American Culture You NEED To Know

Vanessa: Hi. I'm Vanessa  

from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Do you know  these very American things? Let's talk about it. 

Do you know this song? Most Americans  immediately recognize this tune, even though  

my poor singing. You're immediately able  to recognize this song because it is a  

common feature of American culture. So today I  would like to help you learn 10 common things.  

Some of them are expressions. Some of them are  activities. Some of them are cultural elements  

that all Americans know and you should too. Now of course, the US is an incredibly diverse  

place with a lot of people who have various  backgrounds. So this might not apply to everyone.  

I can't speak for all people living in the United  States. But these are generally known things in  

the US that it's kind of fun to be able to know  as well. So let's get started with the first one. 

And to help you remember everything that  you learned in this very American lesson,  

you can download the free PDF worksheet that  I've made for today's lesson. It includes all  

of these expressions, cultural elements, and  ideas that I've talked about in this lesson.  

Plus, you'll see Vanessa's Challenge  Question so that you can answer it and  

use what you've learned. You can download  that PDF with the link in the description. 

All right. Let's get started with our first very  American thing that almost all Americans know what  

it is. If I asked you, "What are you doing  for the fourth," would you know what I mean?  

You might look at your calendar and say, "November  4th? December 4th?" No. When someone asks you,  

"What are you doing for the fourth," they  always mean July 4th. And that's because  

July 4th is the American Independence Day. And  we usually just shorten this to the fourth.  

"What are you doing for the fourth?  I'm going to the lake for the fourth.  

I'm not really doing anything for the fourth,  but maybe I'll try to find some fireworks."  

We often shorten Independence Day or July 4th  to just the fourth. And now you know that too. 

If I said to you, "Whoa, I just found a  Benjamin on the street. I can't believe it."  

Huh? Would you think that I found a guy named  Benjamin on the street and I just feel so excited?  

Maybe he's my long lost friend. Nope. If I said I  found a Benjamin on the street, that means a $100  

bill. And that's because Benjamin Franklin is  the guy who's on the $100 bill. So if you say,  

"Oh man, I really just need to earn some Benjamins  this weekend. I need to pay my rent. I'm falling  

behind." That means you need to make several  hundred dollars. It's just slang for a hundred  

dollars. So I hope for you, you find a Benjamin  on the street someday. That would be amazing. 

If my husband Dan said, "Did you eat  the last piece of cake?" I might say,  

"I plead the fifth." What is happening here? Am  I telling him that I'm guilty? Or am I telling  

him I'm not guilty? I didn't do it. Well,  this expression I plead the fifth has to do  

with the fifth amendment to the constitution.  And that means that I don't need to tell you  

because maybe it will hurt me in a court of law  later. This is a very legal type of statement.  

But we often use this in daily conversation  to say yes, but I don't want to tell you. 

So when my husband asks me, "Did you eat the last  piece of cake," and I say, "I plead the fifth,"  

he knows, yes, Vanessa ate it,  but she doesn't want to tell me.  

So you can use this very American  expression when you want to tell someone  

yes, but maybe you feel embarrassed to tell  them yes directly. You can just say, "Ah,  

I plead the fifth." Great expression. In 2004, I was a senior. Does this mean I was old  

in 2004? What if I told you also that in 2008,  I was also a senior. Huh? If you're in America,  

you can probably guess that this means I was in  high school in 2004 and I was in college in 2008.  

A senior means you are in your last year of high  school or your last year of college. So in the US,  

we often have terms for first, second, third, and  fourth year in high school and in college. So if  

you are in ninth grade, you are a freshman. If you  are in 10th grade, you're a sophomore. Notice that  

the O in the middle of this word is silent,  sophomore. If you're in 11th grade, you are  

a junior. We could say, "I'm in my junior year.  I'm a junior." And if you're in two 12th grade, so  

the final grade of high school, you are a senior. And this type of system also applies to college.  

You are a freshman, sophomore, junior, and  senior in college, especially when you go to  

a four year college, these type of terms apply.  So it's quite common that when you are a senior,  

you think you are much better than freshman. "Oh,  I was never so small. They're so much like just  

little children, those freshmen. We are seniors."  I think this is pretty common in high school  

that you see the people who are younger than  you as so much younger. "I wasn't like that  

when I was a freshman." But really, you  were. So this type of system is quite  

common in the US. And now you know about it too. When you arrive in the US, you will probably need  

to fill out a visa form. And at the bottom of  the visa, you need to sign your John Hancock.  

Is your name John Hancock? Well, if  it is, you definitely need to do that.  

But this term, sign your John Hancock just means  your signature. There's a little bit of American  

history behind this because John Hancock  was a guy who signed his name big and large  

on the Declaration of Independence. So it was  kind of a bold statement where these colonists  

in the United States or in the Americas told  England, "We want to have independence." And  

it's a pretty big statement. Maybe there's some  treason involved. So it's kind of scary to say,  

"I'm someone who supports this." But John Hancock signed his name  

really large on that document. So it was bold and  courageous. It was a big move. So because of this,  

his name is synonymous now with a signature. Sign  your John Hancock, put your John Hancock here. We  

don't always use this instead of signature, but  you will definitely hear this. And it's steeped  

in American history and now you can use it too. Now we have two fun American idioms. One is if I  

said to you, "You shouldn't buy a new car. If you  buy a used car, you get more bang for your buck."  

This expression, bang for your buck, kind of  includes two American concepts. One is buck,  

which is slang for dollars. And the other one,  bang, doesn't necessarily relate to guns, but  

I know guns are kind of culturally linked to the  US. So we get this idea that you can get a great  

value for your money if you buy a used car. So  you might say, "Yeah, you should get a used car.  

