In the video, viewers are introduced to a humorous and enlightening scene from the popular TV show "Modern Family," used as a tool to learn English. The scene focuses on Manny, his parents Gloria and Jay, and Manny's new friend from school, Griffin. The intricate dynamics are explored, such as Jay's belief that Griffin is befriending Manny due to his admiration for Jay's motorcycle and cool demeanor, while Gloria suspects another reason.

The video highlights the way certain English expressions and pronounciation patterns are used in casual conversation, enriching the language learning experience. It covers phrases like "can't you," "it doesn't add up," and "to catch up," enhancing viewer understanding of connected speech and phrasal verbs. The humor of the show's characters adds to the appeal, as Manny's parents have different interpretations of Manny's friend's intentions.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. idolizes [ˈaɪdɛlˌaɪzɪz] - (verb) - To admire or revere greatly, often excessively or blindly. - Synonyms: (adore, revere, worship)

Gloria, you're very pretty, but the kid idolizes me.

2. adamant [ˈædəmənt] - (adjective) - Refusing to be persuaded or to change one's mind; firm in purpose. - Synonyms: (unshakable, inflexible, resolute)

And he said bring your swimsuits. He was pretty adamant about it.

3. role model [roʊl ˈmɒdl] - (noun) - A person looked to by others as an example to emulate. - Synonyms: (mentor, exemplar, idol)

Kids are looking for role models.

4. decoupage [ˈdeɪkuːˌpɑːʒ] - (noun) - The art of decorating surfaces by applying cutouts, as of paper. - Synonyms: (collage, assemblage, decoration)

Let's just say it involves decoupage.

5. doorknob [ˈdôrˌnäb] - (noun) - Used informally to describe someone perceived as lacking intelligence. - Synonyms: (dimwit, simpleton, fool)

The kid's a doorknob.

6. suck it up [sʌk ɪt ʌp] - (phrase) - To endure a difficult situation with stoicism. - Synonyms: (endure, tolerate, accept)

Just suck it up, Mom.

7. have the hots [hæv ðə hɒts] - (phrase) - To have a strong sexual attraction to someone. - Synonyms: (fancy, be into, be attracted to)

I'm only hanging out with him because I have the hots for his sister.

8. catching up [ˈkætʃɪŋ ʌp] - (phrase) - To reach the same level or standard as someone ahead. - Synonyms: (keep up, reach, catch)

Maybe those kids are finally catching up to him.

9. hang out [hæŋ aʊt] - (phrase) - To spend time relaxing or socializing informally. - Synonyms: (relax, chill, socialize)

Cool kids like Griffin Cooper, they don't hang out with kids like Manny.

10. win-win [wɪn-wɪn] - (phrase) - A situation beneficial to all parties involved. - Synonyms: (mutual benefit, advantage, favorable outcome)

Now it's a win win.

Learn ENGLISH with MODERN FAMILY — Manny's Friend is in Love with Gloria

Today, you will learn English with the Modern Family. And in the scene that we've chosen for you. Man. His parents, Gloria and Jay, witness a funny and interesting situation around his new friend from school. If you are new here, we will be so happy to become your new friends. Because every week we help English learners just like you, understand your favorite movies and TV series without getting lost, without missing the jokes, and without subtitles. So please hit that subscribe button and bell down below so you never miss any of our newest lessons.

I'm really not getting that relationship. Why can't you just be happy that Manny's making new friends? Yeah. Because it doesn't add up. Cool kids like Griffin Cooper, they don't hang out with kids like Manny. Manny's very cool. Maybe those kids are finally catching up to him. Wait a minute. I get it. A couple of days last week, I took Manny to school on my motorcycle. Griffin must think I'm pretty boss. Yes, Jay. It's all because of you. Kids are looking for role models. Why do you think Fonzie was so popular? He told people that they were rich, but really took their money with his scheme. No. That's a yes. Hola, Griffin. How are you?

Oh, 13. I'm fine. So, what do you boys have planned for today? Well, it's kind of a surprise for Griffin, but let's just say it involves decoupage. Oh, geez. Come on. Let's go. Goodbye. Oh, no. What? You were right. This boy is not here to see Manny. I told you. You see the way he looks at me? No, Fonzie. The way he looks at me. He couldn't talk. He kept staring. He was just like my teachers back in school. Gloria, you're very pretty, but the kid idolizes me. Really, Griffin? Money? Do you want to go with Jay to ride his motorcycle, or you want to go with me to the supermarket and buy a couple of onions? Motorcycle rides. Onions sound good.

I'm really not getting that relationship. Why can't you just be happy that money's making new friends? Yeah. Cause it doesn't add up. So the connected speech we see here can't. It happens in the combination of letters T and U. So they make this new sound. Can't. Can't you turns into can't you. And this interesting phrase, it doesn't add up. So Jay says, because it doesn't add up. Ethan, can you define this? Yeah. So if something doesn't add up, it means it doesn't make sense. I believe it comes from mathematics that if two things you're solving for X. And the two things that add up, they're not coming out to the right formula. Probably has something to do with that.

Cool kids like Griffin Cooper, they don't hang out with kids like Manny. Manny's very cool to hang out with is to just spend time with. Right. We usually hang out with our friends. This is one of those really versatile phrasal verbs, though, because someone could call you and ask you, say, I call Ksenia. Say, ksenia, what are you doing? She could say, oh, just hanging out. Which means, I'm not really doing anything. She could be cleaning up. She could be watching a movie. But it's just a way to be vague with our language. Did you notice here also Gloria's pronunciation of fairy? Mine is very cold. Yeah, she has this very pronounced R. Yeah, like R. The tap R. Right. Maybe those kids are finally catching up to him. I get it.

That's an interesting use of the phrasal verb catch up. To catch up with something. Like, imagine if you are running or if you are riding a car. And if you catch up with another car, you make up the difference to you become closer or on the same level. But here it has another meaning in this context. What does it mean? To catch up to someone? Yeah, if you catch up to someone in this sense, it's saying. Because she's saying that Manny is cool. Like, he's a trendsetter, and they're finally catching up. They're finally starting to be cool as well. So he was cool in a different way. And the other kids are finally getting hip with his style. Okay, Jesuits. Similar to the meaning of, like, catch up with something when you're running or writing. Right. There's a really.

Another really nice way that we use this phrase verb, though. If you and I haven't spoken in a long time, I might say, oh, let's have a call and catch up, meaning let's get up to date with what's been happening with you. What's been happening with me? Like, catching up with the news or catching up on the news or catch up on a series. Maybe because you've been behind on the episodes. Maybe with Netflix and so on. We don't use it so much nowadays. But when we used to have an episode coming out every single week, we might catch up because we missed a few weeks of the series. Or if I'm taking a course, let's say, and I missed a couple of lessons, and now I have to catch up with my studies couple of days. Last week, I took Manny to school.

On my motorcycle here. A very common connected speech pattern. Couple of days. So the phrase couple of days off is getting reduced totally. We just hear a schwa sound here. Couple of days. Griffin must think I'm pretty boss. Yes, that's. That's a nice expression. I'm pretty boss. So he's not a boss. Mafia boss or something. What does it mean, boss in this situation? Boss is a slang meaning that someone the best. They're really cool, they're really hip. And it's funny because it's a more modern slow. And he's an old guy, so he's trying to be cool by using this modern slang, but it just doesn't fit at all with who he is and his age. Just wanted to take a moment here to explain the word pretty. So pretty. It's not in the sense of beautiful or handsome. Pretty here is the sense of quite. I'm quite a boss, or I'm quite boss. Notice the pronunciation as well, that it's not pretty. It's pretty.

Kids are looking for role models. Why do you think Fonzie was so popular? He told people that they were rich but really took their money with his scheme. Oh, that's a yes. I think he didn't want to explain too much to Gloria, so he just said yes because there's a funny situation happening. Yeah. So Gloria confuses Fonzie and Ponzi. Ethan, do you want to explain that to our viewers? Yeah. So Fonzie was a character. I believe the series was called Happy Days. And he was this really cool guy who everyone looked up to. We used that expression earlier. That's exactly what Jay's talking about, is a role model. A role model is someone who you look up to, someone who you admire. Yeah, he just says yes because he's not wanting to have to explain the confusion that she made. Because a Ponzi scheme, which is what Gloria is defining there, is basically that it's like a pyramid scheme.

Hola, Gripin. How are you? Uh, oh, 13. I'm fine. So what do you boys have planned for today? Well, it's kind of a surprise for Griffin, but let's just say it involves decoupage. Oh, geez. Come on, let's go. So here's an interesting connected speech pattern. We drop the D sound in the word kind and links it to off, but off changes the F to v because it. It is followed by the vowel kind of a. So we link all three words together, kind of a. Kind of a surprise. Sandy, I wanted to comment just on some of the context, too, here, because both of us were laughing that she asked him, how are you? Yeah. And he is aghast. He's without words. And then finally he says, thirteen. So he completely wasn't listening to the question. He understood, how old are you? Because he's staring at Gloria, since she's wearing a very revealing outfit. And the other funny thing here is Jay is wearing this leather jacket, so he's probably trying to look cool, like Fonzie. And he's wearing his motorcycle jacket.

I have to be blatantly honest. I don't know what a decoupage is. Is it like paper mache or something? Yeah, yeah. It's just like you decorate a certain object or you want to reproduce a shape of some object, and you use, like, strips of paper. Like, you need a lot of strips of paper, and you glue several layers of paper on this object. Jay says, oh, geez. After that, because it's this cool kid that he's wanting Manny to impress, and he's doing something that's very artsy, not so cool by traditional terms. Goodbye. Oh, no. What? You were right. This boy is not here to see Manny. I told you. You see the way he looks at me? No, fancy. The way he looks at.

I told you. The combination of letters D plus Y gives a new sound. J. So I told you. Because I told you. No, Fonzie. The way he looks at me. He couldn't talk. He kept staring. He was just like my teachers back in school. Gloria, you're very pretty, but the kid idolizes me. Really? And she says that the boy was staring at her. Staring is just to look closely, very attentively, without sometimes even blinking. Right. Kids might have a staring contest. We did this when we were young. Like, you stare at each other to see who is the first one to blink. And whoever blinks first loses. So idolizing someone is to really admire someone. Usually it happens, like with pop stars. So teenage girls usually idolize some pop stars. And here is also interesting connected speech. Right? The. The kid idolizes me, so he links all these words together. Kid idolizes me.

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Alright. Should we watch cmb? Yeah, let's watch it. Ah, thank you. Hey mom, guess what? Griffin invited us all over to his house for a pool party and barbecue tonight. Pool party, huh? Yeah. And he said bring your swimsuits. He was pretty adamant about it. It's 50 degrees outside. Sounds fun. Great, I'll call him.

You know, you're basically agreeing to a date with a 13 year old boy. Jay, we use this to get us tables at restaurants. Why can't we use this to get money? A friend? Because he's not really getting a friend. Oh, but when you thought that he was trying to ride your motorcycle, it was okay. Maybe Now I don't like what he's trying to ride. Manny likes Griffin. Maybe someday if they spend enough time together, Griffin would like Manny. What? Griffin doesn't like me? No, no, no, papi, he loves you. But you just said someday Griffin will like me. That means he doesn't like me now.

You know what, kid? We think that Griffin might be hanging out with you because he's got a little crush on your mother and me on you. Wow. I can't believe it. Listen, it's fine. You're gonna be fine. Are you kidding? It's fantastic. How is it fantastic? I'm only hanging out with him because I have the hots for his sister. Chloe. You've met Griffin. The kid's a doorknob. So you're just using him? Yeah, and I felt really guilty about it until now. Now it's a win win. Not for me.

Just suck it up, mom. I've done a lot for you over the years. J. You too. This girl could be the one that. I'm out of your hair forever. Pool party, Mom. Dress accordingly. Thank you.

Larry is. Ah, thank you. Hey mom, guess what? Griffin invited us all over to his house for a pool party and barbecue tonight. Pool party, huh? Let's break down this sentence into parts. So invited us becomes invited us. So the T sound in the word invited is between two vowels. So it turns into an American D sound. Invited. And it ends with D. Right? Then comes the word us. And we link two words together. Invited us. Invited us. Nice. And then it continues with all over to his house. So all over this is a word chunk we could often see. And that L will pretty much always connect to the o in over, all over, all over to reduces to t. And we drop the H in his. So all over, all over to his house for a pool party. First of all, the American way to pronounce the word party is party.

