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Vocabulary Quiz
mingling • criticizes• respects other
  1. The way she her husband makes me so uncomfortable.
  2. When you go to another country, people aren't going to start doing things your way. You will have to .
  3. He is very intelligent, but he still people's opinions.
  4. She spends most of her time at work with important people.
Comprehension Quiz
Answer the following questions about the interview.
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646 Life in America
Keiko talks about life in The States, being in high school, and learning English.

  • Transcript
  • Audio Notes


They noticed that the way I wanted to mingle with my friends was a bit different.

Here, 'mingle' refers to the way you interact socially with people, including the how you speak to them and how you greet them. Notice the following:

  1. It's easy to lose her at parties, because she mingles with everyone.
  2. It was nice to talk to you. I'm going to go mingle a little.


I'm not criticizing but it was just kind of a different culture that I saw when I came back.

When you 'criticize' something, you talk about the faults or problems with it. Notice the following:

  1. Does it make you feel bad that your boss is always criticizing what you do?
  2. She spends a lot of time criticizing other people, but doesn't see that she doesn't do everything perfectly either.

respect other people's opinions

The Japanese respect the other people's opinions and don't take friends for granted.

You 'respect other people's opinions' when you really listen to what they have to say and think about it. You don't just think of your opinion as the only way to do something. Notice the following:

  1. Nobody likes him, because he doesn't respect other people's opinions.
  2. One of the most important things about this group is learning to respect other people's opinions.


Now, I try not to really change or adapt and just be myself.

You 'adapt' to a situation when you change in a way so that a situation works better for you or you are more comfortable. Notice the following:

  1. It took him some time to adapt to his new position at work.
  2. When you move you a new country, you will probably spend the first few months adapting to the culture there.