Everyday English: cycling in Berlin, bike parts, and lanes (a VLOG that teaches you ENGLISH)

Don’t forget to grab a free pdf with all the words from this video right here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fISZ_YoJYwykuqiZvKN3KafzDM0WJ4Y4/view?usp=sharing

00:00 – Why I’m teaching everyday vocabulary
02:52 – Parking a bike
04:32 – Why you need a bike in Berlin
06:18 – Bike parts
10:19 – Is Berlin bicycle-friendly?

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Hello my dear friends! I’m really happy to  see you here, on my channel, Inna In English,   obviously. And today you’re going to learn all  of these words. All of them. Why did I decide   to make this video? Well, firstly, I do make  vlog-style videos and I invite you to watch the  

Other ones. But secondly, and I’ve talked about  it a lot on my Instagram, that adult learners   of English often face this problem that they  don’t know the names of everyday objects or also   everyday actions. Well yes, if you had really good  education when you were a kid and if you learned  

The names of all of those everyday objects, then  maybe you’re fine. Also, if you’re living in an   English-speaking country, you are more likely to  know all those words, but if you don’t live in an   English-speaking country… Like me, for example.  I’ve never lived in an English-speaking country.  

I’ve only been to the UK once for three weeks.  And what I realised after I finished university   and got a degree in Foreign Language Teaching,  well, in English Language Teaching actually,   and I even passed an exam, a C2 exam. But still I  realised, I just don’t know what different things,  

What different objects are called in English,  because I never used it in everyday situations.   Like, at that time, I wouldn’t know, for example,  that this is a pot. I think. I’m not sure now.   I’m not actually sure now which words I knew and  which I didn’t. But I just suppose that I wouldn’t  

Know that this is a pot. Anyway, I think it  is really useful for learners of English,   even when they are at B2 or C1, to actually  spend some time learning everyday vocabulary.   That’s why today I’m talking about bicycles from  my own experience, yeah, I’m talking about my  

Own experience a little bit and generally about  Berlin. In addition to this video you can grab a   free pdf with all the words from this video in the  description. So, don’t forget to do that. And now,  

Let’s start. I filmed this video on two separate  days. On the first day, I had to cycle to a   doctor’s appointment, you will find out why I had  to cycle and why I couldn’t use public transport.  

Yeah, enjoy watching it and see you in a bit. Now, I need to park my bike, so it doesn’t get   stolen. And I use a chain lock to do it. This is  a chain lock, yeah? I use it to lock my bike. Onto  

This thing. I hope you can see it, because I’m  using the back camera. This thing is called a bike   rack. Short for bicycle parking rack. So, it’s  a bike rack. Or also, a bicycle stand. And yeah,  

You use to to secure your bike, to lock your  bike, you just lock it around it, yeah. Yeah   and this is what I’m going to do now. I’m done with the doctor’s appointment   and everything went well, so it’s just,  you know, such a relief. Because I, yeah,  

I always get really nervous, really scared  before doctor’s appointments, so… But yeah,   everything went well and no one has stolen my  bike, which happens here in Berlin. Bikes get   stolen. But not this time. When I say “bikes  get stolen”, that means that people, you know,  

Somebody steals bikes, yeah? And yeah, another  way to say that is to say “bikes get stolen”.   The weather is amazing today, perfect for a bike  ride. But actually, the reason why I’m… I had to   cycle to… to my doctor’s appointment today…  So, you can ‘cycle’ somewhere. For example,  

You can ‘cycle to work’. You can say, “I usually  cycle to work”, for example. So, the reason why   I had to cycle to the doctor’s appointment is  that the employees of BVG, that’s the transport   organisation in Berlin that is in charge of buses,  trams and U-Bahn, so that’s the underground, they  

Are on strike today. They’re on strike. To be on  strike means not to work, temporarily, because you   are not happy with something, yeah? So, you can  ‘go on strike’ if you’re not happy with something,   for example, you might not be happy with your  salary or with some other conditions like how  

Many hours you have to work every week. And,  yeah, they are on strike today and tomorrow,   I think. I mean, usually, I will take the  bus. But since today I can’t, I had to cycle.   I had to go here… come here by bike. Right, I’ve just parked my bike in the yard,  

In our yard. And I wanted to tell you the names  of different bike parts. Not sure you need that,   but just in case, yeah. So, bike parts. We  use the word ‘parts’ to talk about, yeah,  

Different parts of a bike or also, of a car. Yeah,  if you need something new, like, a new gearstick   in the car. So, the gearstick is a part, yeah, a  car part. So, different parts of a bike. I hope  

