This is the All Ears English podcast, Sights or Sights, which to use for travel in English.
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We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
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How do you know which way to spell the word sight?
Find out today the two very similar and nuanced meanings of these two words and how they can spark a connection conversation.
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Hey there, Aubrey, what's shaking?
I'm great.
How are you, Lindsay?
Yeah, feeling pretty good today.
Aubrey, I know you're a big traveler and I know you've traveled and lived a lot in Europe.
Isn't that right?
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
So when you travel, do you like to see the sites or do you focus more on like, the food, the coffee, the wine?
I love to see the sites.
I want to go to museums and I want to see, you know, the oldest thing in the city.
I want to see the ruins.
I want to see, you know, especially as Americans.
We rarely have anything that old.
So I'm sort of fascinated by something that's really ancient.
But I also want to enjoy the food and everything.
Yeah, you want to do it all.
I love it.
I love it.
So in today's episode, what are we talking about today?
Yeah, this was inspired by a common spelling error.
I've actually seen AI make this error a few times where you're writing sight incorrectly.
And I can definitely see why this happens, because sights S-I-G-H-T-S and then sights S-I-T-E-S they're both about travel.
They're both things that you could go and see when you're traveling.
So sometimes it might not be clear which someone means.
Yes, super.
And honestly, I think native speakers probably have to stop and think about this a little bit when they're writing.
Again, like we said, this is more relevant for writing than speaking.
Right.
Luckily, they sound the same.
So it doesn't matter when you're speaking.
Yeah.
So this is about writing.
But of course, we want to...
We want to write things correctly right so that we're respected and people know that we know what we're talking about.
Whether you're texting it or emailing it, writing this down, you want to know which one you're referring to and how to spell it.
So we're going to go over both today with lots of examples so they're more clear to you.
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Okay?
Good.
Yes.
Awesome.
Let's dive in here.
We're going to start with sites, S-I-G-H-T-S.
What does this mean, Lindsay?
Yeah.
So this is the things you see, the places, the views, the attractions. that are impressive.
The reason you might go to Italy or Paris, right?
The sights, yes.
Yeah, the Eiffel Tower comes to mind for sure.
So for example, we spent the afternoon seeing the sights around the old city.
OK, that's just everything you could go to see or seeing.
The sites in person was much more impressive than photos could capture.
Right.
And often we'll say there are some chunks with this like that was quite a sight meaning, like that was quite an interesting thing to say, or maybe see, or maybe it was a crazy thing to see.
Right.
We also see the phrase sightseeing, right?
That's really common all over the tourism industry, of course.
Exactly.
So let's share some more phrases where, if someone says this, they would mean sights, the spelling, the views, the attractions, the scenery and some questions that you might ask, because this is a great way to connect after someone comes back from a trip to ask them what sites they saw right.
So you might say, did you have time to see the famous sites while you were there?
Yeah.
Or were there any sites that really stood out to you, right?
Yeah.
Or what sites would you recommend to a first-time visitor?
Or were the sites as impressive as you expected?
Aubrey, where's the place that you've gone where you felt like the sites were the most impressive?
The Peloponnese in Greece.
So I was like in Athens for a little bit.
And then I took a tour where we drove all over the rest of Greece and we saw Olympia and Delphi and all of the ruins.
I was in heaven.
I loved it.
I'm like, I took thousands of photos.
That's awesome.
I really want to go to Greece one day.
Oh, my gosh.
It was cool because I was taking a college class where I was required to go and see everything.
It was like an independent study class.
So instead of attending the class, I was able to go and see all of these things and document and write about it.
It was the coolest class I've ever taken.
And for credit, too, for college credit.
I love that.
You got college credit for going to Greece.
I love it.
So good.
For me it was probably Egypt, because I think it's the theme here is, old things tend to be the most amazing sites, right?
You know, King Tut's tomb and the pyramids.
I mean, just everything. mind blowing.
It's just, I can't even wrap my head around it.
How old these things are, you know?
Oh, absolutely.
It's so awesome.
And this is where it's really tricky, because if we were to go back and point out each one, some of these, you could mean sites S I T E, S.