Yeah. We don't pronounce the true t, but it again turns into American D sound party. And for a, both words have a schwa sound. So they are in a weak position. So we hear them reduce. There are longer sounds, and we hear fur, fur, pool party. Fur pool party. And then party links and to itself. So it becomes like just a whole item. And the d sound at the end of ant is just dropped. So try to pronounce it all together. For a pool party. En. For a pool party. En. So we have barbecue, which we have a schwa there on the first E. Barbecue. And it links to tonight. Barbecue. Tonight. So we have another schwa there. We don't say tonight. We say tonight, Barbecue. Tonight.

Pool party, huh? Yeah. And he said, bring your swimsuits. He was pretty adamant about it. It's 50 degrees outside. Sounds fun. Great. I'll call him. This is hilarious. He's pretty adamant about it. What does that mean, if he was pretty adamant? I like this one word, adamant. It's just like it's not only not willing to change your decision, but like you are adamant. Like, the word is so strong. The meaning is like, yeah, you decided already. You made your decision, or you chose something to do and you are not going to change it. So he's being emphatic that that's an important point, to bring your bathing suits, because obviously he's interested to see Gloria in a bathing suit. Yeah. And Jay's next comment that it's 50 degrees outside, so that's 10 degrees Celsius, which is not exactly swimming weather.

Pool party, huh? Yeah. And he said, bring your swimsuits. He was pretty adamant about it. It's 50 degrees outside. Sounds fun. Great. I'll call him. I'll call him. So again, we see here the drop of h sound, which happens pretty often in pronouns, right? So he says, I'll call him. I'll call him.

But you just said, someday Griffin will like me. That means he doesn't like me now. You know what, kid? We think that Griffin might be hanging out with you because he's got a little crush on your mother and me on you. To have a crush on somebody means to be interested romantically in someone. And Jay also uses it here again, kind of like a synonym for idolizing someone, because he doesn't think that Griffin is romantically interested in him, but that he idolizes him. So that's why Gloria. We'll see in the next clip, comments on that. Wow. Can't believe it. Listen, it's fine. You're gonna be sorry.

Are you kidding? It's fantastic. How is it fantastic? I'm only hanging out with him because I have the hots for his sister Chloe. Okay, choice of expression. Yeah. have the hots. It's such a nice phrase. I haven't heard it, but it's very close to have a crush, right? Yeah. Have the hot. Romantically interested, but probably. Most of you know what hot means. That will you use it as a slang for meaning that someone is very attractive. It's more emphatic at that point that you find someone sexually attractive. Which is especially funny because I don't know exactly how old he is here. Maybe 10, 12. It's quite funny for him to be using that expression.

You've met Griffin. The kid's a doorknob. So you're just using him? Yeah, and I felt really guilty about it until now. Now it's a win win. Not for me. I didn't know you can use it to refer to a person, because I know a doorknob is like this round handle on the door. Like you turn it and the doors open. It actually is a. It's a bit of a play on words because we have an expression that is someone is dumb as a doorknob, meaning that the person is not smart at all. It'd be insulting if you said this directly to someone. So that's why he's saying the kid's a doorknob. He's saying in a shortened way. In a shortened way, it's dumb as a doorknob.

You've met Griffin. The kid's a doorknob. So you're just using him. Yeah, and I felt really guilty about it until now. Now it's a win win. Not for me. Now it's a win win. But before that, many felt guilty about it. What is that feeling? Feeling guilty. Feel guilty. It's you did something bad and you know that morally it was wrong. So he was feeling that feeling of shame. That's another way we could say it. But now that he found out that Griffin is also using him, now he doesn't feel bad about it. Now it's a win win. They can both use each other without any guilt or shame.

That's rather, I don't know, cruel kind of kids, friendships just suck it up. Mom, I've done a lot for you over the years. Is it great that he tells him to suck it up? Yeah, I didn't see it coming. It's just like for me, it sounds rude like to say to your mom, suck it up. Yeah, like this whole phrase, suck it up. I've done a lot for you over the years. Usually that's more like the mom or the dad would say to the kid is when the kid really doesn't want to do something, it's like, well, you have to suck it up and do it anyway. We actually did Damsel last week, right? And we talked about this expression of make your peace with something. It's similar, this expression to say that you need to just get it together and do it even though you don't want to do it.

