter always gives you the most problems.
It gives you the most challenges compared to other seasons.
And so when spring finally comes, it kind of feels like that you have already passed through the hardest time.
And in English, and probably in a lot of languages, we also use the word winter in a figurative sense to talk about a difficult time, right.
Getting through the winter, right?
That's associated with getting through a hard time.
And for me personally.
I also agree with this because, as you probably know by now, I don't like the cold weather or extreme weather.
And so when spring finally comes to me, it feels like I've gotten through the hardest time of the year.
And now the next eight months or so are going to be nice.
So I definitely feel like that as well.
So let me talk a little bit about spring in some of the different places where I've lived.
So let me talk about spring in San Diego first.
That's where I live now.
So here in spring, everything is green.
And this is significant because San Diego isn't necessarily the greenest city.
It's actually kind of like a desert here.
It's pretty dry.
It's not a complete desert, of course, but it's closer to a desert than it is to forest, let's say right.
We have more desert-like weather.
And so in spring, what's interesting is we have the opportunity to see green everywhere.
At other times throughout the year, specifically in summer or in fall, things are not green.
A lot of the grass and the hills are more yellow at that point.
The grass is dry during those seasons.
But now, since we just got through the rainy season...
We're actually surrounded by green grass, green hills.
Everything looks beautiful in that sense.
So that's one thing that's actually a positive about the rain here is that it turns everything green.
Everything's alive.
It's good for the land, of course.
So during spring we get to enjoy grass and things like that that is actually alive and not completely dry.
So that's pretty significant here.
And it also means that there won't be a lot of rain until the wintertime.
So once spring comes, this means that the rain is usually done for the most part.
Obviously there will be some rainy days throughout the year, but probably just a couple every month, at the most right.
Most of the days are going to be either sunny or they might be cloudy, but we won't have a ton of rain and we won't have a ton of storms.
So spring in San Diego means that the rain has passed for the most part.
In English, when we say the phrase for the most part, what we're saying is mostly.
For example, if I say for the most part, I'm doing okay.
What I'm saying is I'm mostly doing okay.
Not 100%, but mostly.
So for the most part, this means that there won't be much rain until the wintertime.
And so the weather becomes comfortable.
In my opinion, spring might be the best time to visit San Diego.
I think that it's not too hot, it's not too cold.
Everything's green.
There isn't a ton of rain.
And so this might be a great time for you to plan a trip to San Diego, if that's on your list of destinations where you want to go.
All right, how about spring in Guadalajara?
This is where I spent most of the last six years.
This is in the middle of Mexico.
And during spring in Guadalajara, it is hot.
This is the time of year when most people actually complain the most about the hot weather.
During the summer, it's hot, but it rains.
And so for a lot of people, it's more bearable.
In English, when we say that something is bearable, this means that you can handle it.
So if it's unbearable, this means that you can't handle it.
So for some people, spring in Guadalajara is unbearable because it's very hot.
But I think that people tend to exaggerate a little bit when it comes to the hot weather in Guadalajara.
I've been to some cities in the US, for example, that are much hotter than Guadalajara.
So I never complain about that and I like the hot weather.
So this is great for me.
And during spring, you'll start to see more fruit on the trees.
This is cool, because we don't see this a lot in the US, where tropical fruit or things like that will just start growing on trees that are just on the street, for example.
That's not something you see very often.
People plant their own fruit trees in their backyard, for example.
But it's not something that you just see walking down the street, like trees with mangoes or things like that.
However, in Guadalajara, you do see this.
So you start to see mangoes on the trees, avocados.
I forget exactly when these fruits start appearing on trees, but I think it's usually during the spring, during the late spring maybe.
It might be during the early summer, but during this time you start to see some fruit on trees.
And right now, at the time of recording this, it's still February, but my wife is in Guadalajara right now.
And she's eating mango every day.
So they already have good, ripe mangoes in Guadalajara.
So, as you can see, during spring or even before spring because now it's still the winter we start to see more fruit and things like that.
And for me, I think spring is the perfect time in Guadalajara, because it's still not rainy and it's not cold and it's warm.
So I really like this season in Guadalajara as well.
And then lastly, let me talk about spring in Oregon because I lived in Oregon for a couple of years.
This is the state that's above California.