It depends on what exactly you're asking about, right.
If I say, did you see the sites in Paris?
If I'm talking about the catacombs, I might write that S-I-T-E-S, right?
That's a historical site.
That's why yeah, when I was thinking about it my mind was getting a little bent here, because I'm like wait a minute.
You could also say like the site of King Tut's tomb, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So the good news is often it doesn't matter, right?
It could be either.
It could be both.
It's not going to matter.
And when you write it, it's like the both would work often.
But let's go over this second one, the spelling S-I-T-E-S.
What does that mean?
So again, so this is the difference here is this is specific locations or places, often important because of history, culture or purpose.
Tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky.
So it's not that simple actually, right?
Right.
So this is interesting.
Sometimes it really is that something you see, S-I-G-H-T.
For example, if you're on top of a mountain and you're like, wow, what a sight.
Yeah.
This beautiful sight.
You clearly just mean like what you can see is impressive, right?
It's about what you can see.
Yeah.
If it is a specific location or place that is important for some reason and you're referring to the site, that's when it could be this a historical site.
Wow.
I'm glad that we're talking about this topic.
I'm surprised we've never been into this on the show before.
Really important.
So again, just to reiterate, S-I-G-H-T-S is about what your eyes experience, right?
What your eye... And then S-I-T-E is about locations... um, places.
Yeah.
And it could be even like a construction site, right?
The construction site was closed to the public.
This would be written S I T E. It's about the location.
Or even just think of website, right?
A website.
Oh, yeah.
So that's in there as W-E-B-S-I-T-E-S, right?
But when I'm talking about Greece, I could definitely be writing this S-I-T-E, right?
I visited several historical sites on my trip in Greece.
Yeah, you would never write historical S-I-G-H-T. right?
There are chunks like that.
We say historical sites and it's written S-I-T-E-S, but then I could say, like I could not believe, the sites in the Peloponnese.
And I might be talking about the beautiful green fields.
I could be just talking about what I saw.
Yeah.
I think it's just a little bit more whimsical S-I-G-H-T, right?
It's more about the visceral experience, the beauty that, you know, it's, Yeah, the aesthetic of it.
Okay, so let's give a one.
Well, we already gave the construction site example, the website.
Let's give some questions.
You could ask, if you're wanting to ask about these locations, these sites, after someone comes back from a trip, right?
Such a good way to connect.
So you could say, which historical sites did you visit, right?
Some people, some destinations, there are so many of them, you can't see all of them.
Yes.
And if you want to make sure it's clear to the person which you're asking, this is what you could do.
You could say historical sites or archaeological sites, and then they know which one you're using for sure.
You could say, did you tour any cultural or archaeological sites?
Yeah.
Or are there any must-see sites you'd suggest?
I mean, this one could be both.
It could be either, yeah.
You could write it either way and it wouldn't really matter.
Yeah, or which sites were the most.
This one too, which sites were the most memorable, could also be S-I-G-H-T or S-I-T-E.
So tricky.
So yeah, this is one of those where, most of the time, we'll say listen for context.
Or This is one of those words where the context doesn't always tell you.
Just from that question, you wouldn't be sure which they meant.
But the good news is whatever you answered could be correct, right?
If you say the Coliseum and you name a few things, either way, they're sites.
And the other piece of good news is that 95 of the time you're going to be speaking this, not texting this or writing this right.
Right.
So it doesn't matter.
Yeah, exactly.
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All right, Aubrey, let's dive into a role play talking about a trip.
Yay.
I'm actually going to Italy in a couple of weeks, so I'm excited to see it again.
Oh, my gosh.
Yes.
I haven't been in some time.
I was there on my honeymoon.
So, yeah, this is this role play isn't really accurate for either of us.
Just kind of a general.
But I do love Italy.
Oh, good.
More the food.
More than anything, the food.
The art school, the food.
Gelato.
So much gelato.
Cheese.
Cheese.
Love it.
All right.
So how was your trip to Italy?
Did you see all the sites?
Oh man, the views in Florence were incredible.
