Joe Biden Meets Justin Trudeau in Ottawa 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Learn English with the News

In this lesson, you're going to learn English  with the news. We're going to read a news article  

together so you can learn advanced vocabulary,  advanced grammar and correct pronunciation. Let's  

get started! Welcome to our article. Today  we're talking about U.S President Joe Biden  

touching down in Ottawa. Ottawa is where I live,  which is why I chose this article. And I'm sure  

you recognize this man, he's the prime minister  of Canada, Justin Trudeau. So let me read this  

headline again. U.S President Joe Biden touches  down in Ottawa. First, let's talk about this  

phrasal verb "touch down". And notice we have an  s on it, because it's conjugated with Joe Biden,  

which represents the subject, he. U.S President  Joe Biden, he touches down in Ottawa. Now "to  

touch down" this means to land. And we use  it specifically for a plane. As an example,  

I could say: my plane just touched down, which  means my plane just landed. To be honest,  

I would say that "landed "is more common than  using the phrasal verb touch down. So if you're  

already comfortable with using: what time does  your plane land? My plane just landed. I say  

keep using it. But at least now you know what it  means when you see it. Okay let's continue on and  

talk about his trip in Canada. U.S President  Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa  

for a whirlwind 27-hour visit. Now first I want  to point out that, for everyone who doesn't know,  

the capital city of Canada is Ottawa. It is not  Toronto. I think probably 90 percent of people  

think the capital city in Canada is Toronto.  That's just not true. Ottawa is the capital city,  

which is where all the official government  business takes place. And which is why  

President Joe Biden is visiting Ottawa, and  not Toronto. Toronto is Canada's largest city.  

Okay, so make sure you know that the next time  someone asks you about the capital of Canada.  

Arrives Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit. Okay what is a whirlwind,  

whirlwind. Pronunciation: whirlwind. A  whirlwind. Now this is being used as an  

adjective. And we often describe an event, like  a visit, a meeting, a vacation, a conference,  

as a whirlwind vacation. A whirlwind conference. A  whirlwind meeting. A whirlwind visit. It's simply  

a visit where many many things happen in a  short period of time. So very active. Many  

different activities. So he's going to go to a  lot of different places, meet a lot of different  

people as well. And that's why you could describe  your vacation or a meeting or a conference or  

even your summer. I had a whirlwind summer.  It implies that you did many many different  

things. You saw many many different people. So  I would say busy, eventful, see lots of people,  

things. That's how I would describe it. And  this is an adjective. So it's an adjective.  

So as an adjective, you would put  it before what you're describing.  

Expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny  aspects of the Canada-U.S relationship. Okay,  

so friendly. You know what that means. What  about thorny. Well, "thorn" is something very  

sharp and a thorn hurts you. So that's kind of  what you want to imagine. Those aspects of the  

relationship that are thorny, that can hurt  you. So in this case, I would just say the  

positive aspects of the relationship, that's  the friendly aspects. And then the thorny  

are the negative aspects of the relationship.  Because obviously these two countries probably  

don't share the same opinion on every single  topic. They probably have some debate that they're  

going to have as well. So that would be, I would  just summarize it as negative. Negative. So you  

could describe your relationship: I have a thorny  relationship with my boss, with my co-worker. So  

you're saying you know it's negative. There are  things that hurt each other in that relationship.  

Okay, thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S  relationship. I don't know what those aspects  

are. I guess right here: including protectionism  and migration on both sides of the border. So I'm  

not sure if these are the friendly aspects or  the thorny aspects. They don't really specify.  

Now actually, before we move on I want to  talk about the pronunciation of Canada,  

because I actually hear a lot of mispronunciation  because of syllable stress. So a lot of students  

will put the stress on the wrong syllable,  or they won't put any stress on it. So it's  

Canada. It's not Canada. Canada. Sometimes I hear  that, where the "da" is really strong. Canada. No,  

Canada. Canada. Okay, that's how you say it like  an American, like a Canadian. Canada. So this "da"  

is quite short. Canada. Canada so now you know the  capital of Canada, the largest city, and you know  

how to correctly pronounce it. All of these notes  are available in a lesson PDF, so you can look in  

the description or the comment section to download  the free lesson PDF. All right, let's continue  

on. It's quite a packed schedule. So a "packed  schedule", this is just another way of saying:  

busy. Busy. Now you could also think  of it as crowded, because you can say  

the event, the event was packed. And  in this case "packed" means "crowded".  

