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Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.

#357 US State Name Stories - Midwest

Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.

Georgiana

Language Learning, Education

4.6536 Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is the third episode of our state names series. This time, we're traveling to the Midwest.

Let's quickly list all the states in the Midwest:
They are: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

That's twelve states in total! I'll just focus on a few of the most representative ones: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Get the text here: Speakenglishpodcast.com/357-us-state-name-stories-midwest/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, I'm Georgiana, and I'm back with a new episode of the Speak English Now podcast, the podcast that helps you speak English fluently with no grammar and no textbooks.

0:16.8

On my website, you can find the five secrets to speaking English and my premium courses.

0:26.6

Okay, let's start.

0:30.4

This is the third episode of our state name series.

0:35.7

This time, we're traveling to the Midwest. Let's quickly list all the states

0:42.8

in the Midwest. They are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

1:04.1

That's 12 stays in total. I'll just focus on a few of the most representative ones.

1:13.2

Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

1:21.3

Here many names come from Native American languages, rivers, and the land itself.

1:29.9

So let's discover the hidden stories of the Midwest.

1:35.7

The Midwest is famous for friendly people, farms, big lakes, and very cold winters.

1:45.1

So yes, bring your warmest coat for this trip.

1:49.6

But as always, we're here for the names,

1:52.7

and the Midwest has some really interesting ones.

1:57.8

Let's start with Michigan.

2:05.2

The name comes from a Native American word Michigami, which means great water or large lake.

2:12.2

And it makes sense, right?

2:14.4

Michigan is surrounded by great lakes.

2:19.1

Love water, then Michigan is perfect, except in the winter, when everything freezes.

2:27.6

Our next stop is Ohio.

2:31.8

This name comes from another Native American language, the Seneca. It means Good River.

2:41.0

The Ohio River was very important in the past for travel, fishing, and trade. That's why they called it the Good River. Today, Ohio is known

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