What Is Popular in Your Country?
2024-02-16
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1Think about something that your friends or people you know like.
2Can you bring an image to your mind?
3The image that you are thinking of can serve as a starting point for today's report: the word "popular."
4In today's Everyday Grammar, we will talk about a useful word that you can use to express all kinds of ideas about what people around you like: actors, celebrations, foods, music - almost anything.
5We begin our exploration of the word "popular" by clarifying how it is different from the word population.
6Popular and population are closely related words and have somewhat similar spellings.
7But we should be careful not to mix up the two.
8Popular means many people know about someone or something and that they like the person or thing.
9Population simply describes a group of people.
10Another way of expressing the idea is this: something might be popular within a population.
11In other words, something might be popular within a group of people.
12A recent example comes to mind: the Super Bowl.
13The championship game in American football is a popular event to watch in the United States.
14A lot of people know about the Super Bowl, watch it, and enjoy it.
15So, we could say the United States has a population of over 300 million people.
16We could also say the Super Bowl is one of the country's most popular sporting events.
17Another way of describing the difference between the words "population" and "popular" is in terms of grammar.
18Population is a noun.
19Popular is an adjective.
20Consider this example.
21Taylor Swift is a popular musician.
22Why is Swift popular?
23Because a large percentage of the population knows about Swift and enjoys the singer's music.
24Let's take some time to work with these ideas. Fill in the blank with the correct answer.
25Cricket is a ______________ sport in India.
26The answer is this: popular.
27We can say that cricket is a popular sport in India.
28Grammar can give us a clue about the answer.
29The short word "a" very often marks the beginning of a noun phrase.
30If we know that "sport" is a noun, then the missing word is likely to be an adjective.
31Now, consider another question. Fill in the blank with the correct answer.
32Vietnam has a _________ of around 100 million people.
33The answer is this: population.
34We say that Vietnam has a population of around 100 million people.
35We can guess that "population" is the correct term because the statement offers the number of all the people in a group - the people who live in Vietnam.
36We began today's lesson by asking you to imagine a person or activity that is liked or enjoyed by many people that you know.
37In other words, we asked you to imagine something that is popular in your country.
38We end by asking you to write about what you imagined.
39Write to us a short answer to the following questions:
40What is a popular person, thing, or activity in your country?
41Why do you think the person, thing, or activity is popular?
42You can write your answer in an email to learningenglish@voanews.com.
43In a future lesson, we will give feedback on some of the writing we receive.
44I'm John Russell.
1Think about something that your friends or people you know like. 2Can you bring an image to your mind? 3The image that you are thinking of can serve as a starting point for today's report: the word "popular." 4In today's Everyday Grammar, we will talk about a useful word that you can use to express all kinds of ideas about what people around you like: actors, celebrations, foods, music - almost anything. 5Popular vs. Population 6We begin our exploration of the word "popular" by clarifying how it is different from the word population. 7Popular and population are closely related words and have somewhat similar spellings. But we should be careful not to mix up the two. 8Popular means many people know about someone or something and that they like the person or thing. Population simply describes a group of people. 9Another way of expressing the idea is this: something might be popular within a population. In other words, something might be popular within a group of people. 10A recent example comes to mind: the Super Bowl. The championship game in American football is a popular event to watch in the United States. A lot of people know about the Super Bowl, watch it, and enjoy it. 11So, we could say the United States has a population of over 300 million people. We could also say the Super Bowl is one of the country's most popular sporting events. 12Another way of describing the difference between the words "population" and "popular" is in terms of grammar. Population is a noun. Popular is an adjective. 13Consider this example. Taylor Swift is a popular musician. Why is Swift popular? Because a large percentage of the population knows about Swift and enjoys the singer's music. 14Practice 15Let's take some time to work with these ideas. Fill in the blank with the correct answer. 16Cricket is a ______________ sport in India. 17The answer is this: popular. 18We can say that cricket is a popular sport in India. 19Grammar can give us a clue about the answer. The short word "a" very often marks the beginning of a noun phrase. If we know that "sport" is a noun, then the missing word is likely to be an adjective. 20Now, consider another question. Fill in the blank with the correct answer. 21Vietnam has a _________ of around 100 million people. 22The answer is this: population. 23We say that Vietnam has a population of around 100 million people. We can guess that "population" is the correct term because the statement offers the number of all the people in a group - the people who live in Vietnam. 24Write to us 25We began today's lesson by asking you to imagine a person or activity that is liked or enjoyed by many people that you know. In other words, we asked you to imagine something that is popular in your country. 26We end by asking you to write about what you imagined. Write to us a short answer to the following questions: 27What is a popular person, thing, or activity in your country? Why do you think the person, thing, or activity is popular? 28You can write your answer in an email to learningenglish@voanews.com. 29In a future lesson, we will give feedback on some of the writing we receive. 30I'm John Russell. 31John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 32______________________________________________ 33Words in This Story 34phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express an idea but do not make up a sentence 35feedback - n. helpful information that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve