Improve Your Fluency by Learning English Through Stories!

Welcome to JForrest English Training. I'm  Jennifer, and today you're going to learn  

English through stories. We're going  to review four different news articles,  

and through this review, you're going to learn  a lot of advanced vocabulary, advanced grammar,  

and even correct pronunciation. Let's  get started. Let me read the headline.

Canada's population surpasses 40 million  

surpasses. This means more than another word  is exceed. So right now Canada has more than  

40 million people. Exceed is another  way of saying it. So in this case,  

because it is in the present simple exceeds  surpasses. I'll put exceeds with an S.

Once the population of your country,  

most likely it's more than 40 million because  Canada has a very small population, so share.

What your country is and its  population in the comments,  

they will be really interesting. Now I'm  Canadian if you didn't know. And interestingly,  

I had no idea that Canada's population surpassed  40 million. A student shared the news with me. So  

thank you to that student and now I'm reviewing  the article with everyone. Let's continue on.

Statistics Canada has a population clock, so  this here looks like it is the population clock  

which estimates Canada's population in  real time based on a number of factors.  

So in real time that means as it's  happening so on Saturday at 2:34 PM.

It will have the data for Canada's  population and this number is always  

increasing or even potentially it could  decrease as well. A population can go down,  

so that means in real time as  it's happening, as it's happening.

Based on a number of factors, and then they list  the factors like recent trends for births, that's  

one factor. Deaths and migration data. Let's talk  about migration. I have a lot of students who ask  

and native speakers who ask what's the difference  between migration and immigration? So first,  

let's talk about immigration, the term  you're probably more familiar with.

Immigration is the concept of permanently  

moving to a foreign country. Now  migration simply means moving.

So the difference really is the fact that  immigration sounds more permanent where  

migration, it could be someone coming to  Canada to study and they're only going  

to stay for their education and then they  plan to go back or they're only in Canada  

temporarily and then they plan to go back.  So there's less of an emphasis on permanency.

So that's the main difference here,  

migration data. So it's saying that this total,  it represents people who are in the country even  

on a temporary reason, for example, studying  for a oneyear diploma, they're still counted.  

In this total, the clock hit 40 million  just before 3:00 PM on Friday, June 16th.

Let's talk about the verb hit. This is one of  those verbs that is widely used in English and has  

many different meanings depend on how it's used.  Of course, there's the more literal definition  

of hit, which is this hit. In this context,  that's not what it means when you hit something.  

In this case, it means you reach a target.

And 40 million is the target. So hit  simply means reach. But when you use it,  

oh, we hit 40 million, it sounds like more of  an accomplishment, whereas reach doesn't have  

that sense of accomplishment. So for example, in  a company they might say we hit our sales goal.

For this year and it's only July, so it's only  halfway through the year, but they hit their sales  

goal, they reached it, they achieved it. So that's  how you can use HIT as well and remember that HIT.

In the past, form is still hit. Yesterday,  

we hit our sales goal. I created a free lesson  PDF that summarizes everything from this lesson,  

so you can look in the description for the link  to download that. Let's continue. This is an  

exciting milestone for Canada. A milestone  is an important accomplishment for a person.

A company, a country, a group, an  important accomplishments. So for you,  

you might say graduating from university  was a major milestone in my life or having.

A child getting married, buying my first  house. Finding my first job. Notice how  

I started all of those examples in the  gerund. Finding my first job, So finding.

My first job or the love of my life was because  the action has already been completed, was a  

major. You don't have to say major, you could just  say milestone was a major milestone in my life.  

This is a great sentence for you  to practice, so why don't you do  

that right now? What was a major milestone in  your life? Share that in the comments and put.

Your verb in the ING in the geron form. So  put that in the comments to practice that,  

and I'm excited to find out  what your major milestone was.  

It is a strong signal that Canada remains A  dynamic and welcoming country. Dynamic is a  

great adjective to add to your vocabulary, and  it means having a lot of ideas and enthusiasm.

So Canada remains A dynamic  country. So notice we're using  

dynamic as an adjective to describe what type of  country Canada is. So you could use this for your  

company, your school, your organization.  I work in a dynamic company, for example,  

full of potential, said chief statistician.

Anil Aurora in a media statement, let's  take a look at this Could be a difficult  

word to pronounce. Status Titian.  So notice how I connect this. Status  

Titian. Status Titian. Status Titian. Try it.  Status Titian Okay. You can practice that.

Chief Statistician So a statistician is someone  who analyzes statistics. And by saying chief it  

means they are the the main statistician, the  most important, the highest rank, the highest  

ranking statistician. So I'll put that highest,  highest rank Canada's population growth rate.

Currently stands at 2.7%. So the growth rate means  every year Canada's population increases by 2.7%,  

which is the highest annual growth rate  since 1957 when Canada was experiencing  

its post war baby boom. Now this you may  be familiar with the term baby boomers.

Baby boomers, This describes a generation  and it's the generation that was born right  

after the war and that generation is my parents  generation. So generally people in their 60s,  

seventies, 60s and 70s I believe  would be considered baby boomers.

And I'm not sure if this is happening in  your country, but in Canada right now,  

all the baby boomers are retiring. This massive  amount of people are exiting the workforce right  

now. So it's a very interesting time  in the economy. Baby boomers, is that  

a term that you're familiar with in your  country? Is there a large population that?

Resulted after the war. Share that in the  comments as well. I'd be interested to know  

Canada's population reached 30 million in  1997 and could reach 50 million as early  

as 2043 if the current trend continues.  Canada's population reached 30 million.

Now remember we could say hit 30 million because  generally numbers that end in zero or five are  

considered the major accomplishments, the  milestones. So we could use our other verb,  

we learned hit. And remember this is the past  form as well. So although we have reached with  

an Ed is just hit, Canada's population reach  30 million which was an important milestone.

In 1997 and could reach 50 million as early  as 2043. Now notice here they used the modal  

could could reach. First of all, remember that  after a modal verb you only use the base form, so  

modal plus base. So no to reach could to reach no  modal plus base always. And this is because it's.

A potential. The possibility exists,  but that doesn't mean it actually will  

happen. So the potential is there, but it's not  guaranteeing anything. Potential. So this is if  

you understand how this is used. We use this  a lot to say something like I could help you,  

I could help you move this weekend, so I'm saying.

The potential is there. My schedule  is open. I'm available, but  

I'm not going to. Now, this isn't a  very nice thing to say to someone,  

but we use this as a little bit of a joke.  Oh, I could help you, but I'm not going to.  

Just kidding. Of course. I'll help you move this  weekend, so that's a fun way you if you know the.

How to properly use could You can make a  little joke like this. You probably don't  

want to say that to your boss, though.  I'll leave that to your discretion.  

As early as they're saying, 2043 is the  earliest time that this could happen.

But it could also happen later, so they're using  as early as just to state the earliest time,  

not that other times aren't possible. For  example, if you're planning a wedding,  

a party, or even a conference, you  could say guess will arrive as early.

As 3:00 o'clock PM. So this doesn't mean that  every guest will arrive at 3:00. This is just  

the earliest time they'll arrive. Of course,  it's possible for them to arrive at 3:34 o'clock  

even 5:00 o'clock if they're extremely late,  but this is the earliest time, as early as.

So for deadlines, you can use this. You might  say I can get you the report as early as  

9:00 AM. Or you could put Saturday. If so, why  would you submit a report on Saturday, Tuesday?  

Now you're letting your boss know or your  coworker know. This is the earliest time,  

but it may be later than  that. OK, let's continue on.

Last year Canada's population increased  by a record of 1.05 million people. You  

could put 1.051.05. Both of those for  pronouncing it are fine 00001.05 million  

people. And I haven't mentioned this,  but remember that we don't put an S.

On million, I hear students say  this a lot. Oh, there are 1,000,000  

in my country. No, you don't say that.  It's 1,000,000. But what do you notice  

about this? A lot of students forget that  people is plural. It's an irregular plural,  

so there's no S on it. But it is plural  because what's the singular of people? Person.

One person to people. So the S is on the  noun, not the number. That's why we say  

I made $3 billion last year Chiching.  So here you put it on the noun dollars.  

Or you could say I made 3,000,000  posters. That's a lot of posters.

So you put the *** on the noun. You  don't put an *** on here. 303,003  

million, 3 billion singular posters. Plural.  

Statistics Canada reported that 96% of that  increase was due to international migration.

So notice how here they put in brackets  permanent and temporary. It would have been  

useful if they put that at the very top when  we are talking about migration. So you knew,  

but if you understand the word migration,  you know that it means both permanent and  

temporary. Because remember, that's  how I explained the difference to you.

So just moving, so I'll add that  moving permanently or temporarily  

for migration and immigration, it implies  permanent you want to stay in that country  

permanently. Let's get back to it.  In 2022, Canada welcomed 437,000.

OK, 430 cent. When I see three zeros,  I know that the number before is 1437.  

You don't have to say 437, it's not  necessary 437,180. And remember, the S  

goes on the noun immigrants into the country,  reflecting Canada's high immigration targets.

Now, because this is a target, remember, when  you're talking about reaching or achieving that,  

you can use the verb hit. We hit  our target. We hit our target,  

which means you reached or achieved that  target. Immigration is one of the main way.  

Immigration is one of the main way, the country.

Does that sound weird to you? Immigration  is one of the main way the country deals.  

Something's wrong with this. There's a  typo or a minor grammar mistake. Because  

this has to say way, it's not optional  right now. This article has a typo,  

which means there's a grammar mistake  in the article. It has to be Ways okay.

Now this sometimes confuses students. Because  you have one of. When you have one of,  

it means you're selecting one from a  group. So the noun that comes next has  

to be plural because one of. OK,  here's an easy example. One of.  

So my noun has to be plural. Flavors.  Flavors. One of my favorite flavors.

Of ice cream is, we use is because is, matches, 11  is, and then you provide one option. So I wouldn't  

list two or three flavors. I only list one mint  chocolate chip. What is one of your favorite  

flavors of ice cream? So this implies I have  other favorite flavors and I'm just sharing one.

So share that in the comments. What is  one of your favorite flavors of ice cream  

and practices? And make sure you get that. S and  I'll cross this out so you know it was a mistake.  

Immigration is one of the main ways the country  deals with its demographic challenges. Canada  

has an aging population. Remember I shared  that the baby boomers, they're all becoming.

6070, they're exiting the workforce. They're  aging, becoming older. So that's aging,  

becoming older, becoming older.  Now technically we're all aging,  

we're all becoming older. Canada has an aging  population and the natural birth rate is not high  

enough to grow the population itself. By having  natural birth rate, they mean the birth rate of.

Canadians of people in Canada,  

and they included that because it relates to  the next sentence. As a result, Canada needs  

immigrants. We need people from other countries,  maybe you, to come to Canada permanently to help  

maintain and grow the country's workforce.  Because remember I said the baby boomers are  

exiting the workforce because they're all  60-70 years old. They're ready to retire.

So again, if you haven't shared in the comments,  I would be very interested to know if this is a  

situation that your country is dealing with as  well. Immigration accounts for almost 100% of  

Canada's labor force growth. Wow, 100% almost.  That's quite a staggering statistic. According  

to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.  This is just the name of a government department.

By 2023, immigrants are projected to be about 30%  of Canada's population, so projected. This means  

calculated based on information already  known. So you could say estimated,  

but when you say estimated, it sounds more of  a guess because when you estimate something,  

you don't actually have the information.

But when you project something, it's more based  on looking at the information and then making a  

prediction based on that information. So it  sounds more accurate to me than estimated.  

Immigrants are projected to be  about 30% of Canada's population.  

Now, one other thing I noticed about  the article is that they said by 2023.

This seems odd to me. Does it seem odd to  you or do you know why? It seems odd to me.  

This is a new article. This  article is from June 2023,  

but if you say by 2023 you're saying 2023 is  the deadline, but 2023 starts January 1st.

And we are in June, which is already several  months, but they're saying it is projected to  

happen by a deadline that's technically in  the past. So that to me doesn't make sense.

I wonder if 2023 is a typo and maybe they  meant to say 2025 or a date in the future  

because we can't use by with a timeline in the  past and when this article was written in June  

2023 this was already in the past. Another  way to correct this mistake is to say by.

The end of 2023, because now the deadline  is December 2023, which is in the future,  

but by 2023 means January 2023, which  is currently in the past. And it does  

not make sense to me to say bye and  a past date. If you're talking about  

a future projection. Again, the  final way is you could say bye.

2025 and have a date in the future. So  that's how I would correct this as well.  

And that's the end of the article.  

And what I'll do now is I'll go to the top and  I'll read the article from start to finish and  

this time you can focus on my pronunciation.  Canada's population surpasses 40 million.

Statistics Canada has a population clock which  estimates Canada's population in real time based  

on a number of factors like recent trends for  birth deaths and immigration data. The clock hit  

40 million just before 3:00 PM on Friday, June  16th. This is an exciting milestone for Canada.

It is a strong signal that Canada remains A  dynamic and welcoming country full of potential,  

said Chief Statistician Anil Aurora in  a media statement. Canada's population  

growth rate currently stands at 2.7%, which  is the highest annual growth rate since 1957,  

when Canada was experiencing  its post war baby boom.

Canada's population reached 30 million  in 1997 and could reach 50 million  

as early as 2043 if the current trends  continue, according to Statistics Canada.

Last year, Canada's population increased by  a record of 1.05 million people. Statistics  

Canada reported that 96% of that increase was  due to international permanent and temporary  

migration in 2022. Canada welcomes 437,180  immigrants into the country, reflecting Canada's.

High immigration targets Immigration is one of the  main ways the country deals with its demographic  

challenges. Canada has an aging population, and  the natural birth rate is not high enough to grow  

the population itself. As a result, Canada  needs immigrants to help maintain and grow  

the country's workforce. Immigration accounts  for almost 100% of Canada's labor force growth.

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Canada, by 2023 immigrants are projected to be  

about 30% of Canada's population. Amazing job  with that article. Now feel free to hit pause,  

take a break, go get a cup of coffee or  tea, review the vocabulary you just learned,  

and when you're ready, hit play and  we'll continue on with the next article.

Can you guess where this is,  Which country this might be?  

Well, this is India, and it looks pretty  crowded, doesn't it? And that's what we're  

talking about in this article, because China  is now the most populous country in the world.  

And we know that because of our headline.  Let me read the headline India overtakes  

China as most populous country. First,  let's talk about our verb here, Overtake.

Let me share the definition. This verb simply  means to go past something past in the sense  

of exceed, and you do that by being a  greater amount, so quantity or degree.

We use this a lot with statistics  or reporting on numbers, facts,  

figures. You'll hear this a  lot about sales. For example,  

U.S. sales have overtaken European sales, so  sales in the US compared to sales in Europe.  

Now, I could also use our sentence  structure here. Notice the preposition as.

I could say the US has overtaken Europe  as the leader in sales. So this is the  

title that has been achieved, the leader  in sales and the title goes to the US.

And it also suggests that  previously Europe was the leader,  

but now if you're imagining they're in a  competition or a race, Europe was ahead,  

but now the US has overtaken Europe. So it  does suggest that element of competition  

between the two as well, because previously,  before this, China was the most populous.

