Hi everybody, I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.
My mission is to help you to speak English fluently.
In today's episode, I'm going to tell you how you can get vegetables without going to the supermarket.
And I'm not talking about magic.
In the second part, you will learn grammar without memorizing any boring rules.
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Very well, let's start.
Some things only happen in cities.
Interesting things.
One of them is urban gardens.
If you have an urban garden, you can grow your own veggies if you live in a city.
I'm talking about tomatoes, celery, broccoli, etc.
It's an exciting option if you don't want to buy them directly from the supermarket or if you want to make sure that the vegetables are pesticides-free.
Urban gardens appeared as a fad, but the truth is that they are consolidating in many cities.
A good phrase to use in this case is, they are here to stay.
That is, it's not just a fad.
Where can we find these gardens?
Locations vary.
There are large gardens in the suburbs of many cities.
These are family gardens that produce all kinds of veggies.
We can also find urban garden projects in schools, where they have an educational function.
I find it very helpful for children to understand that tomatoes are not manufactured in a supermarket, but rather grown in the soil.
On the other hand, many apartments have a terrace and people have some vegetables in small earthen containers.
Some take advantage of the rooftop.
There's usually quite a lot of space available.
I guess in general, you can save money.
But it's easy to overspend.
You need tools, fertilizers, seeds, substrates and a lot of practice.
In any case, it's an outdoor hobby that is usually rewarding.
However, there are some disadvantages.
The most important is that the contamination affects the plants.
All contaminating particles fall on the surfaces.
Many of them are metals such as lead, mercury, or cadmium.
And I don't believe anyone likes the idea of eating a tomato with these kinds of metals in it.
Then there's the expense of the water, which can be significant.
Nowadays, the water bill can go up quite a bit because there are more and more taxes.
So, would you like to have an urban garden?
If you already have one, you can tell me about it in the comment section.
Before I move on to the next section, go and get the transcript of this episode at speakenglishpodcastcom.
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Okay, let's move on to the next section.
I'll tell you a short story more than one time.
Every time, I'll change a grammar point.
For example, I can change the tense or the person.
This way, you will intuitively notice the changes.
Okay, let's start.
Let's listen to the point of view story in the past tense in the third person.
Matt wanted to set up an urban garden on the rooftop of his house to grow lettuce.
So he bought tools, fertilizer, soil, seeds, and substrates.
After setting everything up, he planted the seeds, watered them, and went to bed.
The next day, he went to check on the lettuce, but saw nothing.
What a disappointment!
He decided to wait one more day, but he didn't see anything when he went up to the roof.
Matt was a really impatient guy, so every day he went up to the roof and saw that nothing was growing.
But one day he saw something green.
Lettuce was growing.
So he tried stretching the lettuce leaves to speed up the process.
But that didn't work.
He also sang to encourage it.
But that didn't work either.
One day he saw that the lettuce was big enough.
So he plucked one and made himself a salad.
But he had no tomatoes and no onions.
What a lousy salad.
But he had an idea.
He exchanged several of his lettuces for other veggies with other garden owners.
So Matt was finally able to eat a good salad.
He learned to be more patient and to cooperate with his neighbors.
Okay.
Now in the first person, in the present tense.
Imagine you're talking to Matt.
Matt, you want an urban garden on the rooftop of your house to grow lettuce.
So you buy tools, fertilizer, soil, seeds, and substrates.
After you set everything up, you plant the seeds, water them, and go to sleep.
The next day, you go to check on the lettuce, but you don't see anything.
You decide to wait one more day, but you don't see anything either when you go up to the roof.
Matt, you are a really impatient guy.
So day after day, you go up to the roof and see that nothing is growing.
But you see something green one day.
The lettuce is growing.
You try to stretch the lettuce leaves to speed up the process.
But it doesn't work.
You also sing to encourage it.
But it doesn't work either.
One day you see that the lettuce is big enough.
So you pull one up and make a salad.
But you don't have tomatoes and no onions.
What a lousy salad.
But you have an idea.
You swap some of the lettuce for other vegetables with other gardeners.
So you can finally eat a good salad.
Matt, you learn to be more patient and to collaborate with your neighbors.
Okay, it's the end of this short lesson.
As you can see, just by changing a point of view of the story, you can learn grammar intuitively.
This is one of the techniques that I use in my premium courses.
I recommend that you take a look at Okay, this is the end of this episode.
Remember to listen to it several times.
It will help you with your English.
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Go to slash Speak English Podcast.
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Bye-bye.
