Improve Your English: English in Everyday Life

INTERVIEWER:
Do you have siblings?
MAN:
I have, uh, four siblings. I have, uh, an older sister, 
two younger sisters, and a younger brother. And, uh, 
they’re all in New Jersey, uh, right now. We’ve recently 
convinced my mom to move to this area, to the Balti-
more, Maryland–D.C. area, so she should be moving 

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down shortly, uh, once her house is sold. But my sib-
lings, uh, remain in New Jersey with the exception of 
my brother, who I’ve convinced to go to the University 
of Maryland, and so he’s, uh, just started there in 
grad 
school
at the University of Maryland.
2. ITALIAN ROOTS
Well, the Sardegna side, my m—, I should say, my moth-
er’s side and my father’s side. Let me start with my father’s 
side, which is also from Sardegna, but my grandfather 
was a merchant marine traveling the world and had a 
friend in Detroit and ended his 
merchant marine
tour 
and stayed in Detroit. So, uh, and, uh, but went back to 
Italy, married someone, brought her back, and then had 
three boys. My dad’s the youngest, and they were born, 
uh, in the States, and my, one of my uncles fought in 
World War II, my oldest uncle, you know, uh, he actually 
fought, I think, partially in Italy, which is kind of inter-
esting, um, and, and then, you know, they mixed in, one 
of my aunts is Polish and, you know, kind of indicative of 
the Detroit area, the sort of mix that’s there.
My mom’s side is a much more complicated side, and 
my mom is also from Sardegna, but part of her family is 
from Padova and, uh, Vicenza, the Veneto area, and then 
one of my great-grandfathers was from Rome, and, uh, 
was a judge who was sent to Sardegna. So, um, which is 
kind of interesting, given that there’s not a lot of move-
ment, um, in or out of, um, Sardegna. So I have second 
cousins in Padova, I have, uh, great-uncles in Padova, I 
have family in Sardegna, family in Vicenza, so it’s-it’s in 
that, it’s, that’s kind of split. And I must have family in 
Rome, but I don’t know, it’s just, uh, my mother’s never 
told me, you know, about that.

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