So because it's farther north, spring is a more beautiful season than it is in San Diego, for example.
So there's a more dramatic change that happens during this season.
The flowers are blooming everywhere.
Colors are changing.
You start to see really amazing colors.
You know purples and pinks and orange, red and all kinds of different interesting colors all around you.
The nature just completely changes.
And I thought that this was gorgeous when I was there.
In English, the word gorgeous just means really beautiful.
So I thought the nature was gorgeous in the spring there.
The change was really dramatic, as I said, because in winter, everything just dies.
The trees are bare.
Everything's gray.
And then suddenly, everything just completely changes during spring.
It's pretty dramatic.
It's a cool thing to witness.
But there's one really bad thing about spring in Oregon or other places, depending on where you live and that is that this is the time when people that suffer from allergies this is the time that they suffer the most, so the flowers are blooming and there is pollen, and this often causes problems for people with allergies, And I remember that one of the years that I was there was really hard for me in the spring because of my allergies.
My eyes were affected, my nose was affected.
I had never experienced that before because it's not that big of a deal here in San Diego.
We don't have all of this pollen and all of these flowers compared to where I was living in Oregon.
So that was an interesting experience for me to suffer from allergies like that for the first time, because I don't usually suffer from allergies.
But that happened to me when I was there.
So that's one negative thing about spring in Oregon.
But overall, it's really beautiful.
It's gorgeous.
And so what are some notable events in spring?
What are some things that happen during the season?
Well, as I mentioned, we have Easter and this is a huge celebration. in many countries.
There are a lot of things that happen around the Easter holiday.
And of course, for a lot of people, this is a very important holiday.
It's a very meaningful day.
So Easter happens during spring and we usually have spring break right before Easter in the US.
Spring break refers to a time period where People don't go to school, so they might have one week or even two weeks off from school.
And so they can go on vacation or just do different things.
A lot of people travel during spring break.
They want to go to different destinations and have fun.
So that also happens in the spring.
In the U.S., baseball season starts in the spring at the very end of March.
I think that's when it starts.
I wouldn't normally think of baseball that much when I think of spring.
But this year, I'm actually planning on going to more baseball games now that I'm in the U.S.
And so that's something that's been on my mind recently.
That's something that also starts in the spring.
And one of my favorite things about spring is that daylight savings time begins.
This year, it will begin, I think, a week before spring.
So by the time you listen to this, it will already be daylight savings time.
And I love this because I love long days.
I love the sunlight.
I love spending more time outdoors than indoors.
So this is fantastic for me because I suddenly gain an extra hour of sunlight.
So that's one of my favorite things about spring.
And so how does spring rank for me in terms of seasons?
In English the word rank.
It could be a noun or a verb and it refers to ordering different things in terms of best and worst.
So where does spring rank for me compared to the other seasons?
I think I've already answered this maybe in another podcast episode.
I think I talked about my favorite season, but to be honest, I can't even remember what I said.
So this answer that I give now might contradict an earlier answer that I've given, but people change.
So maybe my favorite season has changed over time.
I don't know.
But I would first say that it depends a little bit on where I am, because in some places spring is still cold.
It's not that warm yet.
So that would be a little different from, let's say, spring in Guadalajara, where it's already hot during that time.
But I think, if I take into consideration the places where I've lived, and particularly San Diego and Guadalajara, I think I'd have to say that spring is my favorite season.
So I think that it's number one, because of the weather, because of daylight savings time, because of all of that.
I think spring is probably my favorite time of year.
So I don't know if I said that before or if I gave a different answer in another episode, but I think now, in 2023, I think spring is my favorite season.
All right, why don't we stop there for today?
I hope this episode was interesting for you and I hope it was good practice for your listening.
Remember to sign up for my membership if you want my specialized training.
And if this podcast is a little bit easy for you, then make sure to become a Listening Time family member or VIP and you'll get my advanced podcast episodes where I speak fast.
And if you want to ask me questions regarding English or language learning, then become a Listening Time VIP and you can ask me questions and I'll answer them in a weekly QA session.
And remember to follow me on Facebook as well.
And remember that you have the transcript for this episode.
All of that is in the description below this episode.
And if you like this podcast, please give it a five-star rating and a review and share it with anyone you know who's learning English.
All right.
Thank you for listening to this episode.
And I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.