And India was a close second, but now India  has overtaken. So that's the go past part,  

which is an important part of this  definition. So I'll just underline  

that. Let's continue on. India has overtaken  China as the world's most populous nation,  

according to Bloomberg, referring  to the World Population Review.

All right, so we've already discussed  overtaken and I did use the same verb tense  

have overtaken because it was plural. They they  have noticed. Now it's has because it's India,  

which is conjugated as it singular.  It has. And the reason why this is in  

the present perfect is because it's a past action.

So the action is complete. It's a completed  past action, but there's a result in the present  

past action with a result in the present.  What's the result in the present now, China?

Is the second most populous country, and  India is the most populous country. That's  

the result in the present, and that's why  the verb tense is in the present perfect.  

Let's continue on. By the end of 2022,  India's population was 1.417 billion people.

So if you have numbers after the decimal point,  you can simply see them as the individual numbers  

1.417. You don't have to say 1.417, that  doesn't sound right. So say the numbers  

as individual numbers. I'll just write this  out for you. Say the numbers as individual.

Numbers after the decimal point  and the decimal point is. This  

is the same thing as a period. But when  we're referring to numbers specifically,  

we don't call it a period, we call it a decimal  point. And that's why when I say it out loud,  

I don't say one period 417, you  don't say that, you say one point.

417, so let me just write that. So you understand,  you say 1.417, that is how you verbalize this  

number, 5,000,000 more than China. So we could  also say using our overtake, India has overtaken.

China by 5 million people. The people is optional  

because in this context we know we're talking  about population. So you don't have to say  

people if it's obvious, but if you if you're  ever not sure, just add in the reference point.  

India has overtaken China by 5  million people, so remember it's.

India has gone past or exceeded China and then you  can have buy. If you're talking about a specific  

number, you could also do a percentage. I don't  know what the percentage is, so I'll just say  

0.7%. You could also have buy and then a percent,  zero point. Remember that point, 7% percent.  

Let's continue on.

On January 17th, I want you to notice my  pronunciation because even though it isn't  

written as the little t H, you know when you see  the date and it gives you the little t H 17th.  

Notice what my mouth is doing? My tongue  comes between my teeth and I push out 17th.

17th That's the pronunciation practice that  I know. It's a difficult sound for a lot  

of students, but that is how we say the dates  out loud. On January 17th, Chinese authorities  

announced that for the first time since the 1960s,  the country's population will decrease by 850,000.

So let's just talk about this number here.  We're going to see some big numbers in the  

billions. Now when you have 3 zeros,  it's 1003 zeros, that represents 1850.

A lot of native speakers will say 850.  You do not need to say. And sometimes  

I say it as well, but it is not necessary. It's  

850,000. And notice it's not 850. Thousands  plural. No, 850,000. Okay, singular.

In 2022, compared to the previous year, according  to the State Statistics department of China,  

1.141 billion people live in the country.  Now. Remember I said the number is singular,  

Right? The number is singular, but  whatever the number represents is plural.

Now people does not have an S because people is  the plural form of person is an irregular plural  

form. So we have one person, two people. So people  is the plural. Now if it were something like.

Dollars you need to add the S on dollars. 1.141  

billion is singular and then the  whatever the number represents,  

in this case money dollars. That's where you add  the S but it could be for example 1.41 billion.

Tshirts. Why not tshirts? So you put the S on  tshirts. Or it could be 1.141 billion cats,  

and then you put the S on cats. So that's  why billion is singular. But then whatever  

it represents is plural. Let's continue  on according to World Population Review.

As of January 18th, 18th, so even though in  the spelling it is not there, I'm going to  

pronounce that T H as of January 18th, India's  population reached 1.423 billion. Another  

research organization, Macro Trends claims  that India is home to 1.428 billion people.

So there's a slight difference in number  between these two research organizations,  

but it's such a small difference, I'm  surprised they even mentioned it. It's  

basically the same number,  right? Let's continue on.

China and India are the only two countries  with populations over 1 billion, One billion  

singular. Again, if you wanted to, you could  add people, which is plural, 1 billion people  

over. Another word could be  with populations more than.

More than or exceeding would be another word,  but we can't use our overtake because remember,  

overtake is only used when we're talking  about competition between two or more  

and then one goes past one exceeds. So I'm  specifying this because I did say exceed here,  

but overtake is specifically if  there's some sort of competition.

And in this case, there is no competition,  they're just stating a fact of the population  

of specific countries. the US Census  Bureau's World Population Clock lists  

another 12 countries with populations exceeding.  So notice here they use exceeding rather than with  

populations over or populations more than their  synonyms. You can choose whichever you'd like.

Exceed probably sounds the most formal. I  would say exceeding 100 million. So let's see,  

is your country on the list? the US,  Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil,  

Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, Japan,  Ethiopia, the Philippines and Egypt.

My country, Canada, is not on the list. We have a  very small population. I actually don't know what  

the population is, so I'm going to Google it  right now. So I just googled it. Any guesses  

on the population of Canada? Canada's  population? Canada's population is 38.25.

Million Very small, right? Considering it's  a huge country but very small population. So  

what's the population of your country? Feel free  to share in the comments below. Let's continue on.

