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Welcome to our Daily English Listening Practice with this week’s series:
Family Vocabulary
Your extended family are your family members you don’t see as often, or they could be people that aren’t exactly part of your family. As you get into a deeper conversation, this English Family Vocabulary will be helpful in describing them in more detail. Enjoy!
Please listen to the audio files for explanations.
Transcripts unavailable.
Notes from the Audio Files
Great-Grandparents
- Family tree: the visual connections between your family, often looks like a tree
- Grandmother’s side: the family related to your grandma
- Grandfather’s side: the family related to your grandpa
- Generation: people born and living around the same time
- 6 generations back: the 6th generation in the past: your great-great-great grandparents
- 1st – you, 2nd – your parents, 3rd- your grandparents…. 6th your great-great-great grandparents
- Great uncles/aunts: the brother and sisters of your grandparents
How to use it:
“I’m a 6th generation Texan. My great-great-great-great grandparents on my dad’s side came to Texas from Germany, and they’ve been living there ever since!”
“Apparently I met my great-grandfather when I was just a few months old, but unfortunately I don’t remember.”
Family Names
- Mom and dad
- Mommy and daddy
- Mum and dad: British English spelling
- Grow out of: Become too old or too mature for something
- Side of the family: Mother’s or Father’s parents
- On my dad’s side: Related to my father
- Granny, Nana: words for grandmother
- Grandad, Grandpa, Papa: words for grandfather
- Who has since passed away: Who has died
- Went by a name: weren’t called their given names, they went by nicknames
How to use it:
“I cringe when I hear adults call their parents “Mommy and Daddy” like little kids, I just call mine Mom and Dad. I guess if I had kids I would start calling them Grandma and Grandpa, like my kids!”
“I don’t know how we ended up calling him ‘Granddad’, I suppose it’s probably what he called his granddad!”
Like a Sister/Brother/Uncle Godparents
- Blood-related: Related genetically
- Like a sister to you: Like you are related or a part of your family
- Close family friend: A good friend of the family
- An only child: A child with no brothers or sisters
- Godparents: a person who presents a child at baptism
- Present at your baptism: witness to your Christian religious ceremony of sprinkling water on your forehead or being immersed in water
- Baptized
- Religiously affiliated: you follow a particular religion
How to use it:
“I don’t really keep in touch with my godparents, they’re not blood-related, but they were good friends of the family when I was a kid.”
“My cousin was about 5 years older than me, and he was really like a brother to me. I really liked it when we hung out at family get-togethers.”
My American Family
- I’ve only gotten to meet them once
- Kiwi: Unofficial New Zealand nationality
How to use it:
“Well, I’ve got some family in Australia, and then of course there’s my Kiwi family in Auckland.”
“My uncle – I mean my American uncle, is coming to England to visit, the other Americans can’t make it though.”
Long lost relative: estranged
- Estranged: formal
- “No longer part of the family”: more informal phrase
- Bad blood: A broken or hostile relationship between family or friends
- Long lost relative: A newly discovered member of your family
- Genealogy: The study of family history and lineage
- Spit test: A DNA collection test
- DNA lab: a place that tests and records your genetic structure
- Back into the fold: back into the normal routine, normal life
How to use it:
“There’s no bad blood between me and my uncle, although I don’t think anyone else considers him part of the family anymore.”
“My mother didn’t find out until her fifties that she had a long-lost brother, she’s trying to meet up with him someday.”
Do you have family that lives abroad or has moved to a new country? How about friends of the family, are you close to your godparents? Tell us about ‘em!
Thanks,
Kat and Mark
