Weather
Do you prefer cold or hot weather? Do you check the weather? What do you think the effects of climate change in recent years are? Would you like to visit other cities that have different climates from where you live?
Vocabulary
  • To come by something (phrasal verb) - to get something, using effort, by chance or in a way that has not been explained.
  • Heatwave (noun) - a period of time such as a few weeks when the weather is much hotter than usual.
  • Forecast (noun) - a statement of what is judged likely to happen in the future, especially in connection with a particular situation, or the expected weather conditions.
  • To pour (verb) - to (cause to) flow quickly and in large amounts.
  • Extreme (noun) - the largest possible amount or degree of something.
  • Torrential (adj.) - used to refer to very heavy rain.
  • Snowfall (noun) - the amount of snow that falls in a particular area during a particular period, or a fall of snow.
  • Brutal (adj.) - brutal can also mean unpleasant or difficult.
  • Moderate (adj.) - neither small nor large in size, amount, degree, or strength.
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Questions and Answers
M: Do you prefer cold or hot weather?

R: I genuinely don't mind either way, but if I'm pushed on this subject, then I'd say warmer weather. Since I live in Scotland, I can get cold anytime I want. Warmer weather is harder to come by unless we have a heatwave.

M: Do you check the weather?

R: I look at the forecast every day. It helps me plan my day and when I'm going to go out from my morning walk or afternoon walk if it's pouring in the morning. I'd take an umbrella in the morning if it rained, but I don't actually own one.

M: What do you think the effects of climate change in recent years are?

R: Well, we seem to be getting more extremes in temperature, until summers are hotter and winters are colder. Along with that, the weather itself seems to be more extreme, so there have been more torrential rains and high winds, along with heavy snowfalls and heat waves.

M: Would you like to visit other cities that have different climates from where you live?

R: I would, and I have. I've lived all over the world, from Russia, where the winter is pretty brutal, to Turkey in the summer, when it can go as high as 40 degrees in the day. This is radically different to the more moderate weather conditions in my country.
Discussion
M: Hey, dear listener, weather! The weather topic. Don't you love the weather topic? We've talked about the weather before, so make sure you listen to our previous episodes about the weather.

R: Did we have a video on weather?

M: I think so. Yeah. Go to our YouTube to enjoy our video about the weather. Cold or hot. Hot or cold. Rory doesn't mind either way. So if you are not bothered, if it doesn't matter, you can say I don't mind either way, like I love cold or hot weather. Doesn't matter to me. But you can say I prefer warmer weather, or I prefer colder weather, or I love horrible winters when it's minus 30 degrees.

R: I wonder if anyone gives this answer to the question.

M: No, maybe some people enjoy the cold. I don't know.

R: Some crazy people.

M: You can say if I'm pushed on the subject. So if I'm pushed to answer this question, like if I'm pushed to choose one, I prefer warmer weather. In my country, I can get cold weather anytime I want. So in my country, it's usually quite cold. That's why I prefer warmer weather. Rory, what should we remember about the word weather? Because we don't say a weather.

R: The weather.

M: The weather. So it's always the weather. What's the weather like?

R: Unless it's being used as an adjective to describe things like weather conditions.

M: Yeah. Can I say I usually have a hot weather in my country?

R: No, please don't say that. It's not a good idea.

M: Dear listener, remember I have hot weather in my country. No article. Yes, you do say I have a good time. I have a nice book, but I usually have cold weather in my country. No a. All right? Or the weather in my country is usually cold. I prefer warmer weather. No article. We sometimes check the weather. The weather forecast it's called. I check up the weather forecast. And is the forecast usually accurate, Rory? Is it kind of like according to real life?

R: Oh, well, in my country, it is. Most of the time. Obviously, it's difficult to be 100% accurate. No one is 100% accurate about anything.

M: So you can say, I usually check up the weather when I go out for my walks.

R: Or check the forecast.

M: I check the weather forecast every day. Then you can use the second conditional. I would take an umbrella if it rained, but I don't own one. I don't have an umbrella. So Rory here is imagining. If I had an umbrella, I'd take it when it rains, but Rory doesn't have an umbrella.

R: So I can't.
M: Rory, why don't you have a freaking umbrella?

R: Um...

M: It's just an umbrella.

R: I know, but I've never had the chance to or the occasion to buy one.

M: Really?

R: Yeah.

M: Do you live in Scotland? It often rains.

R: I know, but I work from home, so it's not really something that affects me.

M: We're experiencing a climate change, dear listener. And certain effects of climate change. What are they?

R: Well, there are many, but I think the ones that stand out the most are the big changes in weather or the extremes.

M: Yeah. So you can say we are getting more extremes in temperature. Our summers are hotter and our winters are colder, so spring is non-existent, so it's either summer or winter. There's no kind of in-between. The weather seems to be more extreme. Okay? So we have more torrential. Torrential? Yeah? Rains.

R: Yeah.

M: What are they? Torrential rains.

R: It's just really, really heavy rainfall, like a monsoon.

M: We have heavy rainfall. We have heavy rains. Or torrential rains. We also have high winds, dear listener. Like strong winds. If the wind is strong, we say strong winds, or high winds, and also heavy snowfall. In winters, we have heavy snowfall. No article. Yeah? Here. Like we have heavy snowfall.

R: If we're talking in general, then yes, we don't need an article. But if we talk about a specific day, then it might be there was a heavy snowfall recorded somewhere.

M: And in summers, we have heat waves. For example, it's super hot during the week, like +40 degrees. If you have this experience, you can say, I've lived all over the world. I've lived in a country with brutal winters. So in Russia, for example, winters are pretty cold.

R: Pretty brutal.

M: Especially in some regions of Russia. So brutal winters, or we can say severe winters.

R: Oh, yes. They're very severe.

M: Really cold, right? So, and you can say, like, oh, like, I've never lived in a country with brutal winters, or with severe winters, or I have lived, and also I've lived in countries where it can go as high as 40 degrees in the day, like, very hot. So these are radically different climates, okay? So like radically different temperatures. In comparison to the moderate weather in my country. So if the weather is moderate, it's kind of like, not cold, not hot, it's okay, you know? It's not extreme. And Rory, like, would you prefer to live in a place where it's colder or like, in a hot country?

R: That's a good question. Probably in a hotter country, I suppose now. I really liked my time in Turkey, for example. Although just because the country is famous for being hot doesn't mean it never gets cold.

M: And you stayed in Turkey for like two months, yeah?

R: Yes, just over two months.

M: And did you drink hot tea when it was super hot? Boiling hot.

R: I did drink a lot of tea, actually, now I think about it. Thank you very much for listening.

M: Thank you! Bye!
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