Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.
Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 109 of the Listening Time Podcast.
At the time that you'll be listening to this, or if you listen to this episode around the time when it comes out, it will be summer.
And I hope that you're all having a good start to your summer.
I'm excited for warm weather because at the time of recording this, it's the beginning of June and still the sky is gray and we have a lot of wind here, and it's been an uncharacteristically bad year in terms of weather where I live.
So I'm excited for summer to finally come, so that hopefully we can have some warm days and I can spend a lot of time outdoors.
And so hopefully by the time you listen to this episode...
It will be nice and warm and sunny here.
And, speaking of summer, in today's episode we're going to talk about the 4th of July, because this episode will be released right around the time.
4th of July, I think one day before it.
So this will be a good topic to talk about.
A lot of people ask me about the 4th of July and what people do, what it really represents for Americans.
So we'll talk about all of that.
And don't forget that I have my ebook available now, the collection of three short mystery stories that I wrote, and it's translated into Spanish and Portuguese to help you understand the English version.
So if you're interested in that and you're a Spanish or a Portuguese speaker, then make sure to click on one of the links in the description below this episode, depending on which version you want.
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And that would be really helpful for me.
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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 the 4th of July.
So first, let's talk about the origin of this holiday.
Why do we have a holiday on the 4th of July?
Well, this is our Independence Day in the United States.
So, way back in the beginning of our history, the history of our country, we were originally 13 colonies.
We didn't have these 50 states that we have now.
We had 13 colonies on the east side of the United States.
And during the early years, there were a lot of problems between the colonies and Great Britain.
And so of course, the colonies were an extension of Great Britain, so to say.
People came over from Great Britain to the United States.
At that time, it wasn't the United States.
It was the 13 colonies in America.
And so there were many problems, of course.
And eventually, in 1776, the 13 colonies formally adopted the Declaration of Independence.
And so this was formally adopted on July 4th, 1776.
So this document, the Declaration of Independence, is still today considered one of the most important documents in history.
So of course, many countries have their own independence story, obviously.
But this story of independence in the United States was something that was very revolutionary.
It was something that really changed the course of history.
And the Declaration of Independence really represents that huge shift.
In English, the word shift just means change.
So this document really represents that huge change, that huge shift, because it also outlines a lot of the basic principles that people today still champion.
In English we can say that someone champions an idea or champions a principle when they believe in it and they preach it and they really like that idea or that principle and they adopt it.
They champion it.
So many of the basic principles that people today really champion regarding human rights can be seen in the Declaration of Independence.
And so that's one of the reasons why This is such an important document and this was such an important event.
And then, of course, there's the fact that the colonies were separating from Great Britain.
They were declaring their independence and becoming their own country, kind of, so to say.
So, of course, that was really important as well.
And the first celebration of 4th of July was actually just one year later in Philadelphia.
And so they were still at war during this time.
However, they still celebrated the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
So there were fireworks, people lit candles, the whole city was illuminated because of this.
There were gun salutes where guns and cannons are fired to commemorate something.
In English we can use the word commemorate to talk about remembering something with respect, right to commemorate it.
And then eventually it became a federal holiday in 1870.
That's when the federal government actually adopted the 4th of July as a holiday.
So what does the 4th of July represent?
So in the early years, this holiday was definitely a little more political than it is now.
It can still be considered political in a sense nowadays.
However, in the early years, the country or the colonies at that time were really proud of the fact that they were separating from Great Britain.
They were declaring their independence and they were championing these basic values that they believed in.
And so it was a more political and holiday uh, and they were still, um thinking about their separation from great britain, of course, whereas nowadays um, most americans aren't preoccupied with uh, Great Britain when it comes to the Fourth of July.
Many people think about the original reason for Fourth of July, of course, right?
And we think about the separation of the colonies from Great Britain.
However, nowadays we don't have this political animosity with Great Britain.
We don't have any problems like that.
So that's not the same nowadays.
However, there is a lot of other significance to this holiday nowadays.
Of course, the 4th of July is the most patriotic day of the year.
This is the number one time in the US where you'll see patriotism on full display.
In English, when we say that something is on full display, this means that you can see it very clearly.
So patriotism is on full display on the 4th of July and I already did a full episode on patriotism, so I won't talk too much about that here.
And another value that is championed by many Americans and is represented by the 4th of July is freedom.
So, of course, the 4th of July was originally important because the colonies were declaring their freedom, so to say.
But nowadays, even though we're not trying to declare our freedom from some other empire or kingdom or something like that, we still really value this principle that we were born with the right to act freely, do things the way we want to do them, and be able to live the life that we choose and not have some other foreign body controlling our actions or dictating what exactly we need to do.
Things like that right.
So Americans usually promote the idea of freedom, being able to pursue your own will, your own happiness, things like that.
And then, of course, the Fourth of July is still a commemoration of the past.
On this day, a lot of people think about people that have died for the country, right?
Soldiers of the past that have died fighting for America.
And people think about, Of course, the origins of the holiday and people reflect on many of these things from the past.
So what do Americans do on the 4th of July?
Well, Americans have barbecues.
That's one thing.
And at our barbecues.
Maybe the most common type of food that people eat is hamburgers and hot dogs probably.
And then also steak and some other things.
But I think, when we think of barbecues, the first thing that comes to mind is burgers and hot dogs.
So this is really common on the 4th of July.