So there were many many people in the event, so  you couldn't really move around. It was crowded.  

But because we're talking about a schedule, it  really more means busy. Now honestly, you could  

use our same adjective as before and probably say  it's quite a whirlwind schedule, because what is  

a busy schedule? It's when you do lots of things,  see lots of people, meet with lots of people, well  

that's also kind of the definition of busy, right.  So you could use our other adjective: whirlwind.  

Or you can use "packed" as well. And then know  that "packed" can mean "crowded" at the same time.  

So in terms of busy, you could say: my  weekend was packed. My weekend was packed,  

which means it was busy. Now sometimes  we actually add, which is kind of fun,  

I like saying this. We add the word "action" in  front. Oh my weekend was action-packed. You don't  

have to say that. You can simply say packed. But  that's just an option: action-packed or packed.  

All right it was quite a packed schedule  for a short trip, said White House National  

Security Council spokesman, that's a  long title, John Kirby on Wednesday.  

This is a meaningful visit. Canada is one of the  United States' closest allies. Notice they have  

this apostrophe. This is to show possession.  The United States' closest allies and friends.  

So the allies belong to the United States.  The friends belong to the United States. So  

that's why. Now generally with possession, I  would say: that's my friend's shirt. So that  

is when I'm talking about my one friend, right.  So my one friend, singular. Now this s is not  

plural. It's to show possession. It's to show the  shirt belongs to my friend, okay. Now I could say:  

that's my friends'. because I can say: my friends.  And it could be plural. That's my friends'. What  

could be a multiple item belonging to my friends.  That's my friends' dog. Okay let's say I have two  

friends and they live in the same house and  they share one dog. So the dog belongs to my  

friends. Two friends, plural. But I just put  the apostrophe here because there is already  

an S. So I don't need to put another S, because  that looks weird, right. So you don't need to  

put another S if it ends in an S. And this is to  show possession. This is also to show possession,  

okay. Canada is one of the United States' closest  friends. And allies and friends. And has been  

now for more than 150 years. Why is it 150 years?  Because that's how long Canada has been a country.  

It's been 152 or 3 years. That's why they say  more than. So since we became a country. This will  

be the first true in-person bilateral meeting. A  bilateral meeting is a meeting between two people.  

So it's just another way of saying two people.  I don't know why they really said it because  

it's already implied because it's Joe Biden and  Trudeau. And they're two people. Anyway, you could  

say: I'm having a bilateral meeting with my boss.  And this implies that the meeting is between you  

and your boss, because bilateral is with two  people. Now let's say it's actually my boss'  

friend, I can't think of anything else. So I'll  say friend. But notice this is possessive because  

the friend belongs to my boss. Boss already ends  in s, so I don't need to put another s there. If  

it were the other way around: my friend's boss,  I put apostrophe s because it does not end in s.  

And this is also showing possession. I have  a bilateral meeting with my friend's boss.  

Okay let me highlight that for you. Between  the two leaders in Canada since 2009.  

So it'll be the first true in-person bilateral  meeting. Now adding "in-person" because obviously  

in the last few years a lot of meetings have  taken place online. So it suggests that it's  

possible they had an online bilateral meeting.  It's possible. Now notice, we have since.  

Since plus a specific time. Since 2009. Since  last summer. Since March 5th. And we use for  

with a time period. For two weeks. Two years. Now  in this context, "for" doesn't work. You wouldn't  

replace: It will be the first in-person meeting  for two weeks. It doesn't make any sense. So we  

can't replace it with for. But I'm just letting  you know that there are specific times when you  

use "since" or "for" in other cases. Because I do  see mistakes with those. In this case, we need to  

use "since". And we have to have a specific time  because "since" is only used with a specific time.  

Okay. The first year of Biden's term. So here's  another possessive. The term belongs to Biden.  

The first year of Biden's term focused on  rebuilding Canada-U.S relations following Trump's  

divisive term in office. All right, let's take a  look at this. Focused on rebuilding. Rebuilding.  

So notice a couple things. One, it's in the gerund  form. My verb is in the "ing" gerund form. Why?  

