Listening 18 – Listen for specific words

Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about my parents. I’ll start with my mom. She is one of the most people you’ll probably ever meet. She is extremely outgoing, the type of person who can strike up a with absolutely anyone, and if you get her talking on one of the topics she loves – like fitness or music – she might just talk your ear off!

My mom is really into exercise and healthy living – but that wasn’t always the . She was overweight for many years, but over the past seven years or so, she’s lost a ton of weight and completely changed her lifestyle. Now she’s passionate about and she works out six days a week. One of her favorite workouts is called Zumba, which is a of different Latin dance forms that’s used for exercise; it’s all the rage in the U.S. nowadays.

Her other passion is music. When my brother and I were little, she worked as a piano teacher and students would come to our house for their lessons. She also taught me and my brother to play. Of course we couldn’t get away with not because we lived with our piano teacher! Nowadays she sings in two choirs that perform both locally and internationally – they’ve had in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and they’re planning one in South America.

My mom worked for many years as a math teacher – not in a regular , but with groups of gifted kids who needed more of a challenge than the math they were getting in their grade. So she would come up with games and creative ways to teach these advanced math . Later she also worked with kids who were struggling in math as well, and used these same creative teaching techniques to help make math more fun and to understand for kids who were having a hard time with it.

Before my brother and I were born, my mom served in the Navy. She entered a Navy scholarship program when she was in college, and was actually one of the women in that program. After graduating, she stayed in the Navy for two years, working in the area of supplies – coordinating the and distribution, that type of thing.

My dad was also a Navy officer, and he served on a nuclear submarine, although he was never in combat. After leaving the Navy he worked as an engineer, his was optical engineering and he actually worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, which is one of the largest telescopes in orbit around the earth. Later in his career he got his MBA and from engineering to finance.

The last company he worked for shut down its local branch a few years ago, and my dad had enough money saved up to retire, because otherwise it would’ve been hard for him to find another job at 58. So he retired early, and now he does some work for a non-profit organization; he helps them with their finances, , and general management.

My dad is quieter and more reserved than my mom, but he’s still very and approachable. He also plays a musical instrument – the guitar – specifically, classical guitar. He used to play baseball, tennis, and , but then he had two knee surgeries and the doctor told him to take up a sport that wouldn’t be so hard on his joints – so he started ice skating. Now he skates every week; he has a and he’s even participated in competitions.

Another somewhat ability my dad has is making Japanese food. He taught himself how to make some basic sushi many years ago, and then started getting more and more and creative with various kinds of fish and vegetables… and he’s also expanded his repertoire into Japanese soups and . I keep telling him he should open a restaurant or something, but he just likes to cook for family and friends.