It’s not too loud. So, we’ve got, over here, we’ve  got a ‘saddle’. This thing here, wait a second,   this one, yeah? It’s called a ‘kickstand’.  You use it to kinda stabilise the bike when   you park it. And what is it called a kickstand?  Because you basically, you know, kick it, yeah,  

Just like that, you kick it with your foot. You  kick it and than your bike stands. So, it’s a   kickstand. What else? We’ve got ‘wheels’. And  these metal things are called ‘spokes’. And why   am I telling you that? Because there’s an idiom in  English: “to put a spoke in somebody’s wheel”. So,  

If you put a spoke in somebody’s wheel. You know,  imagine someone is riding a bike and you put a   spoke, imagine a stick, in somebody’s wheel,  that means they will fall, right? So, if you  

Put a spoke in somebody’s wheel, you prevent them,  you stop them from doing what they want to do. So,   you are an obstacle, you are a hindrance. Now,  next. We’ve got the handlebar. This whole thing   is a handlebar. And what do you have on the  handlebar? You have the grips. Those things are  

The grips. You often have to change them. I had to  change them on my previous bicycle, because they   get loose, for example, or too dirty, you know.  So, the grips. Then, we’ve got the brakes. Brake   levers. So, these things are called levers.  Well, the brakes are actually on the wheels,  

Right? But with the help of this lever you can  brake. To brake means to stop, to stop the car   or the bike. So, you use them to brake, to stop.  B – R – A – K – E. The gearshifter. Those things,  

Yeah, those here are gears. Remember I used the  word ‘gearstick’ before? That’s the thing that   you use to switch gears in the car, right?  And we also have gears on a bike. And yeah,   it’s pronounced with a /g/ – gear, gear. Oh about  the brakes, some bicycles only have rear brakes,  

So, the brakes on the back wheel. ‘Rear’, it’s  pronounced ‘rear’. Mine? I’m actually not sure,   but I think it has brakes on both the wheels,  on the front wheel and the rear reel… wheel,  

Sorry. And I’ve got a basket. The one that I  have used to bring all of this cat food home.   OK now in the second part of the video I’m going  to talk about how bicycle-friendly Berlin is. When   you use this ‘friendly’ part, like, when  the second part of a word is ‘friendly’,  

That means it’s convenient or good for something  or someone. So, if Berlin is bicycle-friendly,   that means it’s convenient and good for riding  a bike. For example, I can also say that a car   is ‘eco-friendly’. That means it’s good for the  environment. Or not as bad for the environment as,  

You know, regular cars. And, so, is Berlin  bicycle-friendly? Well, it is and it isn’t. It is   definitely more bicycle-friendly than my hometown  in Belarus, where I come from. But it’s less   bicycle-friendly than I thought it would be. Well,  you have a chance to find out why I think so. So,  

For example, on the one hand, there are lots  of lanes, bike lanes. Yeah, so, those parts of   the road or the pavement where you can ride your  bike. But in this case, the bike lane is part of  

The pavement, or sidewalk, as they say in American  English. And I’m not sure this is the perfect way   to organise it, because as a result, pedestrians,  so, people who are walking, yeah, pedestrians,   they often walk onto the bike lane and they  annoy the bikers and it’s not very safe.  

Also, in a lot of the places you’re supposed  to cycle on the road. And either it’s a small   road and then there’s no bike lane there  or there is a bike lane, but in any case,   there is nothing that separates you from the cars  that drive past. I don’t really like it. Like,  

The first time I tried, I was really scared. And  especially at crossroads. And on roundabouts,   those circular crossroads. Well, this is not  a crossroads, right, because a crossroads,   that’s a cross, and a roundabout is a  circle. And yeah, it was really scary.  

What I love about Germany is how many people  use bike trailers. I’ll show you one if I see   it. Those are, so, bike trailers are those  things that can be attached to a bike and   you can put your kids in there, so, most  often, it’s kids. But also other stuff  

Like food for example. And a lot of them  are also convertible, so they can become,   if you take it off the bike, it becomes a  stroller. This is just such a smart solution!   Another good thing. There are a lot  of bike parkings, like this one,  

With those parking racks, remember than word?  Can your bike get stolen here in Berlin? Yes,   absoluetely. Probably not so much as in Amsterdam,  but still, yeah, happens all the time.   All right! Thank you for watching. Don’t forget  to grab the free pdf with all the words from this  

Video in the description, follow me on Instagram  and hopefully, see you in the next video!