[Learning English Daily] - Lesson: Date Night

Posted by Unknown On 9/10/12

Intro

For couples that have been together for a long time, it is easy to get in a rut. When you see your partner every day and develop a routine, you might start to feel that your relationship has lost some of the magic it had in the beginning. Everyday stress from working, raising kids, or going to school can also contribute to your relationship feeling stale.
That is what date night is for. A date night is a chance to spend some quality time with your partner and get some romance back into your relationship. Some couples have a regular date night once a week or a couple times a month. Others will take any opportunity they can to go out and enjoy a fun, romantic night together.
But it is also possible to get in a rut with your date night. Some couples get tired of going to the same restaurants or following the same routine when they go out together. Hear Dale give Amy advice about spicing up her date night.

Dialogue (Download Audio Here)

Amy: Well, it’s another Friday night, and I’ve got my date night tonight.
Dale:  Do you love date night? Does that make you excited?
Amy:  Of course I love date night, but I feel like I’m in a rut. I want to spice things up a little bit.
Dale:  So what do you like to do? Do you want to go to a movie? Do you like to go out to eat?
Amy:  Yeah, I love going out to restaurants, but sometimes I feel like we just tend to go to the same old places, you know?
Dale:  Do you think that date night is important in a relationship?
Amy:  I do think you kind of need that date night in order to, you know, have some time alone, spend some quality time. But on the other hand, making it too much of a routine, then it can start to feel like a chore.
Dale:  That’s true. I mean, I have to admit, I truly love date nights, even before I was married. And now date night is one thing I look forward to because the kids get to be with the sitter and I get to be with my wife and we get to talk about things alone.
Amy:  Adult things.
Dale:  Adult things. We don’t have to talk about little TV shows. So I truly enjoy date night. I think it’s really positive and helps strengthen the relationship.
Amy:  I like that. I’m going to take some inspiration from that.
Dale:  Good luck!

Discussion

Amy has a date night tonight, but she’s not that excited about it. She feels as if it’s becoming too much of a routine, even though she loves going out to restaurants. She does think date night is important in a relationship, though.
Dale, on the other hand, really loves date night. He loves getting to leave the kids at home and go out with his wife, and have truly adult conversations. He thinks date night helps to strengthen his relationship. Amy hopes to take some inspiration from Dale’s enthusiasm.
Do you have a regular date night with your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife? What do you like to do on date night? What do you do if you get stuck in a rut?

Grammar Point

Simple Future Tense
Amy says that she is going to take some inspiration from Dale’s experience with date night. She uses the simple future tense.
There are two ways to form the simple future tense. You can use be going to + verb, like Amy does. Or you can use will + verb, as in, “I will plan a really fun date night for next weekend.”
We use this tense to talk about actions that will take place at some point later than now.
Which is correct, “We going to go to the movies on Friday,” or, “We are going to go to the movies on Friday?”

Quiz

  1. How does Amy feel about date night?
  2. If you want to spice things up in your relationship, you want to __.
  3. Why does Dale look forward to date nights?
  4. What kind of movies does Amy like to see on date night?
  5. Amy says she’s going to take some inspiration from Dale. That means she __.
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       Answer Key: 1:D 2:A 3:B 4:D 5:A