It's more bang for your buck. Don't get a new  car. It's better to get a used car." This is a  

great expression, more bang for your buck. When I was growing up, before we left for  

school almost every morning, it was pretty  common for my sister and I to fight over  

who said, "Shotgun," first. Why were we trying  to beat each other to say shotgun? What's that  

mean? Does that mean we want to carry a shotgun?  Does that mean we were going hunting or shooting?  

No. Instead, shotgun is the passenger seat. And  for some reason, this is the most desirable seat  

in the car when you're not the driver. So kids,  I guess, not too young, but high schoolers or  

older kids always want to call shotgun. And  we use that expression, "I call shotgun,"  

or just saying shotgun. And that means that's  my seat. I claim it. And this is really common,  

especially with siblings, even with friends,  too, that before you get in the car, if you're  

not the driver, you'd say, "I call shotgun."  Well, maybe now you can call shotgun too. 

Have you ever eaten the most tasty bonfire treat  in the entire world? This is something I look  

forward to every time we have a bonfire. It is  s'mores. S'mores. This is something I didn't  

realize was very American until I was talking  to some international friends. And they said,  

"What? We just toast marshmallows. What do  you put with them?" So let me explain to you  

a delicacy, something amazing that  has a special place in my heart. 

First, you have a graham cracker. This is a  special type of cookie, even though it's called  

cracker, it's quite sweet. And then we have a  piece of chocolate. So we often buy some Hershey's  

chocolate, break off a piece, put it on the graham  cracker. And when you're having a bonfire, you set  

that close to the fire, not too close, but close  enough that the chocolate gets a little soft. And  

then you take a stick and two marshmallows, you  could do one, but two is better, and you toast  

them over the fire, very carefully to make sure  that they don't explode into flames. Some people  

like that. Personally, I like them to be perfectly  toasted and it is an art form. Let me tell you. 

So you toast them. And then when they're toasted,  you put them on the chocolate and you take another  

piece of a graham cracker and you slide the  marshmallows off and there you have the perfect  

s'more. Toasty, warm, melty, gooey. So perfect.  So the next time that you are at a bonfire,  

maybe you can introduce this idea to your  friends, or if you're at a bonfire in the US,  

you will definitely see people eating s'mores.  Please try it for my sake. I hope you'll love it. 

All right. Now it's time for the song  you have been waiting for. It is ...  

Do you know this song? This song is Take Me Out  to the Ball Game. And I included this here because  

there's a funny little story I wanted to share  with you. One of my friends, you might follow his  

YouTube channel. His name's Jack. He has a YouTube  channel called To Fluency and he's from the UK,  

but he's married to an American. And he told me  that one time they were playing a game with some  

Americans. And the game was that you had to hum  a song and your partner had to guess what it was. 

So his wife drew a card and it said, hum  Take Me Out to the Ball Game. And she's like,  

"All right, this is a good song. It's easy. He'll  understand it immediately." So she started to hum.  

And he just looked at her like, "What? I've never  heard that in my life." So obviously that was not  

a good moment in their game for them, maybe a  little funny, but because of this, I realized,  

"Oh, maybe this song isn't quite so well known  internationally, but it is a staple of American  

culture because baseball is extremely common.  And this song is sung before every baseball game. 

So if you've ever been to any kind of big baseball  game in the US, you've definitely heard this song.  

And if you memorize the lyrics, you'll be  able to sing along and cheer with everyone.  

It's a great moment to kind of have that group  feeling of excitement before a game. So make  

sure you check out Take Me Out to the Ball Game.  You can search on YouTube and see some clips of  

crowds of people at baseball games, singing  this song, quite fun and very American. 

Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the  crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.  

I don’t care if I ever get back  

for it root, root, root for the home team.  If they don’t win it’s a shame. For it’s 1,  

2, 3 strikes you’re out at the old ball game! Our final very American thing today also has to do  

with baseball. What if I said to you, "Your speech  was awesome. You knocked it out of the park."  

Did you give a speech about baseball? Are  you playing baseball? No. This just means  

it was amazing. You did even better than  expected. You knocked it out of the park. 

Here we have the image of someone playing  baseball. He's got a baseball bat,  

someone's pitching him the ball and he hits it.  He doesn't just hit it into the outfield. That's  

where someone can catch it. He hits it beyond the  field, out of the park. And this means it's a home  

run. No one can catch it. And it's great for his  team. Everyone can get to home base and they might  

get a lot of points. So here knocking it out of  the park is a great thing in baseball and in life. 

So if you do something really awesome, better than  expected, you can use this expression. "Oh man,  

I can't believe it. But I talked to someone  in English the other, and I think I knocked  

it out of the park. I explained myself exactly the  way I wanted. I did it. And they understood me."  

Congratulations, you knocked it out of the park. Well, congratulations. Now you are in the loop  

to all of these American secrets, all of  these things that most Americans know. And  

now you do too. If you are American and you're  watching this, let me know in the comments,  

did you know all these things? I think they're  pretty common in American culture, but let me  

know in the comments. And I would love to see  what you have to say. Don't forget to download  

the free PDF worksheet so that you can learn  all of these American concepts. Print it out,  

put it under your pillow, sleep on it, dream about  it. I hope it will help you to expand your English  

knowledge and be more confident as you speak. And now I have a question for you. Have you  

ever celebrated the fourth? If you  live in the US, maybe you've joined a  

4th of July celebration, but I want to  know. Have you ever celebrated the fourth?  

Let me know. And I will see you again next Friday  for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. 

The next step is to download the  free PDF worksheet for this lesson.  

With this free PDF, you will master today's  lesson and never forget what you have learned.  

You can be a confident English speaker. Don't  forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  

for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.