OK, here's where we're getting to some really big  numbers. If this intimidates you, don't worry,  

because it intimidates native speakers. I'm  sure if you saw a big number in your country,  

you'd probably stop for a second too. So I  will explain how to know what this number is  

the projected world population on January 1st.

OK, here we have a difference because  with one you need St. first first.  

The difference between the other one is my tongue  

is not going between my teeth. Notice 1st  1st January, 1st January, 1st January 5th.

January 5th, that's with five fifth. Let  me write that January 5th and then we have  

January 2nd and you just added sound and 2nd and  then we have one final choice which is third.

These are pretty easy because you just basically  added D sound on the end. This one you need that  

and then this one you need. So practice those. I  will say them one more time for you. January 1st,  

January 2nd, January 3rd, January  5th, so you can practice that.

The projected. When something is projected, it  means you're guessing or you're estimating what  

the number will be based on data or information.  So you don't know 100% that this is what the  

number will be. Is the projected number. So  the definition projected This is an estimate.

And the estimate is calculated based on known  information. And notice how specific they are  

with the projected number. That's pretty  specific. So we'll see if that's correct.  

We actually know what the world population is  at the time this video was recorded. So you can  

go see if this was true or not. OK, so now I'll  read this number. So first of all, what is this?

Well, I will. I know by how many groups of  three there are. OK. So if there are one,  

2-3 groups of three, then I know this is billion  and then this is million, OK, billion million.

And then this is 1000 thousand  

and I'm just going to focus on one group.  That's how you make this long number very  

easy to read or understand. You just look at  the individual groupings, so 7,942,000,000.

645,086 and the final group, you don't say  anything after it, it's just 86. Remember I  

said we don't need to say and so I don't  say 942 million, it's just 942,645,086.

So you can practice, write out some random long  numbers and practice reading them out loud. That  

will be helpful. Now let's take a look at our next  big number. So I can tell I have three groups, so  

I know I have million and then thousand. And then  remember the final one is nothing, 73 million.

772,634, so that's the amount of the increase.  And remember that's the world population,  

but this is just projected, which it means it's  an estimate and as a percentage that's 0.94%  

and this is calculated from New Year's Day 2022.

During January 2020, three 4.3 bursts and 2.0  deaths are expected worldwide every second.  

So here's another example where the  whatever you're calculating is plural.  

So we have bursts. That's why it hasn't  us, because there's more than one, right?

And deaths. If it was just one, we wouldn't  have the plural. And you would say one death,  

one death. There was one death  

this month, for example. There were two deaths  at that us this month. So practice the numbers  

and the plurals. I hear lots of mistakes from  students with both of those and they're expected.

You could also use projected because it's  just an estimate based on known information,  

so you could say that as well  worldwide, every second, every second.

So that's our article. You learned a lot of  big numbers, a lot of data and statistics. I  

hope you found it interesting. Now what I'll do  is I'll read the article from start to finish  

and you can follow along with my pronunciation.  India overtakes China as most populous country.

India has overtaken China as the world's  most populous nation. According to Bloomberg,  

referring to the World Population Review,  

by the end of 2022, India's population was  1.417 billion people, 5,000,000 more than China.  

On January 17th, Chinese authorities announced  that for the first time since the 1960s.

The country's population will decrease by 850,000  in 2022 compared to the previous year, according  

to the State Statistics Department of China. 1.141  billion people live in the country. According to  

World Population Review, as of January 18th,  India's population reach 1.423 billion.

Another research organization, Macro Trends,  claims that India's home to 1.4 to 8 billion  

people, China and India are the only two countries  with populations over 1 billion. the US Census  

Bureau's World Population Clock lists another 12  countries with populations exceeding 100 million.

The US, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil,  Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia,  

the Philippines and Egypt. The projected world  population on January 1st, 2023 is 7,942,647,086.

An increase of 73,772,634 or 0.94%  from New Year's Day 2022 during January  

2020. Three 4.3 births and 2.0 deaths  are expected worldwide every second.

Amazing job with that article. Now  feel free to hit pause, take a break,  

go get a cup of coffee or tea. Review the  vocabulary you just learned and when you're ready,  

hit play and we'll continue on with the  next article. Let me read the headline  

Canada US sign deal to better coordinate  Fight against wildfires, Wildfires.

Let's take a look here at  this preposition against.  

Just take note that you fight against something.  In this case, wildfires is a noun. You can also  

have a verb after against, and because against  is a preposition, that verb would be in the geron  

form, the ING form, for example, fight against  paying taxes. Let's say you want to fight against.

Paying taxes. Not again against paying taxes.  So here you have the ING the Jaron verb.  

Let's continue. Natural Resources Minister  Jonathan Wilkinson and David Cohen,  

the US ambassador to Canada, signed  a memorandum of understanding.

A Memorandum of understanding. As you can see,  this is a very long word. We often use an acronym,  

MOU&MOU, so you'll see this  a lot in news articles,  

but especially in business  related news, even on a website.

An MOU, we have an MOUA Memorandum  of understanding. An MOU is simply an  

arrangement or a deal between two  parties to do something specific  

signed a memorandum of understanding. So  they agreed to the terms of this arrangement  

Thursday and this is the terms of  the arrangement to improve cross.

Border cooperation on wildfires. The cross-border  represents that Canada and the US are divided by  

a border. So the cross-border is offering  support. So Canada will offer support to  

the US and the US will offer support  to Canada. That's the cross-border.  

So let me write that for you. cross-border,  This represents the fact that Canada and.

The US share a border cooperation on wildfires,  while the two countries have worked together on  

an ad hoc basis for decades. First of all,  you should always be looking at your time  

references in a sentence to understand what verb  tense you need. So here we have 4 decades. What?

Verb tense is needed. This should be easy  because the verb tense is right there,  

The present perfect. The present perfect  because Canada and the US started working  

together in the past and they still work  together now. So the present perfect for  

an action that started in the past and  continues until now. Present perfect.

And we know that we need the present perfect  because of our keyword for decades. So this  

is our keyword for the present perfect  keyword. So we can say time reference.  

Now if this were something different, such  as last year, what would my verb tends be?

Last year is a completed past action so I would  change this to the past simple. For example  

the two countries worked together last year or if  my keyword was next year what would you say now  

the two countries will work?

Together next year. So always look at  your time reference to determine your  

verb tense and ask yourself if you have the  correct verb tense. Let's continue. First,  

before we continue, let's take a look at  ad hoc basis. What does ad hoc basis mean?  

First of all, the expression is all  of this on an ad hoc ad hoc basis.

This means as it happens, as it happens. So there  is no agreement previously determined. They decide  

how to work together as it happens. I'll give you  an example. Let me just write this as it happens.  

For example, you could say I.

Decide where to travel to on an ad hoc basis.  Remember, on an ad hoc basis, all of that  

together. I decide where to travel to on an ad hoc  basis, which means when I need to travel, let's  

say once every three months, I just decide at that  moment. As it happens, I don't decide in advance.

Or you could say we solve problems on an ad  hoc basis, which means as the problem happens,  

you decide how you're going to solve it.  You don't necessarily have a process.

That you decided on in advance to solve that  problem. So that is how the two countries  

worked in the past and continue to work now  because of our present perfect. But it sounds  

like this memorandum of understanding will  specify how the countries will work together,  

which means they will no longer be  working on an ad hoc basis because they,  

the Memorandum of understanding, will  tell them how they will work together.

While the two countries have worked together  on an ad hoc basis for decades, the New Deal,  

which is the memorandum of understanding  the MOU, let me write that the MOU  

formalizes that cooperation and  makes it easier for US firefighters.

To pitch in when Canada needs them to quell a  fire. To quell a fire simply means to stop a fire,  

as is happening. So right now they're  trying to quell the fire. It's a very  

specific term. You won't need that in your  everyday speech, but based on the context,  

it should be obvious because what do  you do with the fire? You stop it.

Let's take a look at pitch in US firefighters  to pitch in. When you pitch in, it means you  

contribute. You can contribute your time, your  resources. You could also contribute your money.  

For example, everyone pitched, pitched in,  and bought Fred a present for his retirement.

So this suggests that everyone on the team  gave money, maybe $5.10 dollars $20 and then  

all that money went towards one present. So  that is financially. You can also pitch in,  

in terms of your time. Everyone pitched  in and let me write a new example here.

Everyone pitched in and cleaned the apartment. So  here is not necessarily that people gave money,  

but they gave their time, they  gave their effort, they gave their.

Hard work. Everyone pitched in and cleaned the  impart the apartment, so everyone contributed  

towards a specific objective. So in this case  the specific objective is clean the apartment.  

In this case it's to buy a present. So pitch  in is to contribute, contribute to something  

specific and it can be money, it can be  time, it can be other resources as well.

So in this case, it will make it  easier for US firefighters to pitch in.  

So maybe they will give money, but  most likely they'll give their their  

skills they'll give themselves  to to help Quell stop the fires.

And vice versa. Vice versa is when you want to say  the opposite is true. So US firefighters pitch in  

when Canada needs them, but also Canada pitches  in when the US needs support. So vice versa,  

I'll help you and you'll help me vice versa.  So here the opposite is also true, vice versa.

Now, I summarize all of these notes in a free  lesson PDF, so you can look in the description  

to download the free PDF. Let's continue as part  of the deal the MOU. There's now a new framework  

that stipulates how firefighting resources  will be exchanged between the two countries.

Stipulates This is another word for  outline or determine. So the framework  

determines how the resources will be  exchanged. It outlines, it stipulates.  

Basically it says it says outlines  determines how the resources will  

be exchanged, so how Canada will pitch in  when the US needs support and vice versa.

All right, let's continue. The deal is  designed to cut through the red tape. Oh,  

what is red tape? You are very familiar  with red tape. Red tape represents.

Official rules or processes, but that  seem unnecessary. So when you have to  

do something simple like change your address  and you have to fill out seven different forms  

and mail them to seven different people,  doesn't that seem a little unnecessary?

So you can say, oh, there's so much red  tape, red tape. We usually use this when  

dealing with the government, but you can  also use this for a large organization.

Or any organization, but generally large  organizations like Google, IBM, They will  

have a lot of red tape as well because they are so  large, they have so many different processes that  

you need to follow, but many of them might seem  seem unnecessary. So let me write that for you.  

And to cut through the red  tape means to try to reduce it.

So this deal is to try to make these processes  work better, more efficient, more effective,  

and bring together the agencies on both  sides of the border. Remember that other  

expression was cross-border,  so you could use that as an  

adjective and say and bring together the  cross-border agencies, the cross-border.

Agencies now of course in Canada's  case is Canada and the US But US  

also shares a border with Mexico,  so it could be the US and Mexico  

could be cross-border. So whatever  country that you border with would be  

the cross-border agency or country that have  had a hand in fighting these destructive fires.

To have a hand in something or doing  something is an idiom and it means simply  

to be involved with something or have influence  on something. And notice in is a preposition,  

so the verb will be a gerund verb ING. But you can  also use a noun, so you might say who had a hand.

In the party in Fred's retirement party,  remember Fred? We all pitched in to buy  

him a present. Who had a hand in the party who  had Because remember to have our verb is have.  

So this is have in the past. Simple. Who had  a hand, A hand in the party in Fred's party?

And then I could say, oh, I had a hand in  planning Fred's party. So this simply means  

you're involved in it, or do you influence it  in some way? So maybe you were responsible for  

deciding what present to buy Fred so you  had a hand in the party. Let's continue.

The deal also calls for better  information sharing so that both  

countries can stop a fire quell a fire  before it spirals out of control. When  

something spirals out of control,  it simply loses control quickly.

And it implies that it's difficult to bring it  back under control. So to lose control quickly,  

lose control quickly. You can use this  in workplace situations because let's  

say you're having a meeting and you're  negotiating something during this meeting.

You could say our negotiations spiraled out  of control, which means you lost control of  

the negotiations. So maybe you wanted  to offer a certain amount and then.

Now everyone is talking about an amount that  is a lot higher than you wanted to offer.  

So your control over that negotiation,  over the amount that you wanted to pay,  

you lost control over that, and  you lost control quickly. So it  

spiraled out of control. For example,  our negotiations spiraled out of control.

Are you enjoying this lesson? If so, I want to  tell you about the Finally Fluent Academy. This  

is my premium training program where we study  native English speakers on TV, movies, YouTube  

and the news so you can improve your listening  skills of fast English. Add all these natural  

and advanced expressions to your speech and  learn how to communicate your ideas fluently and  

naturally. Plus, you'll have me as your personal  coach you can look in the description for.

A link on how to join. Now let's continue  with our lesson. For example, Canada will  

now have easy access to sophisticated US  satellite data that can identify fires.  

The deal comes as Canada grapples with  a record-breaking wildfire season.

To grapple with is another way of saying  to deal with, to deal with, and we use this  

with something negative. You grapple  with a problem, an issue to grapple with.

So you might say we're grappling with  the negotiations, we're dealing with the  

negotiations. And because I already explained that  the negotiations have spiraled out of control,  

you know that there's something negative  there. We're grappling with the negotiations.

The US has already deployed more  than 1500 firefighters. Deploy  

is a verb to mean when you move  either people or resources from  

one location to another in order  to support that other location.

So here you can deploy the firefighters because  they're people. You can also deploy resources,  

deploy support, deploy food, deploy aid. So  to deploy you move from one place to another.  

It can be within a country as well, so Texas  deployed resources to California for example,  

but we commonly see this when 1  country deploys it to another.

The US has already deployed more  than 1500 firefighters to Canada  

to help local authorities. Canada has received  support from other countries like Australia,  

Chile and South Africa. Thank you to those  countries. We appreciate the support.

Here, Canada's receiving the support. But you  could say Australia deployed support to Canada.  

Chile deployed support to Canada. Just like here,  the US deployed these resources, the firefighters  

to Canada. Canadian firefighters have helped out  the neighbors in years past, the neighbors being.

The US, they're our neighbors to the South and  where their neighbors to the north here help  

out. This is an optional phrasal verb. Notice  here is a phrasal verb because you have the  

verb help and you have the preposition  out. You don't need out. It's optional.  

You can simply say Canadian firefighters  have helped the neighbors in years past.

Have helped. It's simply optional. Can you help  me out? Can you help me? There's no difference  

there. Can you help me out? Can you help me? But  if you do use the phrasal verb, make sure you  

know the correct placement, because you can't  say Can you help out me? Can you help out me?

That's incorrect because the pronoun needs  to come between help and out. Can you help  

me out? Can you help me? So if you're  not too sure about sentence structure,  

just use the verb form so you don't make any  grammatical mistakes. In 2020, for example,  

Canadian firefighters were deployed to the  northwestern US. So remember, Canada sends.

The firefighters and the US receives  the firefighters because we used  

the verb deploy deploy during a  particularly ugly wildfire season.  

This is the kind of thing that Canada and the US  can do together. We will always have your back,  

Cohen said. And remember, Cohen is the  ambassador to Canada, so he is an American.

And the ambassador, the US ambassador  to Canada. So Cohen is saying we,  

the United States, will always have your  Canada's back. So let me write that because  

I want to explain this expression to have one's  back so the US will always have Canada's back.

So the expression is to have one's back. And  that's why I changed it to the US and Canada,  

because I wanted you to see this possessive,  to have one's back. It's possessive. This is  

the expression to have one's back. And this  simply is used to say, to support. So if I say.