We walked along Ponte Vecchio just after dusk.
The sites along the river at sunset were amazing.
That sounds fantastic.
Did you visit any historical sites where you were there?
Yeah, for sure.
We toured several Roman sites, Colosseum and the Forum.
Very, very cool.
Were they crowded?
Some of them were especially near the major sites, but we did a guided tour to the Colosseum so that helped.
I'm going next fall and I can't wait, but I'll only be in Rome one day.
Any sites that are a must-see?
Nice.
I got one of those good questions at the end there.
Yeah, yeah.
And I think potentially this word site could come up with this level of frequency, maybe in a travel conversation.
If you're asking about a trip, yeah, it could.
This is interesting.
This is kind of a pop quiz for anyone.
If you're not following along with the transcripts, it'd be interesting, before we go through it here, rewind it, listen back and think which one did they use?
Which spelling should this be?
And, if you're listening, this is one where the transcripts would be so helpful to just follow along and see which one is in the transcripts.
For sure.
And then, if you want even more of a pop quiz, we'll have an actual quiz with our Apple Plus offering right.
Yes, if you're not subscribed.
Those quizzes are so fun.
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Okay, good.
All right, Aubrey, let's go through it.
Yes.
So you first said, did you see all the sites?
So this is interesting because it would be impossible to see all the historic sites in in somewhere like Rome.
So that's kind of a clue that they probably mean what you can see sites.
Oh, did you see all the sites? you're like yes i'm going to talk about some of the beautiful things i saw so it could be s-i-t-e-s but your answer could be like oh it would be impossible to see all of this right right right right and honestly like you can just name anything you saw that was famous here right you don't need to make sure you think about is this a site or a cider right well which do you mean site or site right right it doesn't matter um yeah so then um i said you said the sites along the river at sunset were amazing and s-i-g-h-t this is again coming back to the visceral experience of what your eyes are seeing your eyesight right a sunset is a beautiful sight s-i-g-h-t but not s-i-t-e right and then i asked you about historical sites now you know that i'm talking about the locations like the coliseum um like a construction site but you probably didn't go to a construction site let's hope not right but sometimes you do i remember when we were in barcelona the sagrada familia was a construction site there was scaffolding all of the side of it it was so sad Yeah, or I know Notre Dame was under construction for the last few years.
So sometimes a historical site is a construction site.
Sure.
Just the way it is.
The way it is.
And then you said, yeah, for sure.
We toured several Roman sites, including the Colosseum and the Forum.
All right.
These are physical places.
And again, just especially near the major sites.
So here we're talking about these historical sites, these locations that are appealing in some way for tourists or have historical significance.
Wow.
It's really nuanced, the difference, isn't it?
It's really interesting.
A sightseeing tour brings you to multiple sites, S-I-T-E, right?
Yeah.
Really interesting.
And then finally, I said any sites, S-I-G-H-T, that are a must-see.
Yeah.
And this one could be.
You know, if you mean any historical sites that are a must-see, this one, above all, could be either
Yeah.
Wow.
Okay.
This is good.
Where should we leave our listeners for today?
I think first of all, reading those questions made me excited to talk to everyone I know who's been on a trip.
It's just the best way to connect with anyone.
If you know someone going on a trip, be ready with these questions.
Ask specific questions.
And if you genuinely are interested and want to know, it's going to be such a great way to build a bond with someone.
Yeah.
And to find out if there will be a bond with someone.
Right.
Because, if you, I think many of our listeners probably value travel because they're listening to this show.
You and I value travel.
Michelle values travel.
And so it's a it's a common value of our community.
And so this will help you find out who are you meant to be friends with in life.
Right.
That's true.
Is there anything coming from the other side when you ask these questions or maybe not so much?
That's a good point.
If you say like, what were the best sites?
And they're kind of like, I stayed in my hotel.
Yeah, right.
Change the subject about something else.
Sure, for sure.
All right.
Great stuff, guys.
Hit follow if you love our style of connection, not perfection.
And Aubrey, we'll see you next time.
Awesome.
I'll see you guys next time.
Bye.
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