J, you too. This girl could be the one that. I'm out of your hair forever. Pool party, Mom. Dress accordingly. To be out of one's hair means to not be bothering, not be annoying anymore. It's just like, why is it expression like out of your hair? Where does it come from? I'm not actually sure, but I imagine if someone were pulling your hair, it'd be quite annoying. So you know, you'd be like, get out of my hair. I can imagine too, a lot of moms maybe using this or dads like when they're kitchen trying to cook dinner and the kid keeps bothering them with questions or you know, distracting them away from the task, saying get out of my hair, Go play.

Ah. Because you know, for a moment I thought that it comes from. Imagine like a chewy gum that is stuck in your hair so you cannot get rid of it. So I thought it's related somehow etymologically to this. And he said that this girl could be the one. What does he mean when we use the one in this sense? So he says that that girl could be his destiny. Like that girl, the one, his soulmate. His soulmate. Again, so funny. 11 year old kid talking about like finding his soulmate, which this is totally his character that he's always romantically interested in some new girl. And there's quite a funny dynamic between him and Gloria with each of his romances.

Ju. This girl could be the one that. I'm out of your hair forever. Pool party mom. Dress accordingly. If you are going to some event, you would probably want to know what the dress code is and dress accordingly. Right? To wear the proper dress code. Dress code. Like imagine that you are going on a play at the theater to see a play. So you would want to wear something fancy, maybe a dress or to a wedding that might even say what the dress code is. Like black tie, formal. There's these very. What would you call like jargon? Very specific terms that we'll use for a dress code. All right, guys, so now let's check your comprehension by watching the clip one more time. This time without subtitles.

Well, I'm really not getting that relationship. Why can't you just be happy that Manny's making new friends? Yeah. Cause it doesn't add up. Cool kids like Griffin Cooper, they don't hang out with kids like Manny. Manny's very cool. Maybe those kids are finally catching up to him. Wait a minute. I get it. A couple of days last week, I took Manny to school on my motorcycle. Griffin must think I'm pretty boss. Yes, J, it's all because of you kids are looking for role models.

Why do you think Fonzie was so popular? He told people that they were rich, but really took their money with his scheme. No, That's a yes. Ola. Griffin, how are you? Oh, 13. I'm fine. So, what do you boys have planned for today? Well, it's kind of a surprise for Griffin, but let's just say it involves decoupage. Oh, geez. Come on, let's go. Goodbye. Oh, no. What? You were right. This boy is not here to see Manny. I told you. You see the way he looks at me? No, Fonzie. The way he looks at me. He couldn't talk. He kept staring. He was just like my teachers back in school. Gloria, you're very pretty, but the kid idolizes me.

Really? Griffin Money. Do you want to go with Jay to ride his motorcycle, or you want to go with me to the supermarket and buy a couple of onions? Motorcycle rides. Onions sound good.

Ah, thank you. Hey, mom, guess what? Griffin invited us all over to his house for a pool party and barbecue tonight. Pool party, huh? Yeah, and he said bring your swimsuits. He was pretty adamant about it. It's 50 degrees outside. Sounds fun. Great. I'll call him.

You know, you're basically agreeing to a date with a 13 year old boy. Jay, we use this to get us tables at restaurants. Why can't we use this to get money? A friend? Because he's not really getting a friend.

Oh, but when you thought that he was trying to ride your motorcycle, it was okay. Maybe now I don't like what he's trying to ride. Money likes Griffin. Maybe someday, if they spend enough time together, Griffin would like money. What? Griffin doesn't like me? No, no, no, papi, he loves you. But you just said someday Griffin will like me. That means he doesn't like me now.

You know what, kid? We think that Griffin might be hanging out with you because he's got a little crush on your mother. And me on you. Wow. I can't believe it. Listen, it's fine. You're gonna be fine. Are you kidding? It's fantastic. How is it fantastic? I'm only hanging out with him because I have the hots for his sister. Chloe.

You've met Griffin. The kid's a doorknob. So you're just using him? Yeah, and I felt really guilty about it until now. Now it's a win win. Not for me.

Just suck it up, Mom. I've done a lot for you over the years. J. You too. This girl could be the one that. I'm out of your hair forever. Pool party, Mom. Dress accordingly. Thank you so much for learning with us today.

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