Real Talk #007 – Crossing into Canada

Culips ESL Podcast

Knowing what to expect when crossing the border into Canada can bring you one step closer to a smooth and hassle-free travel experience. In this episode, Andrew and Morag explain the questions that you’re most likely to be asked when crossing the border from the United States into Canada.

Fun fact

Founded in 1901, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House was built on the border that separates Canada from the United States. In fact, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has entrances on both the American (Derby Line, Vermont) and Canadian (Stanstead, Quebec) sides of the border.

Expressions included in the learning materials

• Where are you coming from?
• What were you doing down there?
• How long were you gone?
• Do you have anything you’d like to declare?
• Can you pull over?

For a complete transcription, click:

Sample transcript

Andrew: Morag, what’s new? How are you?

Morag: I’m doing pretty well, Andrew. But you know, same old, same old. How ’bout you?

Andrew: You know, I’m the same, same old, same old. My life is going well, but nothing major has happened to report on.

Morag: That’s sometimes a good thing.

Andrew: Could be worse, right?

Morag: That is always true, yes.

Andrew: Well, I think we should jump right into today’s episode because we have a lot to talk about. But just before we start, I want to throw a special shout-out to our Culips members. I want to dedicate this episode to them because we really rely so much on the support of our members. And yeah, we just really appreciate it, so thank you so much.

Morag: Yes, absolutely. So many thanks. And for anyone who is not a Culips member yet, you can learn how to sign up on our website, which is Culips.com. is not a Culips member yet, you can learn how to sign up on our website, which is Culips.com.

Andrew: Of course, members get access to full transcripts, detailed explanations of the more difficult vocabulary that we use, and quizzes for each and every episode. And in my opinion, the learning materials are really one of the best ways to study with us. So if you’re not a member yet, yeah, head on over to Culips.com and sign up. OK, so now, on to today’s episode. We are going to do a Catch Word episode. And this is where we talk about a couple of interesting expressions—slang expressions, idioms, this sort of thing. And we really look at them in detail. We define them for you, describe them for you, and give you some usage examples. And today, our two expressions are related to uncertain situations, or situations where you don’t really know what’s going to happen. And our first expression is touch and go, touch and go.

Morag: Yeah, touch and go, touch and go.

Andrew: So touch and go describes a situation where the outcome is unknown or uncertain.

Morag: It usually has a negative connotation though, right, Andrew?

Andrew: To me, yeah, there’s a negative feeling associated with this. If a situation is touch and go, something bad could possibly happen. You’re right.

Morag: Yeah, something bad could happen at any moment. Like, it might go bad, but it might be OK too.

Andrew: Yeah, so touch and go. When I think of this expression, we use it a lot when we talk about somebody’s health, the condition of somebody’s health. We also use it to talk about travel plans, and also business situations, like maybe a sales meeting. “It was touch and go with the clients. We didn’t know if we were gonna make the deal, and then in the end, we did.” We could use it in this way.

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For a complete transcription, click:

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Audio/Learning Materials: Culips