Because I have a preposition. Here, "on" is a  preposition. And when we have a preposition, your  

following verb, in this case "rebuilding" needs  to be in the "ing". In the gerund form. So that's  

our gerund. So I'll just write that out for you.  Preposition plus gerund. Now, we have a "re" in  

front of building to say it's happening again. So  we're building it again. You might say, Jennifer  

this lesson was awesome, but I need to rewatch  it. I need to watch it again. Why? Well, because  

you need to practice everything I'm teaching  you in this lesson, right. I need to rewatch  

this lesson at least three times to really fully  learn everything I'm teaching you in this lesson.  

Because I'm going quite fast, aren't I. So this  means "watch again". And notice for pronunciation  

"re". I'm not doing like a schwa sound. "ra"  watch. American pronunciation, we love our  

unstressed schwa sound, in our throat. Here,  but I'm not doing that. This is a full "e". Re.  

Rewatch. Rewatch. Watch it again. So hopefully you  rewatch this lesson. Let me know if you're going  

to rewatch it. Okay, let's talk about this.  Divisive. Divisive. vice. vicive. Divisive.  

Trump's divisive term in office. Divisive  comes from the word: division, division,  

which also comes from the word: divided. When  people are divided, when there's division between  

a group of people, it means some people think this  and other people think that. And "divisive" is the  

adjective that's describing that. As an example, I  could say: his policy is very divisive. It causes  

some people to be here and other people to be  here. It causes division. It divides people. So  

it's implying that Trump caused division between  the United States and Canada, or at least their  

relationship. Let's continue on. The second  focused on meeting obligations. The second.  

Remember here we are talking about the first  year of Biden's term. Now we're talking about  

the second. The second year of Biden's term. The  second focused on meeting obligations. So again,  

"on" is our preposition. So we have our gerund  here: meeting obligations. Including prioritizing  

orderly and safe migration through regular  pathways, Kirby said. Now heading into the third,  

the third year of his term. Heading into. We use  the word "head" as a replacement to the word "go".  

So you could say: going into the third  term. Going. Or I guess, in this case,  

you might want to think of it as "entering". But  "go", there's movement right. And enter, there's  

movement as well. I'm going into the store. I'm  entering the store. Now we do use "head" a lot.  

You could say, I'm heading to the store. When  do you head to the airport? And in this case, it  

means: go. I'm going to the store. When do you go  to the airport? It's extremely common. It sounds  

very natural. Americans we love saying "head" as a  replacement for "go". So you can start with these  

two expressions. And then add on some more to your  vocabulary once you get comfortable with them.  

Now, heading into the third, this visit is about  taking stock of what we've done, where we are,  

what we need to prioritize for the future.  Okay, when you "take stock of something",  

you basically assess the current situation.  So you might say, we need to take stock of  

our finances. So you need to think about your  current financial situation. And then perhaps  

the recent past of it. And then going into the  near future as well. So the current situation,  

including the past and the present. So  let me just write that out for you. Let's  

take stock. Or we need to. We need to  take stock of our financial situation.  

As I said, I think the best replacement  would be "assess". When you assess something,  

you think about the current situation. So  assess, think about, the current situation.  

And in this case, it's the current situation  of your financial situation. A little bit  

confusing. They're using situation twice. So this  visit is about taking stock of what we've done,  

so assessing what we've done, where we are,  and what we need to prioritize for the future.  

So far neither the White House nor the Prime  Minister's office have confirmed if there will  

be any impromptu stops during the trip.  All right, let's take a look at "neither  

nor". I did create a separate video on "neither  nor", because I hear a lot of mistakes with it. So  

I'll put the link to that video in the comments.  But just know that "neither" is used when it's  

negative. So it's saying, not the White House,  and not the Prime Minister. So it's negative  

for the White House and it's also negative for  the Prime Minister. That's what I'll say now,  

just because I do already have that full lesson  on it. So I will just say, link to lesson in  

the video description on "neither nor". It's a  great video, and I highly suggest you watch it.  

Okay, so you can watch that when you have  time. It's a pretty short video, as well.  

Just trying to get this. Let me just put this  on a separate line for you. Neither, oopsie.  

Neither nor. Okay got it.  

So far neither the White House nor the  Prime Minister's office have confirmed if  

there will be any impromptu stops. Well, what's an  impromptu stop. It's an unplanned stop. Unplanned.  