I have your back. I have your  back. I'm saying I am there to  

support you in whatever way you  need that support. Don't worry,  

I have your back. I have your back. So that's a  very nice thing for the US to say. We will always,  

I like this, always have your back. So  thank you to the US for having our back.

So you could say that thank you for so let's say  someone says don't worry I have your back you can  

say thank you for having my back or in this case  because it was we and your I could say thank you  

for having our back and our representing all  of Canada. So our my back thank you for is.

A gerund expression because for is a preposition,  

so you need the ING. Thank you for having my  back. Don't worry, I always have your back  

when it comes to improving your English. So you  can say thank you Jennifer, for having my back,  

my back. And then you could say thank you for  having my back when it comes to teaching me.

English because remember it's support, but  you can offer it for something specific when  

it comes to when it comes to teaching  me English. So you can put that in the  

comments if you want to thank me for  always having your back. And that is  

the end of our article. So what I'll do  now is I will read the article from start  

to finish and this time you can focus on  my pronunciation. So I'll do that now.

Canada US sign deal to better  coordinate fight against wildfires  

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson  and David Cohen, the US ambassador to Canada,  

signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday to  improve cross-border cooperation on wildfires.

While the two countries have worked  together on an ad hoc basis for decades,  

the New Deal formalizes that cooperation and makes  it easier for US firefighters to pitch in when  

Canada needs them to quell a fire and vice versa.  As part of the deal, there's now a new framework  

that stipulates how firefighting resources  will be exchanged between the two countries.

The deal is designed to cut through red  tape and bring together the agencies  

on both sides of the border that have a  hand in fighting these destructive fires.  

The deal also calls for better  information sharing so that both  

countries can stop a fire before it  spirals out of control. For example,  

Canada will now have easy access to sophisticated  US satellite data that can identify fires.

The deal comes as Canada grapples  with a recordbreaking wildfire season.  

the US has already deployed more  than 1500 firefighters to Canada  

to help local authorities. Canada has received  support from other countries like Australia,  

Chile and South Africa. Canadian firefighters  have helped out the neighbors in past years.

In 2020, for example, Canadian firefighters  were deployed to the northwestern US during  

a particularly ugly wildfire season.  This is the kind of thing that Canada  

and the US can do together. We will  always have your back, Cohen said.

Amazing job with that article. Now feel free  to hit pause, take a break, go get a cup of  

coffee or tea. Review the vocabulary you just  learned, and when you're ready, hit play. And  

we'll continue on with the next article U.S.  President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa.

First, let's talk about this phrasal  verb touchdown, 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 touchdown. 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 touchdown. 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. OK, 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% 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,  

OK, 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. OK,  

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 is 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 that'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 US relationship. OK,  

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 coworker,  

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

OK, thorny aspects of the Canada US 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, OK.

That's how you say it. Like an American.  Like a Canadian, Canada. So this, duh,  

is quite sure. 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. Is 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. Then  United States closest allies and friends. So the  

allies belongs 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,  

is to show possession is to show the shirt  belongs to my friend. OK, 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 friend's dog. OK, 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.

OK, 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 150, two or three years. That's why  they say more than so since we became a country.  

This will be the first true  inperson bilateral meeting.

A bilateral meeting is a meeting between  two people. So it's just another way of  

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's  

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's because it does not end in S  

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

OK, let me highlight that for you between  the two leaders in Canada since 2009.

So we'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  four with a time period for two weeks,  

two years now. In this context, 4 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  

four. But I'm just letting you know that there  are specific times when you use sense or 4IN  

other cases because I do see mistakes with  those. In this case we need to use sense and  

we're we have to have a specific time because  sense is only used with a specific time. OK?

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. US relations following Trump's  divisive term in 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,  

you're 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 is happening again,  

so we're building it again, you might  say. Jennifer, this lesson was awesome,  

but I need to re watch 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 re watch.

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 E I'm not doing like a  schwa sound. Ruh ruh ruh 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.  

OK, let's talk about this divisive,  divisive, visive, divisive, 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 2nd focused on meeting obligations. So again,  on is our preposition. So we have our Jaron 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,  OK? 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 stomps during the trip.  All right, let's take a look at neither.

Norm, 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 comment,  

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. Whoopsie,  

neither nor. Oh okay, got it. Ooh.

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

be any impromptu stops. What was 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 Byword 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,  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 is 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. OK, 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 Byword 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 OK if we pop into this store  I need to buy and then you can just  

tell whatever you want to buy? OK, 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 OK, it's not going to take a long time.

So if someone asked 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 on.

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  

US relationship, including protectionism  and migration on both sides of the border.

Is 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 US relations. Following  

Trump's divisive term in office, the  2nd 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 US President Barack Obama,  

popped into a bakery in the Byward  Market during his 2009 trip.

Amazing job with this lesson. Now, what  was your favorite new word from this  

lesson? Leave that in the comments below  and leave an example sentence. Practicing  

your new vocabulary. And if you found this  lesson helpful, please hit the like button,  

share it with your friends and of  course subscribe. And before you go,  

make sure you head to my website and get  your free speaking guide. In this guide I  

share 6 tips on how to speak English fluently  and confidently. And until next time, happy.

He's studying.