English Daily: The White House

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #59: The White House (Listening B2-C1)

Think Before You Listen

What do you know about this place (pictures below)? What is special about the people who have lived in it?

On October 12, 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt officially named the presidential residence in Washington D.C. the "White House". Before that, it used to be called the "Executive Mansion".

Watch and Listen

Watch the Video: What does former President Barack Obama have to say about the significance of (living in) the White House? Listen and take a note of the important points he mentions.

Let's Practice

Adjectives are probably the most descriptive words in any language: their selection and use can show how someone feels about what they are describing or explaining, both in the outside world and their world inside.

Listen Again: In this activity, we have gapped all the adjectives that president Obama uses to describe his feelings about the White House. Listen and write down the adjectives that you hear. At the end, try and find out how these adjectives best describe how he feels about the place and his responsibilities in it.

(mouse over the colored words to see their meaning)

Former President Obama: Well, the White House is the people's house. Michelle and I and the girls, we understand that we're here for a ________ time, and we're here because we have this ________ privilege of serving the American people and looking after them and what they are ________ about. I think everybody, the first night they spend in the White House, are a little ________. You know, the White House is such an icon in American life and around the globe, and the notion that you'd be sleeping in a bed inside of it, is a little bit ________. And, at least when you've got a couple kids, you pretty much get into a routine because you know that you're going to have to figure out how to wake them up, and make sure they get to school on that first day. So, the transition was ________, but that first night you kind of wake up with a start a little bit and say to yourself, "My goodness, what am I doing here?" Everyday -- although you consider it the place you live -- I think you're very ________ that this is a place of history; that this is a place that belongs to the people and to the country. As much as you want to feel ________ in that place, you also want to feel a little bit of reverence for the fact that down these halls Lincoln has walked, and in these rooms FDR has made decisions that had impacts around the world. While you're here, you're maybe part of the first family, but once your term's up you're going to be a citizen once again. And that, I think, it both ________, but extremely ________ because it reminds us that this is a democracy, and those who come into this office are here temporarily and someday soon there's going to be somebody else who takes up that mantle and you just make sure that during the time that you're here you're doing the best you can to serve the people who've sent you.

(Turn on the video subtitles to check your answers)

Over to You

Is there a similar residence in your country? What is it like? What is special about it and about the people who have lived in it? (let us know in the comments below)

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Practice the Vocabulary from this lesson HERE

Download a pdf Copy (teachers' version) to use in the classroom HERE