And people might have a barbecue just in their backyard, for example, and they might also have like a swimming pool or something, so people can come over eat good food, go swimming talk, do other activities outside.
This is really common.
Some people choose to celebrate the 4th of July in their backyard with family and friends having a barbecue.
That's really common.
And Americans often go to the park or go to the beach or go to a lake or something like that.
That's also really common.
And when people go to these places, they do something similar.
They might also have a barbecue.
They'll have to bring all of that stuff to the lake or to the beach or whatever.
And they might play some music.
I think on the 4th of July, the most common type of music that would be representative of this holiday would probably be classic rock.
I was trying to think of this before recording about what music you hear the most during this holiday, and I think classic rock is definitely the one that comes to mind.
So you'll hear a lot of classic rock being played on people's radios or whatever.
But you'll hear all types of music, obviously.
And people might play sports on this holiday, especially kids, because on the 4th of July people want to spend the day outside.
So of course, that's a good opportunity to play throw the football around, throw the baseball around, play soccer volleyball, whatever it may be.
This is a good holiday to do a little bit of that.
And I remember playing a lot of sports on this holiday when I was growing up.
So you have a lot of fun wherever you are.
If you're in someone's backyard, if you're at the park, at the beach, wherever you are.
There's a lot of fun on this holiday.
It's definitely a very active holiday compared to others.
We actually do a lot outside especially and play and have fun and things like that.
So that's really cool.
And then there are also parades.
There are 4th of July parades, just like there are for most holidays, I think, like Thanksgiving parades, Christmas parades, etc.
So there are also 4th of July parades.
So some people might go to a parade earlier on in the day and then maybe later on they'll go somewhere else to some barbecue and all of that.
And so that's one thing that people might do.
Another thing that's really important about the 4th of July is the red, white and blue.
By the way, if we just say those three colors, red, white and blue.
What we're referring to is the colors of the American flag.
And so we can say red white, and blue to talk about everything flag themed, everything American themed really.
But this is the day of the year where you'll see flags everywhere, and you'll see these colors everywhere, even if it's not a flag.
So you might already know that there are American flags all over the place on normal days.
But on the 4th of July, it's even more, right?
You'll see these colors everywhere you go.
And people might paint something on their face even.
They might wear outfits that are completely American themed.
They might wear red, white, and blue colors.
People really like these colors because they want to show their patriotism on this day, especially.
And then, of course, we have the tradition of watching fireworks.
This is kind of the grand finale.
In English, when we say the grand finale, we're talking about kind of the great end to something.
So we watch these fireworks at night.
And then actually during the firework show.
There's actually a grand finale scene during the show.
So, for example, at first you see the fireworks being lit slowly, one at a time, maybe two at a time, and you watch this for some minutes, some period of time, and then eventually, At the end of the firework show there's the actual grand finale, where they start shooting up tons of fireworks at the same time.
And it creates this really cool display of lights in the sky.
And once they start doing that, you know that it's the grand finale and And the day and the fireworks are all coming to an end.
And then once that ends, then the 4th of July is over and everyone goes home.
Everyone gets ready for the next day.
So that's the end of the celebration there.
And most people don't light their own fireworks.
I know that's really common in other countries.
In the US, some people do this, but it's not the majority of people, I would say.
It's the minority.
But many, many people watch the fireworks.
Wherever you are, you can hear fireworks around you. and there are many different fireworks shows.
There are always fireworks somewhere near you, but it's usually not just people in their backyard doing this.
Some people do this, but the real fireworks shows are these big coordinated events where they shoot off really huge fireworks into the sky.
So this is the time during the year when Americans can actually allow a little bit of noise like this, a little bit of chaos with these fireworks.
But besides the 4th of July we don't really have a lot of other days where people would want this much noise and that type of celebration.
It's really just on the 4th of July and maybe a little bit on New Year's Eve, but not really more on the 4th of July.
So those are some of the things that people do on the 4th of July.
I actually haven't been in the U.S. on this day at any point in the last seven years, I think.
So it's been a long time since I've celebrated the 4th of July.
But this year I will be in the U.S., So I don't have plans yet, but we'll see.
I'll probably go somewhere outside and spend the day outside with my family and do some activities, watch the fireworks, all of that.
When I was a kid, we would always go to this golf course that was right on the water and and the golf course would be shut down so the public could go and spend the day there and watch the fireworks, because they shot these fireworks off right there in front of you, right on the water.
So that was always really cool.
So maybe we'll go there again.
I don't know.
But I think it will be fun to celebrate this holiday again because, as I said, I haven't celebrated it in a long time.
So that should be fun.
And in terms of how important this holiday is compared to other holidays, I would say that the 4th of July is is in the top five holidays in the US.
People will rank this differently depending on their preferences, but it's in the top five.
It's an important holiday.
Americans really value this holiday a lot more than People in many other countries value their Independence Day or National Day or whatever.
In some countries, people might really like that.
But according to most of the people that I've talked to in different countries, their National Day or their Independence Day is not quite as important to them as the 4th of July is to Americans.
So it's a pretty important day.
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 that if you're a Spanish or a Portuguese speaker, you can purchase my e-book, my collection of three short mystery stories written in English and translated into either Spanish or Portuguese.
And you can become a Listening Time family member if you want my advanced episodes where I speak fast.
And those links are in the episode 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.
Alright, thank you for listening to this episode and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.