It seems like it would be obvious that there  would be unplanned stops. For example, if you and  

I were going on a vacation, we wouldn't plan out  every single place, including cafes, restaurants,  

stores in advance. And have that on an itinerary,  right. If we felt like going to a cafe,  

we would go to a cafe. Obviously that's not how  it works for the President. For security reasons,  

everything has to be very planned out. So security  can be present. So that's why an impromptu stop  

is unlikely. But it did happen when Barack  Obama, former president Barack Obama, visited  

Ottawa many years ago. And that's what this  picture represents. I'll continue reading this.  

So it hasn't been confirmed if there will be any  impromptu, unplanned, impromptu stops during the  

trip, meaning we'll have to wait and see whether  there will be another "Obama cookie moment". If  

you come to Ottawa as a tourist, you will see this  Obama cookie. It's very popular for tourists. And  

it's because Obama visited Canada, in Ottawa where  I live, the capital remember, in 2009. And he had  

an impromptu stop. an unplanned stop. So he went  to our tourist area, which is called the Byward  

Market. That's just an area of the city in our  historic downtown, where the tourists generally  

go. And he went to a bakery and he bought a cookie  from that bakery. Remember this happened in 2009.  

Today, okay, if you go into that bakery there are  pictures of Obama everywhere, like this picture is  

from the bakery. And this is a television. What  I'm pointing out with my mouse is a television.  

And it plays over and over again Barack Obama's  trip in Canada from 2009. It's pretty funny  

because even now it's a big tourist attraction in  Ottawa to come see this Obama cookie. So if Biden  

makes an impromptu stop, maybe we'll have a Biden  cookie in Ottawa as well, or something like that.  

Okay, we'll have to wait and see if there'll  be another Obama cookie moment when then U.S  

president Barack Obama popped into a bakery in  the Byward Market during his 2009 trip. I like  

this phrasal verb "to pop into". When you "pop  into" a store, a cafe, a bakery in Obama's case,  

it means you just enter quickly. So you just go  in, you get your cookie, and you leave. So most  

likely you're not going to stay for two hours and  have lunch with a friend. You're just going to get  

something and leave. So if you're with your  husband or wife or a friend, you might say:  

is it okay if we pop into this store?  I need to buy. And then you can just  

tell whatever you want to buy. Okay, now, when  you say "pop into", your friend, your husband,  

your wife, they understand that is going to  be quick. So even if you're on a schedule,  

they know okay, it's not going to take a  long time. So if someone asks you, like,  

oh did you visit the museum when you were in  Ottawa? You might say, we popped in. We popped in,  

which means you didn't spend a very long  time. So this is the same as saying:  

visited quickly. We popped in. We just took a  few pictures, looked around but we had another  

appointment to get to. We just popped in. So we  use this a lot when you're going to stores. Or you  

might go pop into a friend's house, which means  you visit that friend for a brief period of time.  

So my friend popped in over the weekend. Just  sometime, over the weekend. Oh my friend popped  

in over the weekend. So she visited me quickly.  That's what it implies. And that's the end of the  

article. So now I'll read the article from start  to finish so you can focus on my pronunciation.  

U.S President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa.  U.S President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening  

in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected  to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects  

of the Canada-U.S relationship, including  protectionism and migration on both sides  

of the border. It's quite a packed schedule for  a short trip, said White House National Security  

Council spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday. This  is a meaningful visit. Canada is one of the United  

States' closest allies and friends and has been  now for more than 150 years. This will be the  

first true in-person bilateral meeting between the  two leaders in Canada since 2009. The first year  

of Biden's term focused on rebuilding Canada-U.S  relations, following Trump's divisive term in  

office. The second focused on meeting obligations,  including prioritizing orderly and safe migration  

through regular pathways, Kirby said. Now  heading into the third, this visit is about  

taking stock of what we've done, where we are,  and what we need to prioritize for the future.  

So far neither the White House nor the Prime  Minister's office have confirmed if there will be  

any impromptu stops during the trip, meaning we'll  have to wait and see whether there will be another  

Obama cookie moment, when the U.S president Barack  Obama popped into a bakery in the Byward Market  

during his 2009 trip. Amazing job/ Now I suggest  watching this lesson next. And make sure you get  

your free speaking guide where I share six tips  on how to speak English fluently and confidently.  

You can get your guide from my website right  here. So now get started with your next lesson.