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before-sunrise-1995 · 1995 — Chapter 1 of 20 · 2'23" · B1

Strangers Trade Stories on a Train, Explained: weeks on end

On the surface it's small talk between travelers: school in Los Angeles, time in London, a Eurail pass. The edge comes with "you don't speak any other language, right?" and the reply that reads the labels back. A story about freezing at a Paris ticket window follows, then a flat verdict: "It sucked."

What happens

Two passengers on a train start talking. One asks how the other speaks such good English; the answer is a summer of school in Los Angeles and some time in London. The conversation turns to being American, four years of high school French, and a blank mind at a Paris Metro ticket window. Then they compare where they are headed.

Small talkTravel & hotelsSmall talkTeasingStrangersB1mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

of coursevulgarwhere are you headedweeks on end

00:00 / 02:23
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Phrase of the scene

weeks on end

for many weeks continuously

For weeks on end covers an unbroken stretch of train rides and window watching, which the line then calls kinda great.

She worked nights for weeks on end and barely saw daylight.

Also in this scene

  • of course

    sarcastic 'of course' in a rhetorical question

  • vulgar

    rude and offensive in a crude way

  • where are you headed

    where are you going next

  • on your own

    alone, without other people

  • is what I did

    that is exactly what I did, said for emphasis

Everything marked in this scene

23 notes across 44 lines

Phrase · A2such good ___

English at such a good level

So how do you speak such good English?
Soundsuch good English

Put the beat on good and English; let such skim past.

So how do you speak such good English?
Phrase · A2go to school

attended school

I went to school for a summer in Los Angeles.
Phrase · A2spend some time in ___

stayed for a while

Then I spent some time in London.
Phrase · A2get it

I understand

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it, I get it.
Grammar · B2who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture

relative clause: Two relative clauses stack the stereotypes onto American, making the self-mockery longer and sharper.

So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture, right?
Soundcrude, dumb, vulgar

Give each adjective a beat, with the heaviest push on vulgar.

So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture, right?
Slang · B1dumb

stupid — Teasing or self-mockery only; it can offend if aimed at someone.

So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture, right?
Phrase · B1take a language

studied French as a subject

I took French for four years in high school.
Phrase · A2stand in line

waited in a queue

When I first got to Paris, I stood in line at the Metro station, I
Phrase · A2need a ticket to ___

I need to buy a ticket

And I start saying, "Ah, listen, I need a ticket to get to, um —" You know.
Phrase · A2where are you headed / where is she headed

where are you going next

After a rambling story trails off, So where are you headed? steers the talk to travel plans; the answer is back to Paris, classes next week.

So, anyway. Um — So where are you headed?
Phrase · A2travel around

move from place to place

I'm just traveling around. I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
Phrase · A2ride the trains

travel by train

I'm just traveling around. I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
Grammar · B1I've been riding

present perfect continuous: It stresses an activity continuing up to now: the train ride has been going on for weeks.

I'm just traveling around. I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
SoundI've been riding

Keep been light and land clearly on riding.

I'm just traveling around. I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
Phrase · A2be on one's own

alone, without other people

The question asks whether the other person was visiting friends or just on your own, meaning alone.

Mm-hmm. You were visiting friends or just on your own?
Phrase · B1..., is what I did

that is exactly what I did, said for emphasis

The line first mentions the Eurail pass, then adds is what I did at the end to underline the fact.

Yeah, I got one of those Eurail passes, is what I did.
Phrase · B1be good for someone

has it treated you well

So, has this trip around Europe been good for you?
Slang · B1sucked

was terrible — Casual complaints with friends; avoid in formal settings.

Yeah, sure. Yeah, it's been, um — It sucked.
Grammar · B2Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window

gerund subject: The long gerund phrase is the subject; you know is only a spoken interruption inside it.

Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.
Soundfor weeks on end

Let for slide and beat on weeks and end.

Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.
Slang · A2kinda

kind of; somewhat — Common in speech; use kind of in careful writing.

Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.

Strangers Trade Stories on a Train, explained

What's really going on

The politeness is real, but the questions keep circling nationality. "So how do you speak such good English?" gets a plain answer — school in Los Angeles, time in London — and later the same question returns, answered with "Me? I'm American." The label is then spoken aloud: "And of course, you don't speak any other language, right?" The reply lists it back — "the crude, dumb, vulgar American who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture" — then adds a defense: four years of high school French and a Metro ticket story that ends with "my mind goes completely blank." The trip gets two answers as well: "It sucked," followed by weeks of watching the window that "has actually been kinda great."

Theme

IdentityNationality becomes the subject: the American label is said out loud, then answered with four years of French and a blank mind at the ticket window.
LonelinessWeeks of sitting alone on trains and watching the window sit beside the easy travel talk.

Listen for

  • such good English — Put the beat on good and English; let such skim past.
  • crude, dumb, vulgar — Give each adjective a beat, with the heaviest push on vulgar.
  • I've been riding — Keep been light and land clearly on riding.
  • for weeks on end — Let for slide and beat on weeks and end.
So how do you speak such good English?

An opening compliment that also asks where the other person is from.

So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who doesn't speak any other languages, who has no culture, right?

The labels are listed back as one long question, turning the earlier remark into something the speaker repeats out loud.

Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.

After calling the trip bad, the speaker admits the slow, aimless part was the best of it.

I took French for four years in high school.

Follows "But I tried." and sets up the Metro ticket story, where the speaker's mind goes blank.

Questions about this scene

How do you answer "So how do you speak such good English?"

One reply is "I went to school for a summer in Los Angeles," followed by "Then I spent some time in London." When the question comes back later, the answer is a joke: "Me? I'm American." then "No, I'm joking."

Why bring up four years of high school French?

It works as a defense. "But I tried." comes first, then "I took French for four years in high school." That effort sets up the Metro story, where the practiced phrase vanishes at the window and "my mind goes completely blank."

How does "Vienna? What's there?" show how little is planned for the stop?

After "I'm going to Vienna," the follow-up "What's there?" gets "I have no idea. I'm flying out of there tomorrow." The lines give no reason for the stop beyond tomorrow's flight.

Does the traveler actually regret the long train rides?

Not entirely. Asked about the trip, one line says "It sucked," but a later line says "Sitting, you know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great."

before-sunrise-1995 · 20 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 2the poetry of day-to-day lifePitching a Year-Long TV Show
Watching · Chapter 1weeks on endStrangers Trade Stories on a TrainChapter 2the poetry of day-to-day lifePitching a Year-Long TV ShowChapter 3passive-aggressiveTwo Passengers Talk Childhood and DeathChapter 4a bad liarTwo Travelers Claim a HoneymoonChapter 5scare the hell out of someoneTwo People Play a Q&A GameChapter 6piss someone offStrangers Trade Pet Peeves on a TrainChapter 7romantic projectionsTwo People Talk About Parents and LoveChapter 8resign yourself toPalm Reading in ViennaChapter 9dress rehearsalChurch Talk on Death and QuakersChapter 10blank canvasWhat Would Drive You MadChapter 11make a deal withPoet Writes a Poem for a WordChapter 12a real prizewinnerAsking About an Ex-BoyfriendChapter 13let it sink inA Man Recounts His Madrid HeartbreakChapter 14fool aroundTwo People Debate Men, Women and MonkeysChapter 15fear of commitmentBirth Dance Talk Turns to LoveChapter 16fall for someoneThe Fake Phone Call in ViennaChapter 17be a ghostMan Pretends to Call a FriendChapter 18fizzle outTwo People Agree to One Night OnlyChapter 19sleep togetherThey Agree Not to Sleep TogetherChapter 20have a great lifeTwo Lovers Say Goodbye at Track Nine
Chapter 1 of 20 · about 55 min to go